A record number of anti-LGBTQ+ laws have been introduced in the U.S. recently. Newsweek reports that so far this year “more than 525 bills introduced, of which 220 of them targeted transgender people. Of those 525, 76 had been signed into law as of Monday—more than any year on record, and more than double over last year. In comparison, 115 such bills were introduced in 2015.” Things have gotten so bad that the Human Rights Campaign has issued a state of emergency in this country for LGBTQ+ Americans for the first time in its 40-year history.
But Uganda’s new law, signed by President Yoweri Museveni at the end of May, is one of the cruelest, toughest anti-LGBTQ+ laws in the world. And it seems U.S. evangelicals are the cause of Uganda’s draconian law, which drew criticism from both U.S. President Joe Biden and surprisingly conservative Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
RELATED STORY: LGBTQ+ Americans are under attack, Human Rights Campaign declares in state of emergency warning