Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni has been blocked from
accessing a hotel in Texas over his anti-gay stance. The move was said to have
been made by a gay activist according to the President’s office.
The president came under severe condemnation
from the international community after the Ugandan parliament passed a bill
earlier this year that would see homosexuals potentially jailed for life,
although the legislation was struck down by the east African nation’s
constitutional court.
Museveni had visited Irving, Texas last week to meet
potential investors and members of the Ugandan diaspora.
“My people made hotel bookings for me, but homosexuals
blocked it,” Museveni was quoted as saying by his spokeswoman Sarah Kagingo.
“I said, tell those people who invited me to find me where to
sleep. Am not dying to come to Texas,” the president said.
The president was initially booked to stay at a five-star
hotel in Irving, but lobbying from gay rights activists reportedly prompted the
hotel to cancel his booking. Officials in Uganda said the president finally
managed to find alternative accommodation.
The proposed anti-gay law is popular domestically, but was
branded draconian and “abominable” by rights groups and condemned by several
key donors. It was overturned on a technicality — the lack of a quorum — by the
constitutional court on August 1.
Ugandan deputies are currently working to reintroduce to the
bill for a new vote in parliament, and are confident that they have the
necessary support from MPs.
Homosexuality remains illegal in Uganda and punishable by a
jail sentence, even without the tough new law.
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