In March, American anti-gay activists traveled to Uganda for a conference that pledged to “wipe out” homosexuality. Seven months later, a draconian bill has been introduced that pledges to make good on this threat. The “Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009” is so severe that it is designed to shred the spirit and suffocate the soul of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Ugandans. If it passes, Uganda will become a predator state that actively hunts down GLBT people to destroy them.
Uganda already punished gay intimacy with life in prison. But, apparently that was not harsh enough, with this bill penalizing anyone who “attempts to commit the offence” with up to seven years in jail. Additionally, a person charged will be forced to undergo an invasive medical examination to determine their HIV status. If the detainees are found to be HIV+, they may be executed.
This barbaric legislation stifles free speech by threatening anyone who is accused of “promoting” homosexuality with five to seven year prison sentences. Snitching on gay friends and family members is strongly encouraged because “failure to disclose the ‘offence’ within 24 hours of knowledge makes somebody liable to a fine or imprisonment of up to three years.”
Sadly, this witch-hunt has the blood stained fingerprints of leading American evangelicals. The Fellowship, (aka The Family) one of America’s most powerful and secretive fundamentalist organization’s, converted Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni (pictured top) to its anti-gay brand of Christianity, which is the “intellectual” impetus behind the anti-gay crackdown. The clandestine organization’s leader, Doug Coe, calls Museveni The Fellowship’s “key man” in Africa. Jeff Sharlet, author of “The Family”, writes of the African strongman’s conversion:
“So,” Doug Coe told us, “my friend said to the president, ‘why don’t you come and pray with me in America? I have a good group of friends—senators, congressmen—who I like to pray with, and they’d like to pray with you.’ And that president came to the Cedars (a religious retreat), and he met Jesus. And his name is Yoweri Museveni…And he is a good friend of the Family.”
The Family, of course, recently made headlines because one of its key members, Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) had sex with his best friends wife, while they were working together. Another member, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), used one of the Family’s Washington properties to try to broker a deal to buy off the furious husband, who has since gone public with the Ensign scandal.
It is important for people to understand that The Fellowship and other anti-gay groups have long viewed Uganda as a laboratory to experiment with Christian theocracy. For example, fundamentalist organizations recently undermined successful HIV programs in Uganda by demanding abstinence only education, over condom use, which had been working to reduce infection rates.
This year’s notorious Kampala conference was the opening salvo in a campaign to crush GLBT lives. The seminar featured Scott Lively, author of The Pink Swastika, who blames the holocaust on gay people.
The hate forum also featured Don Schmierer, a board member of the “ex-gay” organization Exodus International, and Caleb Lee Brundidge, who works with discredited ex-gay “reorientation coach” Richard Cohen. These American “ex-gay” activists clearly left their stamp on this evil legislation, giving Ugandan officials a way to justify the abuse because they can claim that “sinful” gays can choose to change.
“This legislation further recognizes the fact that same sex attraction is not an innate and immutable characteristic and that people who experience this mental disorder can and have changed to a heterosexual orientation,” the bill said. “It also recognizes that because homosexuals are not born that way, but develop this disorder based on experiences and environmental conditions, it is preventable, especially among young people who are most vulnerable to recruitment into the homosexual lifestyle.”
Following the infamous conference, a Kampala newspaper named local gay people, placing their lives in immediate danger. Now, the government may soon declare it open season on GLBT individuals.
In 1994, I brought Rev. Mel White down to speak at an event in Fort Lauderdale. In his address, the former Christian right ghostwriter proclaimed of his previous employers, “They want you dead.”
The comment was at once riveting and alarmist to some in the crowd. Yet, the painful silence of anti-gay activists at home is making White appear downright prophetic. These Christian Colonialists invaded Uganda’s politics and culture, and the result is that they have ruined the lives of its GLBT citizens. The Fellowship, Exodus and other American fundamentalist organizations, appear quite unbothered by the poisonous fruits of their labor.
Uganda is a proxy in their culture war and we are witnessing exactly what these fanatics might do if they did not have the United States Constitution blocking their pious path to power. Let the record show that their “key man” controlled Uganda when a religious terror campaign was waged against an innocent minority – and these good Christians stood by and did not lift a finger to stop the horror.
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hhhmmm now it adds up, one never sees smoke without fire.
Keep do keep us abreast
H
Comment by Howie — October 19, 2009 @ 7:07 am
[...] Evangelists are involved in the Homophobia Bill – as per this report Sadly, this witch-hunt has the blood stained fingerprints of leading American evangelicals. The Fellowship, (aka The Family) one of America’s most powerful and secretive fundamentalist [...]
Pingback by Black Looks » Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill: What you can do — October 19, 2009 @ 12:35 pm
why can’t CHRIST DO HIS JOB!!!!!!
HE DID NOT ASK US TO PUNISH THEM JUST BECAUSE IN YOUR OPINION YOU FIND DISCUSS!?
THOSE ARE STILL MY BROTHERS AND SISTAHS NO MATTER WHAT LIFE THEY HAVE.
WISH THESE CREEPS WOULD THINK ABOUT THE STRAIGHT WHORES AND WHORE MUNGERS, BUT STILLL HOW CONCERNED SHOULD THEY BE?
AND IF U PUTTIN THESE FOLKS IN JAIL?…WHO’S PAYIN FOR THAT!?
Comment by edenike — October 19, 2009 @ 1:05 pm
We started a campaign where we are continuing to phone the South African Presidential Service line to lodge official complaints and demand that SA desists from any relations with Uganda.
Comment by Cobus Fourie — October 19, 2009 @ 3:55 pm
Christopher Hitchens is right when he titled his latest
book “God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.”
Comment by jamesnimmo — October 19, 2009 @ 10:28 pm
THIS IS A JOB FOR…SUPER CHRISTIAN!! (aka Pastor Rick Warren)
Seriously, Warren brags about his influence (didn’t he declare Rwanda and Uganda “Purpose-Driven Nations?) and says he has so very many gay friends and knows gay “leaders” that he should be able to put a stop to criminalization.
But he won’t.
He’s part of it.
I’m sure he won’t.
Ask him,and you’ll see the ridiculous response you’ll get.
Comment by Dan Vojir — October 20, 2009 @ 1:43 am
[...] Read the rest here (warning, pro-gay site, but the news is still true) Truth Wins Out – American Evangelicals Play Role In Uganda Effort To ‘Wipe Out’ Gays. [...]
Pingback by American Evangelicals Play Role In Uganda Effort To ‘Wipe Out’ Gays | The Church of Jesus Christ — October 20, 2009 @ 11:59 pm
Yet more evil originating from Doug Coe’s “family.”
Comment by Tom — October 21, 2009 @ 12:25 am
I’m speechless….
God help us all.
Comment by Sarah — October 21, 2009 @ 4:19 pm
While the Religious Right seems to be less and less insidious all of the time, what is going to keep them and the rest of the like-minded individuals from chipping away at our Constitutional rights before we are persecuted as we were in the early 50’s, 60’s, 40’s, 30′, etc, etc. When a law is passed to permit Gay Marriage and then a hate group changes the CONSTITUTION to reverse the LAW, how long before we are maimed, killed, fired for who we are, and the list goes on. We are your brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, cousins, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. It could be you next.
Comment by Judith Loniak — October 21, 2009 @ 11:16 pm
Let us not forget that Obama’s pal Rick Warren is knee deep in queer/transgender Ugandan blood–as he was when the Pope of Hope invited him to pray at his inauguration.
Comment by Peter — October 24, 2009 @ 12:19 pm
[...] In other parts of the world, the issue of homosexuality has taken a much darker turn. For example, legislation has been introduced in Uganda that would criminalize homosexuality. To put it succinctly, people (as I recall, estimates are somewhere around 10% of the population) would be breaking the law simply by virtue of living their lives fully as themselves. Penalties for homosexuals would include life imprisonment and, in some cases, the death penalty. The bill also contains penalties for those heterosexuals who fail to report the names of those they know to be homosexuals and those they know who are heterosexuals who support homosexuals. For those, the penalty appears to be a three-year prison term. It is interesting to note a couple of things in regard to this proposed legislation. First, there have recently been some people who have elected to leave the Episcopal Church in America (TEC) over what they consider to be the church’s wrong-headedness on issues of human sexuality. Those who have separated from TEC who wished to remain Anglicans – and maintain their claim to apostolic succession – have had to look outside of the United States for support. And guess where they had to go to find it. That’s right, Uganda. Second, there may be a connection to this new proposed legislation in Uganda with its leadership’s relatio…. [...]
Pingback by A STONEWALL DISPATCH: Pat Robertson thinks same-sex couples don’t want to marry and other craziness. « The Discursionists — October 25, 2009 @ 11:24 am
[...] Posted by irreligious on October 28, 2009 Uganda. A piss ant little country in Africa that apparently allows American Evangelicals to dictate public policy. Against gays. [...]
Pingback by The other dark meat « Irreligious — October 28, 2009 @ 3:00 am
The biggest sinners always shout the loudest…Sad, but true!
The Evangelical are completely out of order.
Comment by Gabriele — November 3, 2009 @ 4:08 pm
Nazis took over Germany because good people simply did nothing.
Comment by Michael — November 10, 2009 @ 11:35 pm
Evangel is supposed to mean “Good News” to all, including the fatherless, the oppressed, the disgarded of this world. And evangelicals are supposed to be bearers of this Good News, that in Christ ALL are forgiven for ANYTHING that they’ve done that does not please God.
It should NEVER be a cloak of hatred and division.
And they call themselves followers of Jesus Christ.
Comment by Mike — November 20, 2009 @ 12:28 pm
[...] However, we do know that Exodus’ forays into cultures they do not understand, such as Uganda, have led to serious [...]
Pingback by Truth Wins Out - ‘Ex-Gay’ Myth Linked With Anti-Gay Turkish ‘Honor’ Killing — November 26, 2009 @ 4:15 pm
[...] Meanwhile in Uganda, American Evangelicals have helped to advance prison terms and death penalties for African gays. The Family, an American Christian organization with members in congress helped to convert Uganda’s president to their form of politicized Christianity. American activists attended a conference last March aimed at “wiping out” homosexuality. By this fall, a bill had been introduced that would allow the death penalty for gays with AIDS and institute jail time for parents who fail to turn in their homosexual teens. Horrors such as these don’t seem to have abated the flow of salvific dollars, Bibles, and earnest missionaries eager for converts any more than suicide bombings have dried up support for madrassas. [...]
Pingback by Valerie Tarico: Like Alcohol, Religion Disinhibits Violence, Doesn’t Cause It | News from: The Huffington Post - Breaking News and Opinion — December 1, 2009 @ 1:04 pm
[...] Meanwhile in Uganda, American Evangelicals have helped to advance prison terms and death penalties for African gays. The Family, an American Christian organization with members in congress helped to convert Uganda’s president to their form of politicized Christianity. American activists attended a conference last March aimed at “wiping out” homosexuality. By this fall, a bill had been introduced that would allow the death penalty for gays with AIDS and institute jail time for parents who fail to turn in their homosexual teens. Horrors such as these don’t seem to have abated the flow of salvific dollars, Bibles, and earnest missionaries eager for converts any more than suicide bombings have dried up support for madrassas. [...]
Pingback by Valerie Tarico: Like Alcohol, Religion Disinhibits Violence, Doesn’t Cause It « Blog News Web — December 1, 2009 @ 1:16 pm
[...] “cured”. However, we do know that Exodus’ forays into cultures they do not understand, such as Uganda, have led to serious [...]
Pingback by ‘Ex-Gay’ Myth Linked With Anti-Gay Turkish ‘Honor’ Killing « Queer Hatred — December 4, 2009 @ 9:03 am
[...] it is because it is about Africa. Or perhaps because some evangelicals are supportive (though I’m not sure about how relable this source is)? It could be that some of the specific [...]
Pingback by Another statement; this one on Uganda (not Manhattan!) « Insomniac memos — December 8, 2009 @ 5:05 pm
[...] TWO was in the forefront of opposition against international gay bashing, particularly in Uganda and [...]
Pingback by Truth Wins Out - Please Help Truth Wins Out Continue Fighting for Your Equality — December 14, 2009 @ 5:10 pm
[...] society. Of course, I will once again make use of the opportunity to show that they were directly involved in the Ugandan debacle. That is probably never going to go away. The two issues at hand are [...]
Pingback by Kill The Bill | The Monster From The Blog — December 15, 2009 @ 5:46 pm
[...] fascist bill came about after Exodus Board member, Don Schmierer, had gone to Uganda last spring to attend a conference on homosexuality. Schmierer was joined by Celeb Lee Brundidge of [...]
Pingback by Truth Wins Out - Exodus’ Randy Thomas And The Banality of Evil — December 17, 2009 @ 2:07 pm
[...] – indeed the Ugandan President is in the Kampala Pentecostal Church (now called Wototo), implicated by the secretive and clandestine US evangelical group “The Family” – and the religious nature of the argument within the now completely compromised [...]
Pingback by Truth Wins Out - Sour Grapes: The Fruit of Ignorance — January 13, 2010 @ 5:08 am
[...] Truth Wins Out: “U.S. Evangelicals Play Role In Uganda Effort To ‘Wipe Out’ Gays [...]
Pingback by The American Prayer Hour » Blog Archive » The Problem — January 22, 2010 @ 11:12 am
[...] a single media release on Uganda. Such inaction is particualrly appalling, because Exodus played a key role in fomenting anti-gay sentiment in Uganda, which set the stage for the introduction of the [...]
Pingback by Truth Wins Out - Our Lazy Foes Are Hibernating — January 25, 2010 @ 11:41 am