Rights, Freedoms and Repression Woman whose soup run fed 250 homeless in Dublin told to cease or face €300k fine 21:35 Feb 07 2 comments Germany cannot give up it's Nazi past - Germany orders Holocaust survivor institutionalized over Cov... 23:31 Jan 14 1 comments Crisis in America: Deaths Up 40% Among Those Aged 18-64 Based on Life Insurance Claims for 2021 Afte... 23:16 Jan 06 0 comments Protests over post-vaccination deaths spread across South Korea 23:18 Dec 26 0 comments Chris Hedges: The execution of Julian Assange 22:19 Dec 19 1 comments more >>Blog Feeds
The SakerA bird's eye view of the vineyard
Alternative Copy of thesaker.is site is available Thu May 25, 2023 14:38 | Ice-Saker-V6bKu3nz
The Saker blog is now frozen Tue Feb 28, 2023 23:55 | The Saker
What do you make of the Russia and China Partnership? Tue Feb 28, 2023 16:26 | The Saker
Moveable Feast Cafe 2023/02/27 ? Open Thread Mon Feb 27, 2023 19:00 | cafe-uploader
The stage is set for Hybrid World War III Mon Feb 27, 2023 15:50 | The Saker
Public InquiryInterested in maladministration. Estd. 2005RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony Waiting for SIPO Anthony
Human Rights in IrelandPromoting Human Rights in Ireland
Lockdown Skeptics
Feed-In Tariff Scheme Costs Taxpayers ?1.86 Billion As Solar Power Declines and Payments Soar Sun Dec 29, 2024 11:00 | David Turver
Mega-Poll Shows Labour Would Lose Nearly 200 Seats Sun Dec 29, 2024 09:00 | Richard Eldred
If There Really is a ?Black Hole? in Britain?s Finances, the Cause is the Tories? Mismanagement of t... Sun Dec 29, 2024 07:00 | James Alexander
News Round-Up Sun Dec 29, 2024 00:40 | Richard Eldred
Bridget Phillipson Tried to Pull the Plug on New Free Speech Law Days After Election Sat Dec 28, 2024 19:00 | Toby Young |
Uganda Barbaric Law against Gays may be Passed Tomorrow
international |
rights, freedoms and repression |
news report
Tuesday May 10, 2011 13:29 by Justin Morahan
Twenty four hours left to protest Lesbians and gays are already living in fear and terror in Uganda. Tomorrow, Uganda is about to legislate them almost out of existence. Unless we stop it. Uganda is again on the point of re-introducing a law that will impose life imprisonment on people convicted of same sex relations and the death penalty for so-called "serial offenders". |
View Comments Titles Only
save preference
Comments (4 of 4)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4The Bill was not debated on Wednesday but unusually put back to a special debate Friday 13 May when Parliament should ordinarily be closed.
The following update has been posted by Avaaz:
"Great news -- the bill has has been shelved! Together, we've won a major fight for equality and justice. Over 1.6 million of us signed the petition opposing the anti-gay bill, tens of thousands of us called our heads of state, and we helped make the attack on gay rights in Uganda a major international news story -- and it worked.
Today, under intense global pressure, the Speaker of the Ugandan Parliament blocked the anti-gay bill from coming to a vote in the emergency session. Now Parliament has closed and the bill has been wiped from the books. It's not necessarily gone for good, but to be considered again, it would have to be reintroduced as a new bill and go through the whole Parliamentary process -- which took 18 months last time.
Our global outcry made it clear that the world is watching, and demanding that human rights be respected everywhere. Today, we can join our friends in Uganda in celebration of a victory that could save thousands of lives. "
Thanks to all who helped make a difference.
Wow, I never thought Avaaz made a whit of difference and was just free intelligence gathering for the authorities, but in light of this, maybe I need to rethink this opinion.
This is really great news for 10% of the population of Uganda.
Kudos to Avaaz. It seems this time it really was instrumental in bringing change for the better.
Good on you Humble Pie. Like Gandhi, you can change your mind when you learn something new. Here is the heart-warming Avaaz "thank you" to the 1.6 million (plus) who signed the petition and all who helped in any way to prevent the Bill becoming law.
"Uganda's anti-gay law has failed! It looked sure to pass last week, but after 1.6 million petition signatures delivered to Parliament, tens of thousands of phone calls to our own governments, hundreds of media stories* about our campaign and a massive global outcry, Ugandan politicians dropped the bill!
It was down to the wire - religious extremists tried to push the bill through on Wednesday, and then convened an unprecedented emergency session of Parliament on Friday. But each time, within hours, we reacted. *A huge congratulations to everyone who signed, called, forwarded and donated* to this campaign - with our help, thousands of innocent people in Uganda's gay community do not wake up this morning facing execution for whom they chose to love.
Frank Mugisha, a courageous leader of the gay community in Uganda sent us this message:
'Brave Ugandan LGBT activists and millions of people around the world have stood together and faced down this horrendous anti-homosexuality bill.The support from the Avaaz global community has tipped the scales to prevent this Bill going forward. Global solidarity has made a huge difference'
The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs' Office also wrote to Avaaz:
'Many thanks. As you know, thanks to a very large extent to the intensive lobbying and combined effort of you, other civil society representatives, EU and other governments, plus our delegation and embassies on the ground the Bill was not presented to the Parliament this morning.'
This fight is not over. The extremists behind this bill could try again within just 18 months. But this is the second time we've helped defeat this bill, and we'll keep going until the hate-mongers give up.
Transforming the deeper causes of ignorance and hatred behind homophobia is an historic, long term struggle, one of the great causes of our generation. But Uganda has become a front line in that struggle, and a powerful symbol. The victory there echoes across many other places where hope is desperately needed, showing that *kindness, love, tolerance and respect can defeat hatred and ignorance. Again, a huge thanks to all who made it happen.
With enormous gratitude and admiration for this amazing community,
Ricken, Emma, Iain, Alice, Giulia, Saloni and the whole Avaaz team.."