Wyden Asks for Review of Ugandan Trade Status in Light of Anti-Gay Bill

Students at Southridge High School in Beaverton aren't the only ones taking action against Uganda's barbarous Anti-Homosexuality Bill.

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) recently sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stating, “I strongly urge you to communicate immediately to the Ugandan government, and President Yoweri Museveni directly, that Uganda's beneficiary status under AGOA will be revoked should the proposed legislation be enacted.”

Wyden is the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee's subcommittee on International Trade and AGOA refers to the African Growth and Opportunity Act. What Wyden is saying is that if the Ugandan Parliament passes the proposed anti-gay legislation—which would incarcerate or possibly sentence to death citizens for being lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender— it will violate the AGOA, which requires that beneficiaries not engage in “gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.”

The AGOA has granted Ugandan imports to the United States duty-free status since its passage in 2000.

Meanwhile, Southridge students continue to work hard to call attention to what's going on in Uganda, and are organizing a large demonstration Jan. 23 against what's going on in Uganda.