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GetEQUAL Calls On US Senators To Repudiate Uganda Kill The Gays Bill

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In lengthy statement, LGBT activists label Anti-Homosexuality Bill “colonial homophobia,” and link its creation to American Evangelicals

GetEQUAL has just issued a statement calling on U.S. Senators to publicly repudiate Uganda‘s “Kill The Gays” bill, calling it a “horrifying law… created and supported by American right-wing evangelicals in order to impress American right-wing politicians.”

GetEQUAL also is offering a petition to help rally support to “Kill the Bill — Not LGBT Ugandans!“

The statement effectively offers both context and history, so we are publishing it in full, below:

GetEQUAL Condemns Pending Vote in Ugandan Parliament to Execute LGBT Ugandans

Calls on U.S. Senators to Publicly Condemn the Bill

WASHINGTON, DC — GetEQUAL — a national civil rights organization pushing for the full federal equality of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans — condemns the pending vote in the Ugandan Parliament to extend legalized capital punishment for identified LGBT persons. The legislation extends harsh punishments, including fines and prison sentences, even to persons who know LGBT Ugandans but fail to report them to authorities — including family, clergy, counselors, and friends of LGBT Ugandans.

“This horrifying law now before the Ugandan Parliament should be removed from consideration immediately,” said Heather Cronk, managing director of GetEQUAL. “This law was created and supported by American right-wing evangelicals in order to impress American right-wing politicians — it’s colonial homophobia, pure and simple. The American radical-right isn’t satisfied with legal homophobia in the U.S., so they’ve taken to the African continent to kill us — this bill would expand the climate of fear across Africa, and it is unacceptable for Americans to be exporting hate with such draconian consequences.”

The law calls for execution of anyone engaging in same- sex behavior, imprisonment for anyone known to be helping LGBT Ugandans (including landlords renting out an apartment), and even possible jail time for those who fail to report someone else who has engaged in same-sex behavior – including medical personnel, counselors, and family members.

According to GetEQUAL sources, the bill could come up for a vote at any moment.

The Anti-Homosexuality Bill (AHB) — or the “Kill the Gays” bill — was originally introduced by Ugandan parliamentarian David Bahati in 2009 through the aggressive advocacy of extreme right-wing Americans Scott Lively, Rick Warren and Lou Engle — Christian fundamentalists affiliated with “The Family,” a secretive organization based in Washington, DC, which serves as the chief sponsor of the annual National Prayer Breakfast held in the nation’s capital. The bill hascome up again this year, conveniently brought up by the Speaker of Parliament at the same time that massive oil-related corruption charges have surfaced against Members of Parliament. Various news outlets have wrongly reported over the past few days that the death penalty has been removed from the bill; actually, the death penalty is still in the bill as of now, and has been used as a talking point by Ugandan officials to convince U.S. officials that the bill has been “softened.”

In recent days, GetEQUAL has called upon American politicians who are known to be part of “The Family” — including U.S. Senators Jim Demint (R-SC), James Inofe (R-OK), Tom Coburn (R-OK), Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Mike Enzi (R-WY) — to publicly denounce the bill and to urge Ugandan Members of Parliament to kill the bill.

“GetEQUAL calls on the American elected officials who have supported Uganda’s anti-gay legislation to repudiate the bill and its intent to target, arrest, or kill LGBT persons,” said Felipe Sousa-Rodriguez, national field director of GetEQUAL.

In solidarity with other organizations on the national and international levels that are monitoring the situation in Uganda, GetEQUAL has staged protest actions in New York City at the Ugandan Mission and in Washington, D.C. at the Ugandan Embassy, and plans to hold protests in the near future throughout the country.

GetEQUAL has also launched a new public information campaign featuring images of activists across the country who have written the slogan “Uganda, Arrest Me Too” on their hands, urging Members of Parliament in Uganda to think about the full impact of this law on LGBT Ugandans and on those who support them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDHN_QQfctM. GetEQUAL also has a petition up on its website, encouraging pressure on U.S. Senators with connections to the Ugandan MPs who could stop the bill:www.getequal.org/uganda.

Earlier this year, Scott Lively — who has traveled to Uganda and held workshops there encouraging elected officials to legally attack LGBT Ugandans — was sued by Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) under the Alien Tort Claims Act. The legal action was filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights, which alleges that Lively’s involvement in anti-gay efforts in Uganda, including his active participation in the formulation of anti-gay legislation and policies aimed at revoking fundamental right from LGBT persons, constitutes persecution. This is the first known Alien Tort Statute case seeking accountability for persecution on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

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News

‘Like Al Capone Complaining About Organized Crime’: Jim Jordan Slammed for Demanding Manhattan DA Testify

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March 21, 2023

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House Republican Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan is under fire after sending notice to Alvin Bragg on Monday demanding the Manhattan District Attorney currently investigating Donald Trump’s possibly unlawful payoff to Stormy Daniels testify before Congress to explain the ongoing case.

Legal experts have said Jordan’s letter, which was also signed by the powerful House Oversight Chair Jim Comer, could be considered obstruction of justice.

Late Tuesday morning Jordan took to Twitter to defend his actions, which many see as an attempt to intimidate the Manhattan DA and interfere with the potential prosecution of the ex-president.

“Democrats think it’s ok for them to examine and defund local police,” Jordan said. “But not ok for Republicans to examine a local prosecutor in Manhattan abusing his power to take down a political opponent.”

READ MORE: Trump’s Lawyer in Stormy Daniels Case Back in 2018 Called Hush Money Payoff ‘Illegal’: Report

The Judiciary Chair, who has a law degree from Capital University in Ohio, appeared to not understand that he does not have oversight authority over a duly-elected county district attorney.

Attorney Ron Filipkowski, a Republican turned Democrat, slammed Jordan’s remarks.

“This makes literally no sense whatsoever. Local police are funded locally. Democrats aren’t seeking to haul local prosecutors in front of Congress for anything. This is a naked abuse of federal power over something Congress has no jurisdiction over.”

Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner, now an NBC News and MSNBC Legal Analyst, called Jordan’s and Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s actions “a dramatic and transparent abuse of power.”

READ MORE: Republicans Are ‘Obstructing Justice’ and ‘Becoming Accessories’ to Trump’s ‘Crimes’: Former Prosecutor

Aaron Fritschner, Deputy Chief of Staff for U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) called Jordan’s letter, “stupid and embarrassing” three times, and, called Jordan’s attempt at oversight of a county DA “is invalid, unconstitutional, inappropriate, stupidly pretextual and political.”

District Attorney Bragg, Fritscher continued, “will be on rock solid legal ground if he should decide to use their letter to kill insects or remove avian waste, but in the meantime we who have seen and written legitimate oversight letters in the past imo should mock Jordan, Comer et al for their hilarious incompetence.”

Others on Capitol Hill also mocked Jordan.

“A kangaroo investigation has been opened by Jim Jordan and the House GOP into the Manhattan DA, Alvin Bragg,” U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) tweeted. “Republicans complaining about the weaponization of government is like Al Capone complaining about organized crime.”

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'DOESN'T PASS THE STRAIGHT FACE TEST'

Trump’s Lawyer in Stormy Daniels Case Back in 2018 Called Hush Money Payoff ‘Illegal’: Report

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March 21, 2023

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Joe Tacopina, billed as a “powerhouse attorney” and “one of the country’s top trial attorneys” when Donald Trump hired him in January to sue a former prosecutor, back in 2018 weighed in on Trump’s $130,000 hush money payoff to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, calling the payment “illegal,” and “a potential campaign finance issue.”

According to a March 15, 2018 CNN transcript, and video (below) unearthed by Twitter user Acyn, Tacopina said the $130,000 hush money payoff to Stormy Daniels is “fair game” for prosecutors.

Tacopina told host Don Lemon,”if there is an issue with that payment to Stormy Daniels being — that it was made on behalf of the candidate, OK, and it was not declared, that is fair game, unfortunately, if that is the case.”

READ MORE: ‘All-Out War’: Trump’s Attorney Tells Kimberly Guilfoyle Ex-President Will Be ‘Loud and Proud’ When Showing Up for Indictment

He went on to discredit the defense some now appear to be making, at least in the court of public opinion, that Michael Cohen paid Stormy Daniels on his own, without Trump knowing.

“And you know, quite frankly, you know, Michael Cohen, again has made statements that would give rise to suspicion for any prosecutor to say, that doesn’t make sense that a lawyer took out a home equity loan with his own money, paid somebody that he didn’t even know on behalf of a client who, by the way, had the where with all the money to afford $130,000, and by the way, didn’t tell the client about the settlement agreement,” Tacopina said. “It’s an illegal agreement. It’s a fraud. If that’s in fact is the case, it doesn’t make sense,” he added.

“Doesn’t pass the straight face test. And quite frankly, if that is what happened we have a potential campaign finance issue.”

Less than two months later, in May of 2018, NPR reported Trump admitted to authorizing the payoff.

The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake Tuesday morning adds: “Per a CNN transcript, now-Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina in 2018 said the Stormy Daniels hush-money payment was ‘illegal, by the way.'”

READ MORE: Republicans Are ‘Obstructing Justice’ and ‘Becoming Accessories’ to Trump’s ‘Crimes’: Former Prosecutor

Trump is expected to be indicted this week or next, on what some experts believe could be charges related to falsification of business records and campaign finance related issues.

Watch the videos and see the transcript above or at this link.

Image via Shutterstock

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RIGHT WING EXTREMISM

Powerful GOP Committee Chair Admits He Can’t Control Marjorie Taylor Greene

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March 21, 2023

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Rep. James Comer (R-KY), who’s leading Republican investigations into President Joe Biden and his family, compared firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) to NBA superstar Lebron James.

The Kentucky Republican chairs the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, where he’s been tasked by GOP leadership and his constituents to investigate wild claims about the president, his son Hunter Biden and other Democrats, reported the New York Times.

“You know, the customer’s always right,” Comer said, referring to the conspiracy theories presented to him by constituents. “I say, ‘Let me see it,’ because I want to see where the source is. They don’t know that it’s QAnon, but it’s QAnon stuff.”

Greene, one of the Republicans who serves on his committee, has expressed support for QAnon conspiracies herself, but Comer admitted that he had little authority to rein in the influence she holds within the GOP caucus after a little more than two years in Congress.

DON’T MISS: C-SPAN caller blows off Trump’s Stormy Daniels payment: ‘He’s our salvation!’

“It’s hard for a coach to tell LeBron James what he’s doing wrong,” Comer said.

In addition to her history of spouting QAnon conspiracy theories, Greene has also questioned whether the Pentagon was really attacked during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, has called multiple school shootings “false flag” operations staged by the American government, and has even suggested that the Rothschild family is funding giant space lasers that are starting forest fires in California.

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