Maddow: Conservatives who pushed 'Kill the Gays' bill in Uganda are back at it again in Africa — and the United States
May 01, 2023
On Monday, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow recalled a 2009 story about Republican lawmakers who went to Uganda, pretending to be experts in sexual orientation. At the time, they encouraged the country to have zero tolerance for homosexuality in their country and said it was what was a problem in the United States.
So, Uganda drafted what became known as the "Kill the Gays" bill, which would require all homosexual people to be hanged. The backlash was so huge that the Republicans claimed that they had nothing to do with that and that they would never have suggested something so extreme.
But Maddow recalled speaking to those on the ground in Uganda who made it clear that those Republicans and conservatives were the ones that inspired the "Kill the Gays" bill.
Now, that policy is mainstream in the GOP in the United States, she explained with a slew of headlines splashed on the screen. And a conservative Arizona group is pushing the same law again.
"For all of the damage they managed to do in Uganda, here at home, they really were the fringiest of the fringe," she said. "Homosexuals are on a mission to steal your children, and we have to make it illegal! That was way out there in 2009, even for far-right politicians supportive of those evangelical groups. Now that same message that gay people are out to get you, gay people, trans people and drag queens are on a mission to steal your children and undermine society. We have to make it illegal. That's kind of the Republican platform. They could agree on nothing else in 2023 but that. What was fringe in 2009 is now mainstream Republican politics in 2023. And when our domestic far right is even more unleashed like that at home, guess what the implications are for that around the world? The 'Kill the Gays' law is back. And it is more insane now. And yes, right-wing Americans are helping with it again."
Maddow interviewed one of the LGBTQ activists from Uganda about the new effort by the country to put homosexuals in prison for life, while others will still be put to death.
"Just a few weeks ago, the parliament in Uganda passed what amounts to a new 'Kill the Gays' bill to impose the death penalty for certain offenses, life in prison for anybody who has gay sex, makes it illegal to advocate for the rights of LGBTQIA people," Maddow explained. That "would carry a prison sentence of 20 years as a penalty."
Already LGBTQ people are fleeing to Kenya — which is only marginally better than Uganda. But at least they won't be killed there.
An Arizona organization named Family Watch International, which is also behind the anti-gay teacher bills similar to Gov. Ron DeSantis' "Don't Say Gay" bill, sought an Arizona law that would ban teachers from helping a scared student looking for someone to talk to. Not only would teachers lose their license and their jobs, but the parents could sue the teacher personally.
That same group is pushing various African countries to fight back against LGBTQ equality and to pass bills like Uganda first did.
See Maddow's interview with the activist below or at the link here.
Part 1:
Part 2 - the interview:
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