Bishop Gene Robinson says that “Ugandan lawmakers and government leaders need to know that the world is watching, and that passage of such a bill will have political, diplomatic, and financial repercussions.”
He and Andre Banks write in the Huffington Post:
…this law would have far-reaching effects on the whole population and not just its lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, or LGBT, citizens. One of the problems with AIDS in Uganda and elsewhere is that people don’t know their HIV status, and they may be spreading the virus to everyone in their sexual network.
This proposed law will make everyone more afraid to be tested for fear of being labeled “homosexual,” and imprisonment would come along with that label. Such a move puts the fight against HIV in a more precarious position for everyone in Uganda — not just gays and lesbians.
The American — and indeed, worldwide — LGBT community and its allies voiced their outrage when the “Kill the Gays” bill was first proposed last year. It represented a maturing of our community, thinking far beyond the bounds of our own civil rights and social comfort and instead beginning to care deeply about the lives of LGBT people beyond our national borders.
It’s time to do so again.
They recommend an on-line petition here online sponsored by All Out, a new global LGBT campaign organization.