House committee approves measure to cut aid to ‘anti-gay’ countries
Image by Getty Images via @daylifeThe House Financial Services Committee has approved a measure that recommends cuts in foreign aid to countries based on their opposition to homosexual activity, which opposition the measure calls a “gross [violation] of human rights.”
The amendment was offered by Rep. Barney Frank, who is openly homosexual, as part of a measure outlining certain budget priorities for FY2012. The amendment was approved by voice vote before the committee passed the resolution 29-24 on March 15.
The amendment reads: “The Committee urges Treasury to advocate that governments receiving assistance from the multilateral development institutions do not engage in gross violations of human rights, for example, the denial of freedom of religion, including the right to choose one’s own religion, and physical persecution based on sexual orientation or gender identity.”
Frank reportedly singled out Uganda as a country that should be shunned for “engag[ing] in the physical persecution of people because of their religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or gender identity.”
Frank’s office claimed that his amendment passed with “nearly unanimous support,” in the words of gay news service The Advocate, and predicted that the Budget Committee and the full House would also support the language.
