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Ugandan president signs anti-gay bill into law

Yoweri Museveni was in an ‘upbeat mood’

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Yoweri Museveni, Uganda, gay news, Washington Blade

Uganda President Yoweri Museveni (Photo by the U.K. Department for International Development; courtesy Wikimedia Commons).

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Monday signed a bill into law that imposes a life sentence upon anyone found guilty of repeated same-sex sexual acts.

“I have failed to understand that you can fail to be attracted to all these beautiful women and be attracted to a man,” Museveni told reporters as he signed the so-called Anti-Homosexuality Bill at his official residence in Entebbe, according to Agence France-Presse. “That is a really serious matter. There is something really wrong with you.”

The news agency reported Museveni described gays and lesbians as “mercenaries” who are actually “heterosexual people but because of money they say they are homosexuals.”

Museveni also said oral sex can cause worms, Hepatitis B and other sexually transmitted diseases.

“The mouth is for picking food, not for sex,” he said, according to Agence France-Presse. “We know the address for sex. That address (the mouth) is not for sex. The mouth is for eating not for sex. The mouth is engineered for kissing.”

Museveni signed the controversial measure less than a week after he rebuked President Obama’s criticism of him over the issue.

ā€œAfricans do not seek to impose their views on anybody,ā€ said Museveni in a Feb. 18 statement. ā€œWe do not want anybody to impose their views on us. This very debate was provoked by Western groups who come to our schools and try to recruit children into homosexuality. It is better to limit the damage rather than exacerbate it.ā€

Museveni said he sought “scientific opinions” on whether people were “born homosexual.”

The Ugandan president in his statement specifically cited Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights President Kerry Kennedy ā€“ with whom he met last month ā€“ for sending him information from U.S. scientists who said ā€œthere could be some indications that homosexuality could be congenital.ā€ Museveni said scientists from the Ugandan Ministry of Health and two other agencies came to a ā€œunanimous conclusionā€ that ā€œhomosexuality, contrary to my earlier thinking, was behavioral and not genetic.ā€

ā€œWhat I want them to clarify is whether a combination of genes can cause anybody to be homosexual,” added the Ugandan president in his Feb. 18 statement. “Then my task will be finished and I will sign the bill.ā€

Ofwondo Opondo, a spokesperson for the Ugandan government, noted on Twitter that Arizona lawmakers last week approved a bill that would allow businesses to deny services to gays and lesbians based on their religious beliefs.

“What is [President] Obama saying to Arizona state law just passed to deny gays services on religious grounds,” said Opondo.

Frank Mugisha, executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda, a Ugandan LGBT advocacy group, blasted Museveni.

“President Museveni’s scientific inquiry is a smokescreen for what is truly going on: political homophobia at its worst,” Mugisha told the Washington Blade. “Last month the President said he would not sign this fascist bill. But now, it seems he has sold us out for the votes of his party. It is politics ā€“ plain and simple ā€“ all at the expense of LGBTI Ugandans.”

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay is among those who also criticized the Ugandan president for signing the bill.

ā€œThis law violates a host of fundamental human rights, including the right to freedom from discrimination, to privacy, freedom of association, peaceful assembly, opinion and expression and equality before the law ā€“ all of which are enshrined in Ugandaā€™s own constitution and in the international treaties it has ratified,ā€ said Pillay.

Uganda is among the 70 countries in which homosexuality remains criminalized.

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), who met with Museveni last month during a trip to Uganda with four other American lawmakers, is among those who have urged the Ugandan president not to sign the Anti-Homosexuality Bill into law.

ā€œI certainly disagree with the controversial legislation that Uganda may enact in the coming days,ā€ the Oklahoma Republican told the Washington Blade last week. ā€œAs Iā€™ve said before, it is my hope that the country will abandon this unjust and harsh legislation.ā€

The Center for Constitutional Rights in March 2012 filed a federal lawsuit against Scott Lively on behalf of Sexual Minorities Uganda, a Ugandan LGBT rights group, that accuses the evangelical Christian of exploiting homophobic attitudes in the East African country and encouraging lawmakers to approve the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Judge Michael A. Posner of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts last August ruled the lawsuit can proceed.

Scott Lively, anti-gay, gay news, Washington Blade

Anti-gay activist Scott Lively spoke at the Coalition for Family Values press conference at the National Press Club on Feb. 21. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Lively described the Center for Constitutional Rights as a “Marxist law firm from New York City” during a Feb. 21 press conference at the National Press Club in downtown Washington where he and other anti-gay advocates announced the creation of a new organization designed to combat the global LGBT rights movement.

ā€œThe purpose of the lawsuit is to shut me up because I speak very articulately about the homosexual issue from a pro-family perspective,ā€ said Lively in response to the Blade’s question about the lawsuit and whether his new group will encourage additional anti-LGBT violence and discrimination in Uganda and other countries.

Lively categorized the Anti-Homosexuality Bill to the Blade as “overly harsh on its face, but this is typical of African criminal law across the continent.”

“Poor countries with limited criminal justice systems tend to rely on the harshness of the letter of the law to be a deterrent to criminals,” he said on Monday. “In practice, the sentencing is usually pretty lenient. Kenya, for example, has the death penalty for burglary, but burglars are definitely not being executed there.”

Lively added he has “explained this phenomenon” to more than two dozen journalists at “top media outlets that have interviewed me over the past couple of years, but none have included this perspective in their stories.”

“I guess it would undermine their efforts to bolster the ‘gay’ cause,” he told the Blade.

The Washington Blade will have more information on this story as it becomes available.

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Bidenā€™s acknowledgment of LGBTQ History Month ā€˜consequentialā€™

Equality Forum honors 31 new ā€˜iconsā€™ as annual commemoration kicks off

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Rep. Mark Pocan was honored with Equality Forumā€™s International Role Model Award. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

President Joe Biden signed a letter acknowledging Equality Forumā€™s LGBTQ History Month launch event held on Sunday, writing that, ā€œby celebrating stories of bravery, resilience and joy, your example inspires hope in all people seeking a life true to who they are.ā€

Malcolm Lazin, Equality Forum executive director, said Bidenā€™s letter is ā€œconsequential.ā€ He noted that one year before the White House delivered a proclamation for Black History Month, it issued a letter signed by the president.

ā€œIt’s our hope that next year, our nation’s 47th president will issue that proclamation for LGBT History Month,ā€ Lazin said.

Equality Forum is an LGBTQ civil rights organization with an educational focus based in Philadelphia. The groupā€™s work includes coordinating LGBTQ History Month, producing documentary films and overseeing the application for and installation of government-approved queer historic markers.

When spearheading LGBTQ History Month for the first time back in 2006, Lazin said many pushed back against the idea. Some media outlets claimed it was trying to turn straight people gay or promote pedophilia. 

But Lazin said the homophobic reactions died down when people were educated on topics that typically werenā€™t taught in a widespread way.

ā€œWe were demonized, marginalized, and vilified,ā€ Lazin said. ā€œOne of the certain principal ways you’re going to make headway is if you humanize who we are, and also educate people about the important contributions we make to our common society.ā€

Education has always been Equality Forumā€™s solution to societal backlash or controversy since its inception, Lazin said.

The organization got its start in 1993 under the name PrideFest Philadelphia. Lazin, who was the founder, said it was created during a time when Pride parades were the main focus of the LGBTQ community. 

In an effort to shift focus onto civil rights issues, PrideFest hosted its first LGBTQ summit that eventually transformed into an event featuring national and international organizations. Lazin said it was an effort to educate people on LGBTQ history as well as inform the community on queer rights around the world.

Though that event was terminated in 2020, Lazin is still focused on educating both queer and straight people on LGBTQ civil rights. Equality Forum honors 31 ā€œLGBTQ iconsā€ each year for every day in October.

This initiative began when Equality Forum started coordinating LGBTQ History Month back in 2006, but Lazin didnā€™t notice their efforts taking off until about five years in.

ā€œIn year one, people thought, ā€˜Oh yeah, those are like all the important names of the gay community,ā€™ā€ he said. ā€œPeople paid a little bit more attention the following years, and all of a sudden they’re recognizing, ā€˜Oh, in a certain sense I was clueless about the role models that the gay community has.ā€™ā€

This yearā€™s icons being recognized include names like singers George Michael, Luther Vandross, and Sam Smith; pioneering drag queen William Dorsey Swann; ā€œThe Bachelorā€ star Colton Underwood; Wisconsin Congressman Mark Pocan; and longtime Washington Blade Editor Kevin Naff.

Pocan received the International Role Model Award during Sundayā€™s LGBTQ History Month launch event. Itā€™s the longest-standing LGBTQ award in the nation, and has been presented to prominent figures like former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.

He said accepting the award allowed him to reflect on the progress thatā€™s been made in a relatively short time.

ā€œI was preparing to make some remarks for the event, and I realized that I’ve been kind of in the front row of a lot of the history making in the country, because more of our history is in the last several decades,ā€ Pocan told the Washington Blade. ā€œThere are significant moments in the past, but where the real improvements have happened have been more recent.ā€

In 1995, former President Bill Clinton invited Pocan, who is gay, and other LGBTQ elected officials to The White House for the first time. When they arrived and were going through security, Pocan said they noticed everyone was wearing blue gloves.

Initially assuming it was due to enhanced security following the aftermath of the Oklahoma City Bombing, Pocan said they later discovered the Secret Service agents thought they could contract AIDS from out elected officials.

He said the Secret Service issued an apology letter and the Clinton administration made it clear that wasnā€™t their policy. Even more memorable for Pocan was when then-Vice President Al Gore made it a point to shake everyoneā€™s hands at the event.

Comparing that memory to Bidenā€™s recent letter puts the advancements of LGBTQ rights into perspective for Pocan. He said thatā€™s the reason recognizing and remembering queer history is vital.

ā€œIf you donā€™t know the history, itā€™s too easy to repeat it,ā€ he said.

The fight to recognize the global work done toward advancing LGBTQ civil rights, however, isnā€™t over, Lazin said.

Many states are working to restrict LGBTQ topics from being taught in schools. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 1069 last year, dubbed ā€œDonā€™t Say Gayā€ by critics, to prohibit lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The New College of Florida faced backlash when photos of hundreds of library books, many containing LGBTQ topics, overflowing a dumpster were shared online. A New College spokesperson said the books were “taken after discovering that the library did not follow all of the state administrative requirements while conducting the routine disposition of materials.”

Despite what the future may hold for LGBTQ content in schools, Lazin said the resources Equality Forum promotes, including the website featuring 31 queer icons in October, are always available.

ā€œAt least on this site, students, teachers, and guidance counselors have resources,ā€ he said. ā€œSo if you’re an English teacher and you want to be celebrating LGBT History Month, click on poets, or click on authors. You’ve got a whole rich range of people to be able to bring into your curriculum.ā€

The reality of what LGBTQ History Month has become today is more than the work of one organization; Lazin said itā€™s the combined effort of local communities that are curious about their own history.

ā€œWhile we could not possibly take on doing the history of all the cities around the country or in North America or around the world, it really has helped to encourage people to appreciate that history and to make sure that it is well documented,ā€ Lazin said.

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LGBTQ groups mark National Hispanic Heritage Month

GLAAD screened ‘DĆ­melo’ at Sept. 20 event in Los Angeles

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(GLAAD screenshot)

Advocacy groups across the country are marking National Hispanic Heritage Month.

The Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles on Sept. 20 hosted a comedy night that featured Danielle Perez, Gabe GonzĆ”lez, Lorena Russ, and Roz Hernandez. The event, which GLAAD organized, also included a screening of “DĆ­melo,” a digital series the organization produced with LatiNation that features interviews with Latino comedians. 

A press release notes Damian Terriquez, Mimi Davila, Salina EsTitties, and Tony Rodriguez attended the event. GLAAD in a post on its website on Sept. 25 highlighted Essa Noche and other Latino drag queens.

“The art of drag has always been a vibrant expression of resistance, creativity, and identity, particularly within marginalized communities,” reads the post. “Latine drag artists not only embody the resilience and power of their heritage but also elevate queer voices in spaces where their visibility is often limited.”

EsTitties on Sept. 29 hosted QueerceaƱera, “an inclusive take on the coming-of-age quinceaƱera tradition throughout Latin America and the United States” the Los Angeles LGBT Center organized.

Celebrate Orgullo, which describes itself as the “first Hispanic and Indigenous LGBTQ+ festival in Greater Miami and Miami Beach,” will take place from Oct. 4-14. Unity Coalition|CoaliciĆ³n Unida, is organizing the events.

“The festival invites you to experience a warm and welcoming ‘wave’ of pride that celebrates what makes us unique while uniting us in a shared spirit of inclusion,” reads a press release.

GLSEN has posted to its website a list of resources for undocumented students.

“Especially in this political climate, it’s important not only to affirm LGBTQ Latinx identities with positive representation but also to ensure that students know how they’re protected, especially those who are among the most marginalized,” says GLSEN.

National Hispanic Heritage Month is from Sept. 15-Oct. 15.

Fenway Health in Boston on its website notes National Hispanic Heritage Month “honors and celebrates the vibrant histories, cultures, languages, traditions, values, and contributions of people whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.”

Hispanic Heritage Week began in 1968. It became National Hispanic Heritage Month in 1988.

Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua mark their respective Independence Days on Sept. 15. Mexico’s Independence Day is on Sept. 16, and Chile’s Independence Day is on Sept. 18. DĆ­a de la Raza is Oct. 12.

“Here at Fenway Health, we are grateful every day for the many Latino/a/Ć© staff members, clients, patients, volunteers, and supporters that are part of our community,” said Fenway Health. Their contributions and perspectives help drive Fenwayā€™s mission: To advocate for and deliver innovative, equitable, accessible health care, supportive services, and transformative research and education and to center LGBTQIA+ people, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and other people of color) individuals, and other underserved communities to enable our local, national, and global neighbors to flourish.”

President Joe Biden in his National Hispanic Heritage Month proclamation made a similar point.

“In our country, Latino leaders are striving for the American Dream and helping those around them reach it too,” he said. “From those who have been here for generations to those who have recently arrived, Latinos have pushed our great American experiment forward.”  

The proclamation also acknowledges Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Small Business Administration Administrator Isabel Guzman, and other Latino members of his administration.

“I am proud to work with incredible Latino leaders, who are dedicated to bettering our nation every day,” said Biden.

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Advocacy groups mark Banned Books Week

ā€˜Book bans have no place in our democracyā€™

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"All Boys Aren't Blue" and "Gender Queer" (Photos via Amazon)

People across the country from Sept. 22-28 are observing Banned Books Week, which has taken on added significance amid a surge of censorship efforts.

Banned Books Week, organized by PFLAG and a coalition of other advocacy groups, literary organizations, and educational institutions, seeks to raise awareness about efforts to remove content from public libraries, schools, and bookstores.

The current wave of book bans, which began intensifying in 2021, is driven primarily by conservative groups who disproportionately target titles featuring the voices and experiences of LGBTQ people and people of color.

ā€œThis is part of an organized effort to divide our communities by stoking fears against LGBTQ+ people, Black people, and immigrants,ā€ PFLAG Vice President of Advocacy Katie Blair said. ā€œ[It] is targeted not only to banning books and censoring schools, but to infiltrating the lives of LGBTQ+ people and those who love them.ā€

While LGBTQ books have always been a target of book bans, censorship efforts in recent years are more focused on restricting access to LGBTQ content than in the past.

The Washington Post reports ā€œLGBTQ books were the targets of between less than 1 and 3 percent of book challenges filed in schoolsā€ from the 2000s to the early 2010s. In 2022, however, 45.5 percent of unique titles that were challenged were written by or about LGBTQ people.

ā€œBook bans have no place in our democracy,ā€ the Congressional Equality Caucus said in a post to its X account.

On the American Library Associationā€™s 2023 list of the 10 most challenged books, seven books featured LGBTQ voices; with Maia Kobabeā€™s ā€œGender Queer,ā€ George M. Johnsonā€™s ā€œAll Boys Arenā€™t Blue,ā€ and Juno Dawsonā€™s ā€œThis Book is Gayā€ topping the list.

The consequences of restricting access to LGBTQ stories and voices are far reaching especially for young people, Blair said.

ā€œThese bans contribute to the erasure of our communities and our histories, and all our stories deserve to be told. We believe that all students deserve the freedom to learn. They deserve to be able to develop their critical thinking skills, to be in schools that are open and affirming,ā€ she said.

Deborah Caldwell-Stone, the director of the ALAā€™s Office of Intellectual Freedom, said another difference in the current wave of censorship is that most calls to censor books in school libraries and public libraries are now driven by organized advocacy groups.

She explained that in the past, most book challenges were initiated by parents and guardians who were concerned about a particular book their child was reading and brought those concerns to a teacher or librarian.

ā€œBut now weā€™re seeing organized groups or their spokespersons showing up at board meetings demanding the censorship of sometimes hundreds of titles all at once. And we’re seeing state legislatures pass laws that are intended to remove hundreds of books, if not thousands of books, all at once, from library shelves,ā€ she said.

Between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31, 2024, ALAā€™s Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 1,128 unique titles targeted for censorship. While this number marks a decline from the 1,915 titles challenged during the same period in 2023, it remains far higher than pre-2020 levels, when challenges hovered between 200 and 300 unique titles annually.

Moreover, PEN America, which tracks the total number of book bans rather than unique titles, counted more than 10,000 books that were banned in public schools during the 2023-2024 school year, nearly triple the amount from the previous year. Both ALA and PEN America’s reports exclude instances of soft censorship, where libraries and organizations preemptively avoid purchasing certain books or restrict access due to fear of potential challenges.

According to PEN America, around 8,000 books were banned in Florida and Iowa alone. Both states passed laws in recent years restricting access to books in schools that depict or describe sex. The vague language of the laws has drawn criticism for exacerbating soft censorship, and has often been interpreted to ban books with discussions of gender and LGBTQ identities.

Vera Eidelman, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Unionā€™s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, said, it is ā€œnot clear what [the language] means, and that is a problem in and of itself, because if teachers and librarians and other educators face discipline for violating that law, and they donā€™t know what the law means, thatā€™s a due process problem.ā€

She noted that the laws have been and are being challenged on grounds of vagueness, and for violating the First Amendment.

Banned Books Week, which library activist Judith Krug founded in 1982, will culminate in ā€œLet Freedom Read Dayā€ on Saturday, on which organizers urge people to take at least one action to defend the freedom to read, such as participating in this yearā€™s elections.

Caldwell-Stone emphasized the importance of being engaged at all levels of government.

ā€œThis is an intensely local issue,ā€ she said. ā€œWhile we are seeing state legislation intended to engage in broad censorship across the state, primarily these decisions are made at the local level.ā€

Moreover, PEN America, which tracks each instance of a book ban, recorded a preliminary total of more than 10,000 books banned in public schools during the 2023-2024 school year in a preliminary count, nearly triple the amount from the previous year.

Throughout the week, filmmaker Ava DuVernay and student activist Julia Garnett, the honorary chairs of this yearā€™s Banned Books Week, are discussing the various ways people can stand up against censorship attempts in virtual events accessible through the Banned Books Week website.

Libraries in D.C. and across the nation, meanwhile, are hosting readings, art exhibitions, and other activities to educate families about the freedom to read.

The Anne Arundel County Public Library system on Wednesday held an event to celebrate its launch as a ā€œbook sanctuary,ā€ designating its libraries as ā€œsafe havens where the freedom to read is fiercely protected.ā€

Caldwell-Stone recommends those who are interested in countering up to censorship efforts view the action toolkit available at www.uniteagainstbookbans.org and the ALAā€™s ā€œReader. Voter. Ready.ā€ guide at www.ala.org.

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