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WORLD & NATION WWW.GUILFORDIAN.COM mmm Anti-Homosexuality Bill signed by president of Uganda BY VALERIA SOSA Swr Wurrai On Oct. 13,2009, David Bahati, a member of the Parliament of Uganda, introduced the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. On Dec. 17, 2013, the bill was passed in Parliament. On Feb. 24, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed the bill into law. Despite criticism from President Obama and former President Bill Clinton and warnings that signing the bill would complicate relations between Uganda and the U.S., Museveni refused to budge. "We have been disappointed for a long time by the conduct of the West," Museveni told CNN. "Our disappointment is now exacerbated because we are sorry to see that you live the way you live, but we keep quiet about it. Now you say, 'you must also live like us.' That's where we say 'no.'" Simon Lokodo, Uganda's ethics and integrity minister, also deemed Western criticism to be intrusive. "Will they be comfortable if we come to America and started practicing polygamy?" Lokodo asked CNN. "Homosexuality is strange to us, and polygamy is strange to you. We have divergent views. When they call me wrong, I will call them wrong." In Uganda, homosexuality first became punishable by law in the 19th century imder British rule and has since remained a criminal offense and a taboo subject. When the Anti-Homosexuality Bill was passed by Parliament, however, many spoke up. Seventy-seven clinicians, researchers and academics from 17 different countries and 14 organizations signed an open letter addressed to Museveni, debunking arrest, violence and discrimination will lead to medical care being less available to these men, according to the open letter. The health implications of the anti-gay bill, however, transcend HIV treatment. 'LGBT will likely (have less access to) myths about homosexuality and predicting medical care altogether for fear of being detrimental impacts of the bill on public identified as LGBT, ^d providers may be health and human rights. forced to stop providing medical services Coleen Cunningham, Chief of Pediatric to people who identify as LGBT, as the Global Health at Duke University Medical Center, was one of 77 to sign the letter. "There are many health implications (of passing the bill)," Cunningham told The Guilfordian. "MSM (men who have sex with other men) throughout the world have dramatically increased risk of becoming HIV- infected and would benefit from education to prevent HIV ... and enhanced diagnosis and early treatment efforts. "However, if men are afraid to tell their medical providers that they are gay, then the provider is not able to target the optimal care to the high-risk individual." According to UNICEF, in 2011, 7.2 percent of Ugandan adults had HTV. \A^th the passage of the anti-gay bill, fear of "We have to protect our children from this dirty homosexual affront." Giles Muhome, managing editor of the Ugandan tabloid Rolling Stone providers can also be arrested under the new law," said Cunningham. Ugandan culture presents a history of violence and discrimination against the LGBTQA community. In 2012, "Call Me Kuchu," an American documentary, examined the struggles of the LGBTQA community in Uganda. The film focmsed in part on the murder of David Kato, a prominent LGBTQA rights advocate. Kato's death followed the publishing of his name and address along with the names and addresses of 99 other "alleged homosexuals" in Rolling Stone, a Ugandan weekly tabloid. "Hang them," said the tabloid's cover. After wifming a lawsuit against the tabloid, Kato was murdered in broad daylight in 2011. Giles Muhame, managing editor of Rolling Stone, showed no remorse for publishing the names after Kato's death. "I haven't seen the court's injimction, but the war against the gays will and must continue," Muhame told Reuters. "We have to protect our children from this dirty homosexual affront." Following Kato's death three years ago, Kato's friend Dr. Paul Semugoma, also a prominent LGBTQA rights activist, moved to South Africa with his partner in fear of violence and persecution. On Feb. 18, the Department of Home Affairs arrested Semugoma upon his arrival to South Africa from a trip to Zimbabwe, claiming that his visa had expired. According to Lavinia Browne, liaison for the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation, Semugoma was being held in cmstody without being served meals or given clean clothing. Semugoma resisted deportation to Uganda for fear of being persecuted upon his return. According to gay achvists- in Uganda, Semugoma is on a wanted list in Uganda for his LGBTQA activism On Feb. 20, the South African government agreed to grant Semugoma a four-year exceptional skills work permit in return for Semugoma dropping his cdaim for political asylum. The danger of being LGBTQA in Uganda is high. The price of fighting against that danger? Even higher. Venezuelan government cracks down on protests BY MAILE MUNRO Stmt Wiunm Protests across Venezuela turned violent last week, resulting in at least 13 protestors dead and hundreds more injured. Youth-led protests began peacefully in reaction to soaring crime rates and a debilitating inflation rate of 56 percent, currently the highest in the world. Essentials such as milk and sugar are scarce, and the black market is thriving as the government has cracked down on foreign exchange policies in an effort to restore the bolivar fuerte, Venezuela's currency, to original value. "If you have a society that has no institutional channels to raise its complaints, make demands and form policy, the tradition in Venezuela and in Latin America — and I think throughout the world — is to take to the streets," said Margarita Lopez Maya, a historian in Caracas, Venezuela, who studies protest movements, to The New York Times. As the nonviolent protests gained momentum and evolved into rowdy riots, the government took measures to strengthen its grip on the coimtry. Over 500 protestors have been arrested, and Venezuelan military forces are now taking to the streets in hopes of reining in the protests. Along with the physical violence playing out in cities across Venezuela, the government has stifled the majority of independent media outlets. "ILs a huge detriment and almost an insult to the citizens Maracaibo City is only one of the places in Venezuela where protests, especially those against the government, have become violent. of Venezuela, especially to the students who are protesting," said sophomore Venezuelan Victoria Saraldi, whose father lives in Caracas. "Their basic rights to fiieedom of sp>eech and freedom of expression have b^n pretty much abolished by the current 'government.'" Venezuela's constitution expressly prohibits any form of censorship that would restrict a citizen's freedom of expression. Yet, Freedom House reports that the Social Responsibility in Radio, Television, and Elecironic Media Law of 2004 gives the government rights to ban any content that "incites or promotes hatred, disresp>ects authorities, encourages assassination or constitutes war propaganda." The Venezuelan reporters' trade union reported that, as of Feb. 17, 11 journalists were arrested while covering the protests. Other journalists had their cameras smashed and were beaten away from the action. As television cJiannels are shut down and newspapjers are forced to stop printing due to paper shortages, activists have taken to a safer alternative: social media. "Privacy is dead," said Robert Duncan, visiting assistant professor of political science. "Governments can no longer control information. The beauty of the digital age and elecironics is that there are so many work-arounds, so many ways to penetrate the information." While the Venezuelan government struggles to limit access to this information, it also blames the Obama administration for supporting anti-government sentiment throughout the nation, although U.S. officials have issued several press releases den^^g any involvement. "I don't think we are actively involved," said Duncan, also a former CIA employee. "And if we are, it is in cxivert aciions. It's secret, so (the public) wouldn't know of it anyway." Venezuelan authorities demanded that three U.S. diplomats leave the country on Feb. 17 for campaigning on behalf of the protestors. International specrulation continues as these protests soldier on and people around the world show their support for aciivists in Venezuela through social media. Trending now: #SOSVenezuela and #PrayforVenezuela.'
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