This afternoon the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission held a hearing on Capitol Hill on the draft bill in Uganda that would subject LGBT people to life in prison or the death penalty. HRC’s Ty Cobb was at the hearing and will provide a full wrap-up here tomorrow.
HRC President Joe Solmonese submitted written testimony [pdf] for the hearing saying in part:
As the story behind this legislation has unraveled over the last several months, we have learned that the impetus for Uganda’s proposed legislation did not originate in Uganda, but came from individuals that live within our own country’s borders. American Evangelicals, posing as “experts” on homosexuality, led a conference in Uganda in March 2009 on the “dangerous gay agenda,” and provided advice on making gay people straight. The inflammatory rhetoric of these American Evangelicals, along with the influence of other Americans visiting Uganda and espousing lies about LGBT individuals, set the stage for this draconian legislation. These individuals must not hide behind a curtain now that their rhetoric has spawned anti-LGBT legislation.
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