Sponsors Cut Ties With Pro Fisherman Over His Support Of Uganda’s New ‘Kill The Gays’ Law

A high-end brewery in California has officially cut ties with professional fisherman Blake Dyer after he expressed support for a new anti-gay law in Uganda.

“We learned of Mr Dyer’s view this morning and immediately severed our relationship with him. We could not disagree more strenuously with Mr. Dyer’s view and the abomination that is going on in Uganda,” the Canyon Club Brewery in California said in response to a tweet that shared screenshots of Dyer’s support of the new law.

We learned of Mr Dyer's view this morning and immediately severed our relationship with him. We could not disagree more strenuously with Mr. Dyer's view and the abomination that is going on in Uganda.

— Canyon Club Brewery (@BreweryClub) June 5, 2023

Last week, GOP Sen. Ted Cruz took to Twitter to denounce the Ugandan government’s new law that includes the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality.”

Same-sex relations were already illegal in Uganda, as in more than 30 other African countries, but the new law goes further.

In response to Cruz’s tweet, Dyer posted: “With Uganda on this one.”

Dyer’s Twitter account has since been deleted.

The announcement by the Canyon Club Brewery comes shortly after Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni signed new legislation that imposes the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality,” the Associated Press reported. “Aggravated homosexuality” is seen as sexual relationships with people who have HIV or with minors, according to the AP. The legislation, however, does not criminalize those who identify as LGBTQ+.

U.S. President Joe Biden also responded to the legislation and said in a statement, “The enactment of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act is a tragic violation of universal human rights—one that is not worthy of the Ugandan people, and one that jeopardizes the prospects of critical economic growth for the entire country.”

“This shameful Act is the latest development in an alarming trend of human rights abuses and corruption in Uganda,” Biden said. “As such, I have directed my National Security Council to evaluate the implications of this law on all aspects of U.S. engagement with Uganda, including our ability to safely deliver services under the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and other forms of assistance and investments.”