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This morning, I sent the following email to my city’s Ottawa representative, Rick Dykstra, MP (Conservative) for St Catharines, Ontario:
Dear Mr Dykstra,
I’d like to ask you, as my representative in Ottawa, to implore Prime Minister Stephen Harper to do all he can to take a stand against Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009.
I know that in 2009, the PM spoke with President Museveni and told him that the proposed legislation was a breach of human rights. The bill is being brought before the Parliament of Uganda for a second reading this week, however, and concerned people across the entire political spectrum are raising their voices in protest.
The law, which has been dubbed the “Kill the Gays” bill, will impose sentences ranging from life imprisonment to the death penalty for homosexuals and anyone supporting or aiding them. This article I wrote in 2010 explains the content of the bill and its effects clearly, with relevant excerpts.
Please do all you can to ensure Canada, as a nation with a worldwide reputation for fairness and freedom, makes its voice heard on this ugly and intolerable assault on human dignity and life.
Yours truly,
[David L Rattigan]
St Catharines
Feel free to adapt my letter to send to your own MP or representative.
For more information on the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009, as well as surrounding issues of homophobic violence in Uganda, see the Ex-Gay Watch archives on Uganda.
Update: The Guardian (UK) is reporting that the bill has been temporarily shelved.
Second update: Now hearing that the bill is back on Uganda’s parliamentary agenda. One thing I’ve learned while covering this story the last few years is that the story changes every day.
Third update (May 19): It’s one week later, and conflicting stories are still coming out regularly whether the bill is on or off the parliamentary agenda. Rick Dykstra has written me back describing the proposed laws as “an affront to … human rights and freedom,” and “repugnant.” He points me to now-Minister for Foreign Affairs John Baird’s statement (as an MP) that the legislation is “vile and abhorrent,” and “offensive … [to] Canadian values … [and] decency.” Dykstra expects an official response to the Ugandan situation to be forthcoming from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT).
