Death for Gays in Uganda

I was disturbed when I heard the latest news that there is currently legislation working its way thought the Uganda legislature that could see homosexuals killed.  The legislation as I understand it states that any person who is caught having “knowledge” (sex) with someone of the same sex can be jailed for life.  It also seems that if it is found that this person is HIV positive they can be given a death sentence and executed.

For those of you who have been reading the blog for a bit or have gone back and read previous posts you know that I posted about gay life in Kenya.  Well, life as a homosexual stands to get far worse.  The government in Uganda (like many in Africa) is taking the position that homosexuality is not natural and that it is actually an import from Western culture.  Essentially they believe that homosexuality is not something that is natural but instead is taught by foreigners (this view is also heald by some in the Western world, lest we forget).

Sadly this claim is gaining traction because there are some “ex-gay” citizens who are coming out and saying that they used to go into schools to recruit children and make them gay.  One man inparticular claim to have been funded and trained by western organizations.  The man’s name is George Oundo, and he announced his past dealings after becoming a Born-again Christian.  Oundo is now an “ex-gay” Born-again Christian after working with a church run by Pastor Martin Sempa.

Some of you may recognize Martin Sempa’s name as he has in the past had close ties with Rick Warren, the same man who gave the invocation at President Obama’s inauguration.  Warren has since tried to distance himself from Sempa, but it is fairly clear that Warren agrees on some levels with Sempa (who is pushing for the passage of the newest anti-gay legislation in Uganda).

This past weekend Warren tried to paint himself as a man for the people in an interview on Meet The Press, but has stopped short of declaring Uganda’s proposed legislation to be what it is – a violation of human rights and Christian values.  For Warren to go on TV preaching that he is a man of the people and that he is only here to love his fellow humans, he is not doing a very good job. In fact he states that one of the things testing people’s faith is “demonizing differences.”  I cannot think of a better example than this legislation in Uganda of demonizing the differences between people.

So far Gordon Brown and Stephen Harper (Prime Minster of the UK and Canada respectively) have condemned this new legislation.  My question is why has Obama not come out in opposition of this legislation?  Today the White House announced that the US will host the 2012 International AIDS Conference.  What kind of message are we as a country sending when we agree to host the International AIDS Conference and at the same time our leadership does not condemn legislation that proposes gay people that are HIV positive be put to death?  Lastly, what does it say about our President that his go-to pastor (who now claims to love everyone) will not denounce this legislation?

Links of Interest

Uganda Bill Causes Uproar

Gay Dr. Fears for Life Flees Uganda

Uganda Gov. Fires Back

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