By Sam Giorgi, Staff Writer
Uganda has recently come under a lot of scrutiny in the Western world for its political views regarding homosexuality. The Anti-Homosexuality Act was signed into law by Yoweri Museveni, The President of Uganda, on Feb. 24. The act originally proposed the death penalty, coining the nickname the “Kill the Gays bill” in the media. Its penalty has since changed to a potential life in prison.
The plight of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community in the United States is well known. The main concern is marriage equality. Seventeen of our fifty states have legalized same-sex marriage, and many European countries have as well. Because of the growing acceptance, governments are scandalized by the introduction of The Anti-Homosexuality Act in Uganda and are threatening to pull their financial support from the country. Some European countries have already pulled their donations, and the United States is presently considering doing the same. According to BBC News, the country receives a reported $400 million annually, which would be a huge hit to Uganda’s donated income.
The obvious dilemma here is weighing the importance of political relations and a countrys’ morals. For those countries that have already pulled their aid, their decision has been clearly made. However, is it right to impose Western views of right and wrong on other countries? The obvious answer is no.
David Bahati, a Ugandan politician who initially sought the death penalty for homosexuality, claims that threatening to pull aid is practically blackmail. Reuters comments that he stated taking the hits from pulled donations is worth it because they’ll be retaining their values. The Ugandan government may seek aid from other countries with less bias in order to escape imperialism from Western donators. With similar conservative views existing in many other countries, they may be able to do just that. The bill has many supporters inside and outside of Uganda despite the overwhelming Western criticism of it.
The issue is a conflict of values on both sides of the argument. It seems that the Ugandan government, despite the threats of pulled donations, is standing its ground. Similarly, so are the Western governments who believe The Anti-Homosexuality Act is a blatant affront to human rights. The pulled donations are already having an effect on Uganda’s economy, but the long-term effects are yet to be seen.
