Backlash Grows Against Uganda's Death Penalty for Homosexuality

I've been following in recent weeks the horrifying bill in Uganda that would allow for death sentences for LGBT people with HIV and life sentences for others. While some are still predicting that the bill will pass, the international outrage over the proposal seems to be growing, and there's still hope that Ugandan lawmakers will wake up to the human rights atrocity they're committing and change course on this law.

Protesters will rally against the bill tomorrow outside the Ugandan High Commission in London, on International Human Rights Day.

Michael Jones wrote last week on the change.org Gay Rights blog that a high profile Ugandan Christian leader is urging leaders to abandon the bill, comparing it to a "gay genocide." (And this is from a guy who calls homosexuality 'unacceptable' and 'sinful'). Michael also reported that Sweden has announced it will cut aid to Uganda if the bill passes. Other countries should follow Sweden's lead.

The bill goes even further than the death and life sentences I mentioned above. It also includes prison sentences for people who fail to turn in LGBT acquaintances, and even for landlords who rent to LGBT people. It's a witch hunt.

Last night, Rachel Maddow eviscerated Richard Cohen, the author of "Coming Out Straight" who claims he can help gay people become straight. Cohen's book has been cited by Ugandan authorities in support of this heinous bill. Cohen tried to distance himself from the law and says he doesn't support it, but Maddow -- reading passages in Cohen's book that seem to have swayed Ugandan authorities -- told him he has "blood on his hands." The interview is worth a watch.

Homoesexuality is already illegal in Uganda, which is unacceptable. This bill, however, would take the intolerance and human rights violations against LGBT people in the country to a new level.