Obama Proclamation May Affect Antigay Extremists

President Obama issued a proclamation late last week that bars immigrants and nonimmigrant aliens from entering the U.S. if they are involved in war crimes or human rights violations -- the order includes those who persecute LGBT people.

The proclamation, ostensibly put out to demonstrate the White House's commitment to humanitarian law, would be enforced by the Secretary of State's office, which would determine if a foreigner's actions constitute war crimes or human rights breaches. It's likely that those involved in the Ugandan "kill the gays" bill, like member of parliament David Bahati, would be affected by the proclamation, according to a report in the Washington Blade.

The order by Obama would affect not only those directly involved in abuses, but those who "attempted or conspired to do so."

"The proclamation also bans admission to the United States for those who are complicit in organizing these abuses -- not just those who carry them out," a White House fact sheet states. "As such, it allows the United States to act before planned abuses and atrocities metastasize into actual ones."

The specific wording on violations regarding LGBT people is below:

"Any alien who planned, ordered, assisted, aided and committed or otherwise participated in, including through command responsibility, widespread or systematic violence against any civilian population based in whole or in part on race; color; descent; sex; disability; membership in an indigenous group; language; religion; political opinion; national origin; ethnicity; membership in a particular social group; birth; or sexual orientation or gender identity, or who attempted or conspired to do so."