Uganda bans 38 'gay rights' agencies

British pop icon Elton John at his Moscow concert on Friday called on Russia to end discrimination against gays and lesbians, the Interfax news agency reported. The openly gay singer said he was "sad to learn" about a Russian "anti-gay law" which bans what it calls homosexual propaganda to minors, Interfax reported.

I think a big lacuna in rightwing thought about government capacity and government competence is the fact that the least controversial public service agencies are also the most dangerous. Consider this Human Rights Watch report about the police in Uganda:

MOSCOW — A bill that stigmatizes gay people and bans giving children any information about homosexuality won overwhelming approval Tuesday in Russia’s lower house of parliament. Hours before the State Duma passed the Kremlin-backed law in a 436-0 vote with one abstention, more than two dozen protesters were attacked by hundreds of anti-gay activists and then detained by police.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing heightened expectations from gay rights supporters, the Obama administration is considering urging the Supreme Court to overturn California's ban on gay marriage — a move that could have a far-reaching impact on same-sex couples across the country.

OTTAWA — Shortly after it became public knowledge an evangelical organization that describes homosexuality as a “perversion: and a “sin” was receiving funding from the Government of Canada for its work in Uganda, the minister responsible for the file said the funding was under review. The government is providing $544,813 in funding for Crossroads Christian Communications — an Ontario-based evangelical group that produces television programming — to help dig wells, build latrines and promote hygiene awareness in Uganda through 2014.

OTTAWA, Ont. — An evangelical organization that describes homosexuality as a “perversion” and a “sin” is receiving funding from the Government of Canada for its work in Uganda, where gays and lesbians face severe threats. The federal government has denounced virulent homophobia in that East African country and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has condemned plans for an anti-gay bill that could potentially include the death penalty for homosexuals.

A conservative women’s group took aim at Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird on Wednesday for opposing international anti-gay laws, calling his stance “highly offensive to conservative taxpayers.”

William Whatcott intends to continue his anti-gay activism and pamphleting, knowing the price may be high. “I’m certainly weighing this, because it’s going to be at great personal cost to me,” Mr. Whatcott said Wednesday, after the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the hate speech law under which he was charged, and found he violated it in two of four original cases, pamphlets that described homosexuals as a threat to children.