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Clinton Condemns International Homophobia


HILLARY CLINTON X390 (GETTY IMAGES) | ADVOCATE.COM

On the eve of World AIDS Day, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Monday made the strongest statement yet by an administration official that the United States will not tolerate efforts to criminalize homosexuality among countries that receive U.S. funding to combat HIV/AIDS.

“Obviously, our efforts are hampered whenever discrimination or marginalization of certain populations results in less effective outreach and treatment. So we will work not only to ensure access for all who need it but also to combat discrimination more broadly,” she said during a press conference in which officials also announced that the XIX International AIDS Conference, set for 2012, will be held in United States — the first time the conference has been held here since 1990. “We have to stand against any efforts to marginalize and criminalize and penalize members of the LGBT community worldwide.”

Specifically at issue is pending legislation in Uganda that would extend the punishment for engaging in gay sex to life imprisonment and introduce the death penalty for those who do so repeatedly or while HIV-positive — acts termed "aggravated homosexuality” within the bill.

Mark Bromley, chair of the Council for Global Equality, said he was pleased to see Secretary Clinton take a firm stand against antigay bigotry.

“The United States must make it absolutely clear to Uganda that the passage of the bill, which includes a death penalty provision and criminalizes those who fail to report suspected homosexuals to the authorities, would substantially impact our bilateral relationship and our health investments in that country,” he said.

The United States recently pledged to provide Uganda with nearly $250 million in development assistance, mainly to promote health, agriculture, and business initiatives. The grant was announced when the assistant secretary of State for African affairs, Johnnie Carson, met with Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni in late October.

Clinton’s comments came on the heels of an interview with Ambassador Eric Goosby, the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, that concerned many HIV/AIDS activists.

“My role is to be supportive and helpful to the patients who need these services. It is not to tell a country how to put forward their legislation,” Goosby said of Uganda last week during a Newsweek interview.

Many HIV/AIDS activists felt that Goosby’s comments signaled a certain tone-deafness by the Obama administration to the Ugandan issue. But one person who consults regularly with the Department of State said the agency has been heavily engaged with Ugandan officials regarding the fate of the legislation.

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Reader Comments
  • Name: John M. League
    Date posted: 12/3/2009 11:07:36 PM
    Hometown: Baltimore MD

    Comment:

    To Danell...Kudos you are correct. GLBT Americans are discrimnated against by the very government Ms. Clinton works for...it is time for the USA to treat ALL its citizens fairly before denouncing another country...to the USA - charity starts at home..so should equal rights...

  • Name: Jason
    Date posted: 12/2/2009 5:39:45 PM
    Hometown: Los Angeles

    Comment:

    "Finally, we must draw on the strength of our values – for the challenges that we face may have changed, but the things that we believe in must not. That is why we must promote our values by living them at home – which is why I have prohibited torture and will close the prison at Guantanamo Bay. And we must make it clear to every man, woman and child around the world who lives under the dark cloud of tyranny that America will speak out on behalf of their human rights, and tend to the light of freedom, and justice, and opportunity, and respect for the dignity of all peoples. That is who we are. That is the moral source of America's authority." President Obama December 1, 2009. Unless of course, you are openly gay and want to fight in the military, or hope to move your foreign born husband to this blessed land. Hypocrites.

  • Name: danell
    Date posted: 12/1/2009 4:03:29 PM
    Hometown: ca

    Comment:

    I think it's nice that Ms Clinton is fighting for the rights of gays in other counterys but wouldnt it be nice if gays in the US were treated equal first? How do we preach to other countrys when the gay population in the us is raging over equality!

  • Name: Corey Mondello
    Date posted: 12/1/2009 9:14:45 AM
    Hometown: Boston, MA

    Comment:

    Too bad Clinton and all the others aren’t fighting much harder for equal rights for all people while they complain to China and the Middle Eastern worlds about their equal rights/human rights records. Gimme a f-ing break!!! the USA wont ban land mines, support the decriminalization of homosexuality around the world, send our troops into "war" with life saving armor and vehicles, and ban many of the hundred of toxic chemicals Americans ingest even though most other countries do, as well as offer their folks health care and education. The USA may be the best place in the world to be born, but it is not the best place to live by far. ... makes me sick to my stomach!!!!!!!!

  • Name: newz4i
    Date posted: 11/30/2009 7:24:33 PM
    Hometown: Phoenix

    Comment:

    please excuse my above post. copy/paste didn't work correctly ... sorry) Huffington Post headline: Rick Warren Refuses to condemn Proposed Ugandan Law to execute gays. (Rick Warren on Meet the Press: I love all people. HUH? I DON'T THINK SO)

  • Name: newz4i
    Date posted: 11/30/2009 7:21:09 PM
    Hometown: Phoenix

    Comment:

    amnesty to 20 million illegals



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