• ELIXHER
• On February 28, 2014

Earlier this week, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed into law the anti-gay bill that had been floating around for years. Back in 2009, three American evangelical Christians and Ugandan officials held a conference to discuss the so-called “gay agenda.” After several amendments and reinterpretation, the law imposes harsh sentences for same-sex acts, including life imprisonment in some cases.

In a troubling interview with CNN President Museveni said that sexual behavior is a matter of choice. Dean Hamer, scientist emeritus at the National Institutes of Health, penned an open letter to the Ugandan scientists in the New York Times last week urging them to reconsider and revise their report. “There is no scientific evidence that homosexual orientation is a learned behavior any more than is heterosexual orientation,” he concluded in his response.

Earlier this month, President Obama stated that the legislation is not just morally wrong, it complicates a valued relationship.

“Now that this law has been enacted, we are beginning an internal review of our relationship with the Government of Uganda,” sated Secretary of State John Kerry.

The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), the nation’s leading Black LGBT civil rights organization, also issued a statement.

“These horrific, inhumane abuses are happening under our watch,” said Sharon Lettman-Hicks, NBJC Executive Director and CEO. “As we work vigorously to end racism and homophobia, it is essential that we petition our government here in the United States to take a stand against these international tragedies that are occurring daily to our Black LGBT brothers and sisters overseas.”