Op-Ed In Ugandan Gov’t Newspaper: “Parliament Should Not Pass This Bill”

Jim Burroway

December 11th, 2009

This is not the sort of column one would expect to find in the Ugandan government-owned New Vision. It’s by John Nagenda, a senior advisor to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. After the usual paragraphs to establish his personal disdain for all things gay (this is something of a ritual in Uganda for anyone who is about to say something remotely positive for LGBT people), Nagenda writes:

And that is where same-sex lovers\’ haters will do their nut! The recent month I was away a parliamentarian introduced a Bill of hugely draconian measure, including heavy penalties on those who wouldn\’t report same-sex lovers they knew about! In the US there was a man whose name, McCarthy, is now a synonym (as mccarthyism) for cruel witch-hunting. For him Communism was the hot issue, although he would doubtless have looked at same-sex love as a product of that political system.

In the Inquisition period, evil prelates tortured people who deviated from current beliefs, including by saying the world was not flat but round! Now we all laugh about these odd characters. Lower down the scale, people were tortured for being left-handed (indeed called sinister for it) or being very short, or being blind: in short for not being normal. I believe, and I am raising the bar, that we must laugh at this MP and others like him: laugh and stay sane. What crime have same-sex lovers committed, per se, by being who they are? Would those who believe God made mankind exclude them, and on what grounds?

Nagenda goes on to talk about the pace of change for LGBT people — his take-it-excruciatingly-slow advice obviously comes from someone who has little understanding of what it’s like to live in such an oppressive society. But he ends on this point:

When times have changed, if they change enough, then these words will include a leavening of same-sex relationships. Gradualism is not a sin. But hunting down people for same-sex love, I believe to be a sin, against Love, one of God\’s greatest gifts to mankind. (I say all this without being a homosexual.) Parliament should not pass this Bill.

This follows another possible trial balloon seen floating on the official governmental Ugandan Media Centre web site this week. When New Vision picks up on the same theme, something is likely afoot.

Click here to see BTB\’s complete coverage of the past year’s anti-gay developments in Uganda.

Angie the Anti-Theis

December 11th, 2009

This is excellent news. Thank you for reporting on this.

Matt

December 11th, 2009

While I’m very glad he wrote this, I couldn’t help but here “No Homo” when I read his parenthetical statement.

amanda

December 11th, 2009

I don’t understand the logic behind the gay parents will turn an adoptive child gay argument. If the sexual preference of the parents determined the sexual preference of the child then how do they think there would be homosexuality at all? I mean obviously the argument is made because they have no logic when it comes to this issue because homosexuality mystifies and terrifies them, but seriously, that seems like the easiest thing to figure out to be a stupid scare tactic against gay adoption just by logically thinking about it for all of 2 seconds.

Marisol

December 11th, 2009

This hateful evangelical extremist give Christianity a bad name. All this anti gay fire has been stoke by American Evangelicals who make it their business to tell other people how to live and who to love.

They cherry pick the bible and leave out other lurid things in the bible. They have a Chrisofascist agenda of hate. Real Christians are people of love as was Christ. If Christ were alive today Rick Warren and “The Family” would crucify him all over again.

Rick Warren and “The Family” have blood on their hands with this Uganda gay death penalty. They and Uganda area a country possessed by evil and hatred and scapegoating gay people is a horrible thing.

Meanwhile, all the Conservative anti condom movement is resulting in new AIDS infections. And Hello, most HIV is being passed via Heterosexual activity in Uganda.

Cinamonapple

December 12th, 2009

I cant believe that in the 21th century PPL still try to tell others how to live? We where born free and shulde be rimain like that. No one got the right to tell others how to live there life. It’s PPL choice , we as a society should respect every individual choice. Respect, Is the right word for anyone to remember.

Happy Hanukkah everyone.

Donnchadh

December 12th, 2009

Why do people think the Inquisitions considered a round Earth to be heresy? The Ptolemaic theory was the official doctrine of the Catholic Church. Colombus was trying to prove that going across the ocean was a shorter way to the Indies (and he was wrong).

Fred

December 16th, 2009

HATE IS NOT A FAMILY VALUE and it certainly isn’t in GOD’S VOCABULARY !!!
We should love all men and women and respect them equally !!!

Leave A Comment

All comments reflect the opinions of commenters only. They are not necessarily those of anyone associated with Box Turtle Bulletin. Comments are subject to our Comments Policy.

(Required)
(Required, never shared)

PLEASE NOTE: All comments are subject to our Comments Policy.

 

Latest Posts

The Things You Learn from the Internet

"The Intel On This Wasn't 100 Percent"

From Fake News To Real Bullets: This Is The New Normal

NC Gov McCrory Throws In The Towel

Colorado Store Manager Verbally Attacks "Faggot That Voted For Hillary" In Front of 4-Year-Old Son

Associated Press Updates "Alt-Right" Usage Guide

A Challenge for Blue Bubble Democrats

Baptist Churches in Dallas, Austin Expelled Over LGBT-Affirming Stance

Featured Reports

What Are Little Boys Made Of?

In this original BTB Investigation, we unveil the tragic story of Kirk Murphy, a four-year-old boy who was treated for “cross-gender disturbance” in 1970 by a young grad student by the name of George Rekers. This story is a stark reminder that there are severe and damaging consequences when therapists try to ensure that boys will be boys.

Slouching Towards Kampala: Uganda’s Deadly Embrace of Hate

When we first reported on three American anti-gay activists traveling to Kampala for a three-day conference, we had no idea that it would be the first report of a long string of events leading to a proposal to institute the death penalty for LGBT people. But that is exactly what happened. In this report, we review our collection of more than 500 posts to tell the story of one nation’s embrace of hatred toward gay people. This report will be updated continuously as events continue to unfold. Check here for the latest updates.

Paul Cameron’s World

In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote that “[Paul] Cameron’s ‘science’ echoes Nazi Germany.” What the SPLC didn”t know was Cameron doesn’t just “echo” Nazi Germany. He quoted extensively from one of the Final Solution’s architects. This puts his fascination with quarantines, mandatory tattoos, and extermination being a “plausible idea” in a whole new and deeply disturbing light.

From the Inside: Focus on the Family’s “Love Won Out”

On February 10, I attended an all-day “Love Won Out” ex-gay conference in Phoenix, put on by Focus on the Family and Exodus International. In this series of reports, I talk about what I learned there: the people who go to these conferences, the things that they hear, and what this all means for them, their families and for the rest of us.

Prologue: Why I Went To “Love Won Out”
Part 1: What’s Love Got To Do With It?
Part 2: Parents Struggle With “No Exceptions”
Part 3: A Whole New Dialect
Part 4: It Depends On How The Meaning of the Word "Change" Changes
Part 5: A Candid Explanation For "Change"

The Heterosexual Agenda: Exposing The Myths

At last, the truth can now be told.

Using the same research methods employed by most anti-gay political pressure groups, we examine the statistics and the case studies that dispel many of the myths about heterosexuality. Download your copy today!

And don‘t miss our companion report, How To Write An Anti-Gay Tract In Fifteen Easy Steps.

Testing The Premise: Are Gays A Threat To Our Children?

Anti-gay activists often charge that gay men and women pose a threat to children. In this report, we explore the supposed connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse, the conclusions reached by the most knowledgeable professionals in the field, and how anti-gay activists continue to ignore their findings. This has tremendous consequences, not just for gay men and women, but more importantly for the safety of all our children.

Straight From The Source: What the “Dutch Study” Really Says About Gay Couples

Anti-gay activists often cite the “Dutch Study” to claim that gay unions last only about 1½ years and that the these men have an average of eight additional partners per year outside of their steady relationship. In this report, we will take you step by step into the study to see whether the claims are true.

The FRC’s Briefs Are Showing

Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council submitted an Amicus Brief to the Maryland Court of Appeals as that court prepared to consider the issue of gay marriage. We examine just one small section of that brief to reveal the junk science and fraudulent claims of the Family “Research” Council.

Daniel Fetty Doesn’t Count

Daniel FettyThe FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics aren’t as complete as they ought to be, and their report for 2004 was no exception. In fact, their most recent report has quite a few glaring holes. Holes big enough for Daniel Fetty to fall through.