Openly lesbian U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and three other members of Congress have sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging her to use the full force of her office to condemn the “Anti-Homosexual Bill 2009” introduced in Uganda’s Parliament last month.

“This egregious bill represents one of the most extreme anti-equality measures ever proposed in any country and would create a legal pretext for depriving lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Ugandans of their liberty, and even their lives,” Baldwin wrote, joined by House Committee on Foreign Affairs Chair Howard Berman, D-Calif., Vice Chair Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., and Ranking Minority Member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla.

“Particularly given the United States’ substantial contribution to Uganda through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), we believe swift action is necessary to ensure Ugandan leaders understand this bill is wholly unacceptable and antithetical to democratic values,”

they said.

With gay sex already banned under penalty of life in prison, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill aims to erase any appearance or hint of gayness from the nation.

Calling for penalties that range from three years in prison to execution, the bill criminalizes touching anyone in a gay way; funding or sponsoring gay organizations; broadcasting, publishing or marketing gay material; homosexual advocacy; “aggravated homosexuality”; and the failure by any person to report to police his or her awareness of the existence of a gay person within Uganda’s borders within 24 hours of learning that the homosexual exists.

The legislation also targets gay Ugandans who get married abroad. They would be imprisoned for life if they dared return home.

The bill’s first sentence states: “The object of this Bill is to establish a comprehensive consolidated legislation to protect the traditional family by prohibiting (i) any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex; and (ii) the promotion or recognition of such sexual relations in public institutions and other places through or with the support of any Government entity in Uganda or any non governmental organization inside or outside the country.”

For the full text of the draconian measure, see tinyurl.com/hatebill. For information on how to help fight the bill, see tinyurl.com/iglhrc-ug. For Human Rights Watch’s analysis of the bill, see tinyurl.com/hrw-ug.

Around 25,000 people and 100 organizations took part in the seventh gay pride parade in Taipei, Taiwan, Oct. 31. They demanded civil equality and access to marriage.

The march traveled from the square outside Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou’s office to downtown and back.

A cabinet bill to legalize same-sex marriage has been floundering since 2003.

The 13th annual conference of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (aka ILGA-Europe), held Oct. 27 to Nov. 1 in Malta, was the group’s largest ever.

More than 300 people from 48 countries took part in the gathering, which focused on “Overcoming Cultural and Religious Barriers to LGBT Equality.”

Keynote speakers included Ulrike Lunacek, an Austrian member of the European Parliament; Maltese MP Francis Agius, head of Malta’s delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; Belinda Pyke, director of a European Commission agency concerned with equality and discrimination; Louis Galea, speaker of Malta’s House of Representatives; Maltese MP Evarist Bartolo; former Italian MP Vladimir Luxuria, who is transgender; and Frits Huffnagel, deputy mayor of The Hague, Netherlands.

The conference attracted extensive positive coverage in local media.

Before the gathering kicked off, representatives of ILGA-Europe’s board and staff met with Maltese President George Abela, the first head of state to host the group in conjunction with its annual confab.

Abela said information and education are important in tackling discrimination and fostering acceptance of differences—and that Malta has seen progress in GLBT acceptance.

He also stated that love is the most important thing there is and that it can’t be “graded” based on sexual orientation.

Rain showers didn’t stop more than 1 million people from marching in Rio de Janeiro’s 14th annual gay pride parade Nov. 1.

The procession down Avenida Atlântica in Copacabana included state Gov.

Sérgio Cabral, who rode on a float and said Rio always will be in the forefront of civil rights struggles.

Mayor Eduardo Paes promised to increase city funding for next year’s 15th parade to as much as $465,000.

Last year’s march is believed to have infused $26 million into the city’s economy.

A vicar in Finland’s Evangelical Lutheran Church has returned to her job at Tainionkoski Church in the city of Imatra after having gender-reassignment surgery.

Marja-Sisko Aalto had been away for a year before returning on Nov. 1.

Local reports said some parishioners have been supportive but that 500 people have left the congregation in the past two years, including 64 in the last two weeks of October.

Assistance by Bill Kelley