Welcome to the Hop Against Homophobia and Transphobia 2014

Today, May 17th, is the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (also known as IDAHO). Groups around the world will be celebrating the day in various ways and you can follow it all through the IDAHO page: http://www.dayagainsthomophobia.org/

We, right around 130 writers, publishers, reviewers, and cover designers of LGBT books want to make an effort as well by sharing messages with our readers and other blog visitors. This is the hop's third year, and in both our prior years we've had huge success in reaching a diverse group of people around the globe. We've decided to do it again, because there's no sense messing with success, right? We encourage you to visit all the hop locations. There will be an LGBT-related prize at each stop.

From the all volunteer staff here at HAHAT, we want to take a moment to extend our gratitude to all who have donated, be it in time, prizes to give away on their blogs, or simply the courage to stand up for what we here at HAHAT believe to be an invaluable message of acceptance.

Thank you,

Hop Against Homophobia and Transphobia 2014

Hop Against Homophobia and Transphobia 2013

Welcome to the Hop Against Homophobia and Transphobia (HAHAT) 2013! 

Today, May 17th, is the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (also known as IDAHO). Groups around the world will be celebrating the day in various ways and you can follow it all through the IDAHO page: http://www.dayagainsthomophobia.org/

We, nearly 180 writers, publishers, reviewers, and cover designers of LGBT books want to make an effort as well by sharing messages with our readers and other blog visitors. We did this last year and decided to do it again after a huge success. We encourage you to visit all the hop locations. There will be an LGBT-related prize at each stop.

Thanks for stopping by!

David Bahati, Author of Uganda's "Kill the Gays" Bill.

In addition to yesterday's post about the "Kill the Gays" bill in Uganda, there are excellent Youtube videos of MSNBC's Rachel Maddow's interview with David Bahati, the author of the bill. These are from last year when David Bahati came to the USA to try to find understanding among the Americans (as in, educating USA about the necessity of this bill). 

Part 1

David Bahati "doesn't hate the gays, he loves them", but he has to "protect the children" (by, apparently, having the gays killed or imprisoned for life). He also claims that people are coming into the schools with foreign money to try to entice the children into becoming gay:

Link to video 1

Part 2

Listen to his consistent "reasoning" that they're doing this "to protect the children" (especially when he can't come up with a good answer for her excellent questions):

Link to video 2

Part 3

He never provided that evidence he said he would (we half expected some made-up reports). He also claims that the Bible is clear on what happens to sinners. He, however, does not seem to realize that by killing people (sinners or not) makes him into a sinner. He doesn't realize either that by making a judgement call as severe as deciding upon whether a person should live or die, he's taking the role of God and thereby sinning heavily. Apparently David Bahati doesn't care if he makes it to Heaven or not (whether or not Heaven exists):

Link to video 3

Again, we urge people to sign the petitions (found at the bottom of this post). Please try to prevent this genocide of LGBT people (and their friends, tenants, and anyone who are even suspected of being homosexual) in Uganda. Please help prevent this witch hunt. 

(Edited to change the videos to links, because the page load was too heavy).

Witch Hunt in Uganda: "Kill the Gays"

Free stock image by Jason Aaberg.

Many may already have heard this, but a horrible bill is being pushed through the Ugandan Parliament and is expected to go into effect this December. They call it a Christmas gift to the Ugandan nation. The bill's been referred to as "Kill the Gays". This is not only terrible, horrible news for the LGBT community, but also disastrous to humanity and human rights. 

The quote below is from a news article in perezhilton.com:

The law will redefine the criminalization of same-sex relationships by dividing homosexuality into two categories (aggravated homosexuality and the offense of homosexuality), and assigning new, outrageous penalties to these "crimes."

"Aggravated homosexuality" is defined as gay acts committed by parents or authority figures, HIV-positive people, pedophiles and repeat offenders. If convicted, they will face the death penalty.

"Offense of homosexuality’" includes same-sex sexual acts or being in a gay relationship, and will be prosecuted by life imprisonment.

Several European countries have threatened to cut aid to Uganda if it passes. Still, somehow the Speaker considers the passage of this Bill a "Christmas gift" to the population.

A further listing of offences can be found on OpEdNews.com. 

Death penalty:

- to repeat offenders of homosexuals acts

- to people who engage in homosexual acts with a minor

- to people who are suspected of "aggravated homosexuality" and have HIV

Prison sentence:

- to those suspected of homosexual activity

- to those who do not report homosexual activity within 24 hours

- to those suspected of "promoting" homosexuality

- to anyone who aids and/or abets a homosexual (e.g. renting to a homosexual)

In addition:

- all people suspected of homosexual activity and arrested must undergo HIV testing.

- former residents suspected of homosexuality may be extradited and sentenced.

That's a witch hunt!

Here are more news articles on this matter:

AVAAZ.org

GLAAD

Americablog.com

So, what can you do? You can spread the world, spread petition links, and not let this go quiet. We may not be able to change everyone's mind in Uganda, but we might be able to help pressure the president to veto the bill. 

Here are some signature links:

The U.S. has already threatened to end all financial aid to Uganda if the bill passes, but according to this article, it may take a while. To help push it forward, please sign this petition to the White House.

AllOut.org is (when this was written) aiming for 250.000 signatures. Roughly a 100.000 to go.

Ask Citibank and Barclay's to publicly condemn the bill.

Care 2 Causes

If you know of more links, please post a link and we'll add them here.