US tutors Uganda on Homophobia while its own record remains dismal
US tutors Uganda on Homophobia while its own record remains dismal
Washington: Earlier this month a report by the FBI revealed that hate crimes against Black people, and sexual and ethnic minorities in US rose by 11.6 per cent in 2021. Now, the White House has announced to cut down economic support for Uganda as it passed the Anti-Homosexuality Act this week.
Flagging “grave concerns” over the act, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “If the AHA is signed into law and enacted, it would impinge upon universal human rights, jeopardize progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS, deter tourism and [investment] in Uganda, and damage Uganda’s international reputation.”
John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, warned that if the laws are enacted US would have to consider the possibility of imposing economic penalties on the country.
Kirby said, “We’re — we’re certainly watching this real closely. And we would have to take a look at whether or not there might be repercussions that we would have to take, perhaps in an economic way, should this law actually get passed — enacted.”
USA’s own tales of hate crime
US is not new to hate crime against minorities. The Federal Bureau of Investigation reported that 64.5 per cent of hate crimes in 2021 were targeted against victims of ethnicity, sexuality and religion.
While 15.9 per cent of sexual minorities were targeted. As many as 543 incidents of hate crimes were motivated by anti-LGBTQ sentiments.
According to a study by UCLA School of Law, gay people are nine times more likely to be victims of hate crimes in US than non-LGBTQ people.
More than 300 anti-LGBTQ bills filed in 2023
Just three months into 2023 and state legislatures across US have already signed more than 300 bills targeting the LGBTQ community.
Legislative researcher Allison Chapman said that the largest number of such bills aim to ban gender-affirming care, followed by 44 of Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ styled bills and 39 transgender sports ban.
“We are in truly unprecedented times. Nearly the entirety of bills introduced during the whole 2022 legislative session,” said Chapman.
‘Watching this real closely’
John Kirby noted that the passage of the Anti-LGBTQ bill will be “really unfortunate” for Uganda as most US aide to the country is in the form of health assistance.
He said, “And you can see a world in which, you know, a law like this, should it be enacted, would not only, as Karine rightly said, just be devastating to a whole community of people inside of Uganda, but if it were to have any kind of an effect on our economic assistance, that would only make that worse.”
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