Why Bill Gates Should Have Condemned Uganda's "Kill the Gays" Bill

Bill Gates dropped his annual letter today from his foundation, focusing on how innovation can turn some of the bleakest parts of the world and transform them into hubs for the global health movement and the new global economy.

Gates' letter touches on malaria prevention, polio eradication, and HIV/AIDS, just to name a few things. Indeed, Gates himself has been a huge advocate for HIV/AIDS, since launching a huge program in Botswana focusing on treatment in 2001. Now, the work of Gates and his foundation in Africa is spread throughout Africa.

Including Uganda. Which poses an interesting question for Gates, since the country is currently debating legislation that would kill LGBT people living with HIV/AIDS if they're caught having sex. How does Gates feel about the legislation?

Judging from an interview with The Seattle Times, it's a big, "Meh."

According to Gates, just because Uganda is debating a law that would kill certain gay people, and imprison many others, doesn't mean the world should focus on the legislation. Say what?

"There's a tendency to think in the U.S. just because a law says something that it's a big deal. In Africa if you want to talk about how to save lives, it's not just laws that count. There's a stigma no matter what that law says, for sex workers, men having sex with men, that's always been a problem for AIDS. It relates to groups that aren't that visible. AIDS itself is subject to incredible stigma. Open involvement is a helpful thing. I wouldn't overly focus on that. In terms of how many people are dying in Africa, it's not about the law on the books; it's about getting the message out and the new tools," Gates said.

It's not about the law on the books? Seriously, that's a joke right? Because, really, how could it not be about the laws on the books when it comes to instituting the death penalty for many people living with HIV/AIDS? How could it not be about the law on the books when it comes to imprisoning queer people who don't have HIV/AIDS, but telling them that they're sexual orientation is so aberrant that they're only worthy of prison terms? And how could it not be about the law on the books when it comes to finding straight advocates of gay rights, charging them with fines for supporting gay rights, and sending them to jail, too?

It's easy to see what Gates was trying to say -- that whether this law exists or not, the stigma facing people living with HIV/AIDS or queer people does exist. But to say that the law on the books doesn't matter, especially when there's a major international effort to get Uganda to dump the law, is geopolitically irresponsible, not to mention offensive.

As Think Progress noted, "The bill has been strongly condemned internationally and should be especially troubling to Gates because it 'in effect bans organizations working in HIV and AIDS prevention,' which it considers 'promotion of homosexuality.'"

On a practical level, yes, that should trouble Gates. But on a humanitarian level, the bill should trouble Gates because it calls for people of different sexual orientations and HIV status to be killed or jailed. Sorry, Gates. Brushing off this law as irrelevant just isn't an option.

Photo credit: Jeff Sandquist