Opposition to Uganda death bill grows
The campaign against Uganda’s death penalty bill for homosexuality has received the backing of leading figures both inside and outside Africa.
Early this month, US President Barack Obama criticised the bill at a National Prayer Breakfast in Washington.
“We may disagree about gay marriage, but surely we can agree that it’s unconscionable to target gays and lesbians for who they are, whether it’s here in the United States or … more extreme and odious laws that are being proposed, most recently in Uganda,” Obama said.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton added that she had recently called Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni and expressed “the strongest concerns” about the law.
A week later bishops of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa called on Christians to stand against the Ugandan bill and similar laws elsewhere in the world.
In a statement released by the bishops, who were meeting in Swaziland, they said the bill violated holy writ.
“It even proposes imposing the death penalty, which we regard as a breach of God’s commandment, ‘You shall not murder,’ given in Exodus 20:13.
“We see this Bill as a gross violation of human rights and we therefore strongly condemn such attitudes and behaviour towards other human beings.
“We are … also deeply concerned about the violent language used against the gay community across sub-Saharan Africa.”
The bishops represent Anglicans in Angola, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, and the islands of St Helena and Tristan Da Cunha.
The Ugandan Anglican Church was instrumental in pushing for more draconian anti-gay laws but has since moderated its support in the face of international criticism.
The campaign supporting the law has since been taken up by Evangelical Christians headed by Baptist minister Martin Ssempa.
Ssempa called for a “million man march” against homosexuality through the capital, Kampala, this month but police ordered him not to proceed. Instead he and a few thousand supporters rallied in Jinja, Uganda’s second-largest city.
On returning to Kampala, Ssempa presented a slideshow of gay pornography to 300 people for the stated purpose of demonstrating why homosexuality was wrong.
Under the bill, exhibiting the same material for the purpose of “promoting homosexuality” would attract a jail sentence of a minimum of five years.
In other news, an online petition campaign against the bill by the Avaaz group has gathered over 400,000 signatures. The petition can be found at www.avaaz.org/en/uganda_rights/?vl
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Ojesi
Please go back to the Emabassy and tell your boss they are not listening.
This is one of the clauses actually from the bill:
(2) A person who commits the offence of aggravated homosexuality shall be liable on conviction to suffer death.
Unbelievable!!Are we back to Nazi Germany 2 ?
Dear Ojesi,
So because all of Uganda supports a bill condemning people who are gay that makes it ok?
Your bill doesn’t just extend to gay people Ojesi, it extends to anyone, ANYONE, who is just suspected of being gay and anyone who is seen to be helping or befriending someone of being or suspected of being gay.
Have you put some serious thought into what this means in terms of how your community will be affected if this bill is passed from that point into the future??
What’s to stop your neighbour who has a grudge from accusing you? A witness misreporting cos they feel if they don’t, they too will be condemned??
This isn’t a non-issue Ojesi, it is a global issue for anyone who wants to prevent such a travesty from becoming a reality.
If your country is going to condemn gays, what’s your next step? Non-believers?
Kori
Well if that is the case Ojesi maybe its time for the billions of dollars of Aid to stop etc etc.Your reference to the arms etc just highlights the problem in Africa.
You take no responsibilty for your own actions.
Afterall wasn’t it just a minute ago that you all loved Idi Amin.
Now its fanatical christian bullshit.
You as an African,should be acutely aware of your colonial past(including the whole missionary fiasco) and the effect that has had on the continent.You should be ASHAMED of yourself to be targeting a minority group.One would have thought you guys would have learnt your lesson by now,but apparently not.
Dear Ojesi, If you and the majority of Ugandans are happy to support the persecution of a minority group in Uganda, why should the people in the First World care about the consequences of the arms trade to Africa?
If you and other Africans want to be regarded as human beings and not animals you have to behave as human beings and not tear each other to pieces because of your differences.
From the brief excerpts of what I have read it appears that the proposed anti-homosexual legislation for Uganda is invoked by ideology, specifically Christianity.
The doctrines of that faith assert that a god revealed his dislike of homosexuals to some jewish rabbis 6000 years ago.
The doctrines go on to assert that a god came to earth 2000 years ago and confirmed the ancient tradition.
You and the majority of Ugandans are persecuting Ugandan homosexuals because some homophobic rabbis inserted their personal prejudices into jewish scripture 6000 years ago.
Tell us all Ojesi, what are your reasons for wanting to persecute Ugandan homosexuals?
The support that is required is that of Ugandans. We Ugandans overwhelmingly support this bill.
You should instead focus your attention on your companies that supply arms to armed groups responsible for killing millions of Africans.
Homosexuality is a non-issue in Uganda
ha I love the hypocrisy of that Ssempa person.