Uganda leader: Government will not support anti-gay bill
Campaigns against Uganda’s harsh Anti-Homosexuality Bill may be having an effect.
In response to Italian protests against the bill, Ugandan Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi said Dec. 4 during a conference that the Ugandan government will not support the bill. His statement was reported in Milano Today.
In addition, the Ugandan parliament has dropped the Anti-Homosexuality Bill to No. 2 on its schedule of actions that will be considered after the conclusion of ongoing debate on a controversial oil bill.
“For the first time in two weeks the AHB has dropped to No. 2 on the order paper in Parliament,” tweeted Ugandan activist Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera. “It’s a good sign. By the way, keep the statements [against the bill] coming.”
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has previously said he will prevent the Anti-Homosexuality Bill from becoming law. As president, he has the equivalent of veto power, in that he can reject a bill that parliament has approved, twice, but parliament can override that rejection by a two-thirds vote.
After Mbabazi’s statement, Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) joined with Amnesty International in promoting a Twitter campaign urging him to come out in opposition to the bill.
SMUG activist Pepe Julian Onziema said:
Dear Friends on Twitter:
This is a Call for Urgent Web Action, we’re asking you to participate in a twitter blast directed at the Ugandan Prime Minister, Amama Mbabazi. In this twitter blast, we’re asking him to speak out against the Bill. Please send multiple tweets with the tags #stopthehate @AmamaMbabazi. Please be reminded to keep the tone of your tweets polite. For example:
Can @AmamaMbabazi make a statement against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda? #stopthehate.
Follow us on @SMUG2004 @Ugandans4rights. You can also follow me @onziema
Amnesty International’s online appeal calls on Twitter users to urge politely that Mbabazi speak out against the bill and links directly to Twitter.
A related appeal by Amnesty seeks emails to Mababazi and Nathan Nandala Mafabi, the leader of the opposition, urging them “to reject the Bill in its entirety and reaffirm Uganda’s commitment to upholding the universality of human rights.”
In response to the invitation from SMUG and Amnesty, recent tweets to @AmamaMbabazi have included these:
The anti-homosexuality bill tarnishes Uganda’s human rights image. This will greatly harm Uganda’s tourism industry. @AmamaMbabazi — adabsurdum @adabsurdum :
@AmamaMbabazi Be the lovely man you are. Dump the Anti-homosexuality bill. Who is anyone to say who another can love? #stopthehate — LA Love @PallasLove
@AmamaMbabazi Act now! You can help Stop the Anti-Homosexuality Bill from becoming law: http://bit.ly/QIQaBt #stopthehate — CSCHRCL_Uganda @Ugandans4rights
love is a right. not a wrong. Stop the anti-homosexuality bill in Uganda http://bit.ly/TFt1hD @AmamaMbabazi #stopthehate #lgbt — Julie Southwell @JulieSwell
Homophobia, not homosexuality, is the real danger in Uganda @AmamaMbabazi #stopthehate http://bit.ly/QIQaBt — CSCHRCL_Uganda @Ugandans4rights
We’re calling on @AmamaMbabazi to stop the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in #Uganda. RT and help Uganda #stopthehate? #lgbti — RFK Center @rfkcenter
Related articles
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- Citibank, Barclays go gentle on Uganda anti-gay bill (76crimes.com)
- Uganda Embassy has been hit by Light Brigade Maryland | Uganda Reject Homophobia (oblogdeeoblogda.me)
This position is not new at all – the government has held it since early 2010. This bill is, however, out of their control and it is Parliament to determine its fate … and then the courts thereafter if it is passed.
Doesn’t the parliament in Uganda have similar power to the legislative branch in the U.S. — power to pass legislation over an executive branch’s objection? But that doesn’t mean that only the parliament and the courts are the only ones with any say.
The president and government don’t make laws; that is for Parliament. The executive can lobby and arm-twist parliamentarians to their will of course. Once a law is passed, the president can veto it, but that veto is automatically overridden if the law is sent back by Parliament three times. Then the only recourse is a constitutional challenge.
We agree, at least in general. The parliament can override what is essentially a presidential veto (though apparently it’s not called a veto). As you say, if the bill is passed it could be challenged in court as unconstitutional. One further last resort would be to hope that a new law would be enforced as little as the current quite obnoxious anti-homosexuality law.
No! Once passed the next course of action must be a constitutional challenge. One cannot depend on the law being toothless (which it will of course be) since there is so much else riding on it, not least of which is the open season it will give to detractors.
“One cannot depend on the law being toothless” — I totally agree.
If they don’t pass the bill, we the nationals will take action. Mark my word
Dear “No Homo,”
By the phrase “take action,” I guess you are implying that you and other non-homosexual Ugandans will act aggressively against people whose love you don’t approve of. That saddens me. Why not just live and let live? (I don’t believe the myth that gays seek to spread their lifestyle to children. Some people are born heterosexual; some are born homosexual. All are children of God.)
Blessings,
Colin Stewart
Editor/publisher
Erasing 76 Crimes
https://76crimes.com
I see someone decent has bothered to respond to you. Anonymous comments like yours scarcely deserve a response.