White House condemns Uganda's Anti-Gay Bill

“The President strongly opposes efforts, such as the draft law pending in Uganda, that would criminalize homosexuality and move against the tide of history,” read the White House statement that came late Friday in response to an inquiry from The Advocate.

The bill in question 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.

But according to reporting by Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin, the tide may be starting to turn on the bill. A senior advisor to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni penned an opinion piece Friday in the state-run newspaper that referred to the measure as "draconian" and concluded "...hunting down people for same-sex love, I believe to be a sin, against Love, one of God’s greatest gifts to mankind. (I say all this without being a homosexual.) Parliament should not pass this Bill."

Though the White House had been silent on the Uganda issue until Friday, the State Department sent warning signals last week. On the eve of World AIDS Day, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, "We have to stand against any efforts to marginalize and criminalize and penalize members of the LGBT community worldwide." But Clinton stopped short of specifically referencing the Uganda measure.

Later that week, the State Department reportedly issued "guidance" on the bill that read, “We are disturbed by violence, harassment, discrimination, exclusion, stigmatization and prejudice that are directed against persons in all countries in the world because of sexual orientation or gender identity. We condemn human rights violations based on sexual orientation or gender identity wherever they occur. We urge states to take all the necessary measures to ensure that sexual orientation or gender identity may under no circumstances be the basis for criminal penalties– in particular, execution arrest or detention. If adopted a bill further criminalizing homosexuality would constitute a significant step backwards for the protection of human rights in Uganda.”