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Britain and Canada Denounce Extreme Anti-Gay Ugandan Proposal

There is growing international backlash against the extreme, state-sanctioned, anti-gay hysteria in Uganda. The prime ministers of Britain and Canada have formally protested the proposal in parliament that would create the offense of "aggravated homosexuality" punishable by death, the Guardian reports.

Gordon Brown expressed Britain's concerns about the parliamentary bill when he met Yoweri Museveni, the veteran Ugandan president, at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Trinidad and Tobago. The suggested legislation would apply to sex between gay men or lesbian women in which one person has HIV. The bill also proposes the introduction of a three-year prison sentence for anyone who knows of the existence of a gay man or lesbian woman and fails to inform authorities in Uganda within 24 hours. The British prime minister's anger was echoed by his Canadian counterpart, Stephen Harper. Harper's spokesman, Dimitri Soudas, said: "If adopted, a bill further criminalising homosexuality would constitute a significant step backwards for the protection of human rights in Uganda."

Stephen Lewis, the well-regarded former UN envoy on AIDS in Africa, described the proposed legislation as putting at risk the "entire apparatus of AIDS treatment, prevention and care" in Uganda.

The proposed draconian anti-gay bill had its first reading in Parliament last month. Museveni, who only last week said "European homosexuals are recruiting in Africa", has not endorsed the bill. Uganda's rabidly anti-gay Ethics Minister James Nsaba Buturo supports the bill. In September 2007, Buturo publicly warned all gays to leave the East African nation.

Some Background ...
Uganda's Museveni: European Gays "Recruiting" in Africa
Uganda: Death Penalty for "Aggravated Homosexuality"
Anti-Gay Activists March on Parliament
Uganda Anti-Gay Conference Day Two
UG Anti-Gay Conference
Rare Court Victory for Uganda Gays
Uganda Launches Major Anti-Gay Offensive
Uganda' Muslim Cleric: Exile Gays
Uganda Ethics Minister Advises Gays to Leave

H/T: AMERICABlog Gay

Thousands Protest Bush in London

President George W. Bush receives a royal welcome in London as an estimated 2,500 demonstrators rallied in Parliament Square. "A few pelted officers with placards and tried to breach a police cordon set up to block them from getting near Downing Street, where Bush arrived for a private dinner with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown" and conservative media tycoon Rupert Murdoch.

Reportedly, the protesters chanted "Bush - terrorist" yards from the setting of Bush's intimate dinner. It's nice to see Bush is just as popular across the pond as he is in the States.

Jamaican PM Blasts Gays, Defends Island's Homophobic Culture

On the same day the prime minister of Jamaica, Bruce Golding (right), visits 10 Downing Street in London to meet with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, he forcefully reiterates his opposition to decriminalizing homosexuality but claims attitudes towards gays and lesbians are "changing" in Jamaica. Fascinating.

Prime Minister Golding's double talk happened during an interview on the BBC-TV. Golding claimed his administration would not be pressured to recognize gay rights. "Jamaica is not going to allow values to be imposed on it from outside, we are going to have to determine that ourselves and we are going to have to determine to what extent those values will adapt over time, changing the perception and to changing understanding as to how people live. But it can't be on the basis that a lobby group, far and away from Jamaica, is going to start to define for Jamaica how it must establish its own standards and morals," he said.

When asked if he would ever appoint an openly gay man or lesbian to his cabinet, the prime minister became outraged and said "never".

Jason McFarlane, spokesman for the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians All Sexuals and Gays (JFLAG), tells The Jamaica Gleaner that Golding's remarks would have serious implications for Jamaica's international image and likely to incite more violence against gays in the country.

Mob justice and horrific violence against gays is common in the island nation. In February 2008, a mob of up to 20 men attacked the home of four gay men in Mandeville—three were seriously injured and one was killed. In February 2007, several Jamaican gay men were attacked by a mob of thousands.

PM placed in the hot seat on BBC talk show [Radio JA]
Church, gays divided on PM's BBC interview [JA Gleaner]

More JAMAICA

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