Will The U.N. General Assembly Appoint This Antigay Ugandan as Its President?

http://www.advocate.com/world/2014/06/09/will-un-appoint-antigay-ugandan-its-president
Will The U.N. General Assembly Appoint This Antigay Ugandan as Its President?
On Wednesday, the United Nations General Assembly is set to elect Uganda's foreign minister as president. LGBT advocates say that spells bad news for the international body.

The United Nations General Assembly is expected to elect Uganda's foreign minister as its next president Wednesday, despite a growing chorus of international voices urging the U.N. to reject the appointment.

The nominee, Sam Kutesa, was not only an outspoken defender of Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Act, but has also said that homosexuality is a Western plot, and that the draconian measure, which imposes lifetime prison sentences for many instances of same-sex relations, is a reasonable law because "the majority of Africans abhor this practice," according to The Guardian.

"Human Rights First believes that Mr. Kutesa is a poor choice for this position, given his connections to laws and practices that violate human rights, particularly the most recent antigay law in Uganda," says Shawn Gaylord, advocacy counsel at Washington D.C.-based Human Rights First. "We are disappointed that he would be chosen when there are many other Africans who stand for fairness and equality who might have been chosen."

There has been no U.S. statement of opposition to Kutesa's nomination as the U.N. General Assembly’s next president. Instead, the State Department is deferring to the Africa Group's right to choose whomever it pleases. The State Department notes that the selection of Kutesa as president of the General Assembly follows a system of regional rotation. Whoever is named to the largely ceremonial position is chosen by members of the regional group, meaning the United States doesn't play a direct role during that phase of the selection. In May of last year, the African Union’s Executive Council unanimously nominated Kutesa as its candidate.... MORE at link posted above.