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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2013 - 2014
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | February 24, 2014 04:39 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Mark B. Cohen |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Resolution condemning Uganda and Nigeria for civil rights violations of LGBT individuals |
| In the near future I will introduce a resolution condemning the governments of Uganda and Nigeria for violations of the civil rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) individuals. The resolution will also urge members of the Parliament of Uganda to repeal discriminatory legislation signed by President Yoweri Museveni and urge the government of Nigeria to repeal prohibition on same-sex organizations and relationships. On February 24, 2014, President Museveni of Uganda signed legislation providing penalties ranging from 14 years imprisonment to a life sentence for repeated consensual sexual acts between adults of the same gender. The law also prescribed imprisonment for failure to report homosexuals and homosexual behavior and for performing same-sex marriages. On January 17, 2014, President Museveni, described LGBT individuals as "sick people who need help.” On January 7, 2014, Nigeria, Africa's most populous and politically influential nation, enacted the "Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act," which criminalizes same-sex marriage and membership in or support of any LGBT organization. Police in the northern Nigerian state of Bauchi arrested and allegedly tortured dozens of men suspected of being gay. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan publicly committed to alleviating the epidemic of HIV-AIDS, affecting 34 million Nigerians, while simultaneously signing into law the discriminatory and counterproductive legislation. HIV-AIDS programs established to assist the Nigerian LGBT community, of which 17% is affected by HIV-AIDS, is now effectively illegal. United States Secretary of State John Kerry denounced Nigeria's law for "dangerously restrict[ing] freedom of assembly, association and expression for all Nigerians.” Please join me in condemning these human rights violations by co-sponsoring this resolution. If you have any questions, please contact Kim Hileman of my office at 787-4117 or khileman@pahouse.net. |
Introduced as HR788