Photo: Barack Obama. Credit: Jakub Szymczuk/State Department.
The Obama administration will take additional steps against Uganda for their enactment of an anti-LGBT law, including restricting entry to the U.S. by Ugandan officials involved in anti-LGBT human rights abuses.
National Security Council spokesperson Caitlin Hayden announced Thursday the additional measures, building upon a series of cuts in aid to the African nation announced earlier this year.
“As President Obama has stated, the Government of Uganda’s enactment of the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) runs counter to universal human rights and complicates our bilateral relationship. We announced in April a series of initial responses, and we have since considered how further to reinforce our support for human rights of all Ugandans, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity,” Hayden said in a statement.
“Today, we are announcing several additional steps. Specifically, the Department of State is taking measures to prevent entry into the United States by certain Ugandan officials involved in serious human rights abuses, including against LGBT individuals. In addition, the United States will take steps, consistent with current authorities, to prevent entry into the United States by Ugandans who are found responsible for significant public corruption,” Hayden continued. ” We are also discontinuing or redirecting funds for certain additional programs involving the Ugandan Police Force, Ministry of Health, and National Public Health Institute, and cancelling plans to hold a U.S. military-sponsored aviation exercise in Uganda.”
According to the White House, such cuts include a $2.4 million program in support for the Uganda Police Force community-policing program. Financial aid supporting the Ministry of Health’s central headquarters staff, including salaries and travel expenses, will also be shifted, but so as to avoid negatively affecting health care workers and direct service providers in Uganda.
Earlier this year, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act further enhancing penalties against homosexuality, prompting international condemnation and criticism from Obama himself. Violators of the law face a 14-year prison sentence for a second conviction, and up to life in prison for repeat offenses. Obama had encouraged Museveni not to sign the bill, and White House press secretary Jay Carney described to the day the bill was signed as a “sad day for Uganda.” A recent report published by Ugandan activists details an increase in violence against LGBT Ugandans as well as loses of property, homes and income.
“None of these steps diminishes our commitment to providing development and humanitarian support for the Ugandan people, or our partnership with the Ugandan government to counter the murderous Lord’s Resistance Army and improve security in Africa,” Hayden continued. “We will seek to advance these interests even as we continue—in Uganda and around the world—to oppose discriminatory practices and champion human rights for all.”
Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin sent a letter dated June 2 to President Obama urging him to take immediate and concrete steps to hold Uganda accountable. According to Ty Cobb, HRC’s director of global engagement, today’s announcement sends a clear message that the U.S. “will not tolerate foreign governments engaging in state-sponsored acts of homophobia and transphobia against their own people.”
“We must put all world leaders on notice that such efforts have no place in the 21st century, and there will be severe consequences for engaging in them,” Cobb said in a statement. “This creates an important precedent for leaders and governments considering implementing similar laws. It is important that the Administration continues to review our diplomatic relationship with Uganda, as well as with other nations such as Nigeria and Brunei, which have also taken disturbing steps backwards.”
The Turning Point USA co-founder, who once declared Pride a “sin” and opposed LGBTQ rights, was killed during a campus event at Utah Valley University.
Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed by an assassin's bullet during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on Wednesday, Sept. 10.
The 31-year-old was the co-founder of Turning Point USA, an organization advocating for conservative politics and education on high school and college campuses.
At the time of the shooting, Kirk, who appeared on campus as part of his "American Comeback Tour," was taking questions from people in the crowd while seated at a "Prove Me Wrong" table in the Sorensen Center courtyard on campus, according to The Associated Press.
Human rights groups, including LGBTQ advocates, accuse the U.S. State Department of politicizing its annual report on global abuses by erasing references to anti-LGBTQ discrimination. According to Al Jazeera, the 2024 Human Rights Report was released months late after Trump appointees rewrote an earlier draft to align with the administration's "America First" agenda.
The revised report, released last Tuesday, adds new categories like "Life," "Liberty," and "Security of the Person." The State Department called the report "streamlined" and said it was designed to stay "aligned to the administration's executive orders."
Back in May, just after our 31st anniversary, I asked readers which of four classic cover interviews from our early years they'd like to see in print again: Greg Louganis (March 9, 1995), Sir Ian McKellen (Jan. 25, 1996), Camille Paglia (Feb. 1, 1996), or Eartha Kitt (Nov. 14, 1996). None of these conversations exist online, and they haven't been seen since their original print dates.
Out of more than 200 responses, 8% chose Paglia, 27% picked Louganis, 29% went for McKellen, and an impressive 36% cast their vote for Kitt.
Kitt, who passed away in December 2008, seemed a fitting choice to revisit. A pop culture icon for her turn as the second Catwoman (following Julie Newmar) on the late-1960s, camp-classic TV series Batman, she was slated to appear at Washington's legendary jazz nightclub Blues Alley when we spoke.
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
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