On Wednesday, Uganda’s government denounced the United States’ expansion of visa restrictions against its officials, accusing Washington of pushing an “LGBT agenda.”
On Monday, the U.S. announced new visa restrictions targeting unidentified officials it believes are undermining democracy in Uganda and suppressing marginalized groups.
In May, Uganda enacted one of the world’s harshest anti-gay laws, which calls for the death penalty for certain same-sex crimes.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Okello Oryem told Reuters there is a coup at the State Department in the U.S. LGBT activists are taking over the department.
The Middle East countries have similar laws against LGBT people, so why don’t they impose the same sanctions?” he asked. “If they deny our MPs visas, they will go to Shanghai, Guangzhou. There are many beautiful places there.”
According to a September report by rights groups, the Ugandan law unleashed a torrent of abuse against LGBTQ people.
As a result of the law, the U.S. imposed a first round of visa restrictions on Ugandan officials in June, and the World Bank stopped lending to the country in August.
