Obama's Administration Cuts Aid to Uganda cause its Anti-Gay Law

The Obama administration named nearly $10 million in aid cuts to the Ugandan government in response to enacting the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Act.

That includes $6.4 million granted to the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda, a group that came out in strong support of the Anti-Homosexuality Act and which has historically received millions in U.S. grants to fight HIV and AIDS. The council will still receive $2.3 million to maintain treatment for an estimated 50,000 patients.

These actions are the strongest and most direct taken by the Obama administration since Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the U.S. was launching an "internal review" of its relationship with the Ugandan government, after Uganda's president Yoweri Museveni signed into law the Anti-Homosexuality Act. 

The Anti-Homosexuality Act imposes lifetime prison terms on those convicted of "aggravated homosexuality", which the law defines as those who engage in repeated instances of same-sex sexual contact. Anyone charged with the offense must undergo a medical examination (which in practice is usually a forcible anal examination) and HIV test, regardless of the individual's consent. 

The law also imposes harsh sentences on those convicted of aiding, abetting, or conspiring to engage in homosexuality.

Uganda's president signed the anti-gay law on February