Box Turtle Bulletin

Federal Domestic Partnership Bill Scheduled for Markup

With the demise of the Washington Blade, we were left with the threat of the country’s most important beat going uncovered. That’s why the rise of the DCAgenda by former Blade reports is so vital. How else would we learn important developments like this:

A Senate committee has set Wednesday as the day it will markup legislation that would provide benefits to the same-sex partners of federal employees, DC Agenda has learned.

The Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee will consider the bill — known as the Domestic Partnership Benefits & Obligations Act — during a business meeting starting at 10 am. Dec. 16. The markup will occur in Room 342 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The House Oversight and Givernment Relations Committee approved its own version of the bill last month. That bill, with 138 co-sponsors, has not yet been scheduled for a house vote.

Scott Lively Issues Statement On Uganda

L-R: Unidentified woman, American holocaust revisionist Scott Lively, International Healing Foundation's Caleb Brundidge, Exodus International boardmember Don Schmierer, Family Life Network (Uganda)'s Stephen Langa, at the time of the March 2009 anti-gay conference in Uganda.

Today, Scott Lively, one of three American anti-gay activists who participated in an anti-gay conference last March in Kampala, decided to drop his two cents’ worth on the Uganda debacle that he helped to create. In a statement posted on his Defend The Family web site, Lively says that he’s against the death penalty. But he also supports the rationale and hatred that is driving that proposal, while excusing his own actions and repeating his earlier suggestion that Uganda institute forced conversion therapy instead.

Lively begins his piece by recounting the story behind Uganda’s Martyrs Day, an official holiday which marks the deaths of 22 young men who refused to submit to rape by King Mwanga II of Buganda between 1885 and 1887. Lively is not to first to equate predatory rape with consensual relationships of affection between people of the same gender, and he won’t be the last. But he uses this canard to claim that “By official count 22 young men were executed under Uganda\’s law on homosexuality.”

Such is the state of bigotry in Uganda that conflating homosexuality with rape is so commonplace that it has become a part of the national lore, and such is Lively’s eagerness to exploit that hatred to justify his actions. Lively’s statement builds on the image of all gays being predatory by spreading the oft-repeated rumors circulating in Uganda that wealthy foreigners are “converting” Uganda’s youth to a lifetime of homosexuality through the influence of wealth. And what does he think should be done about it?

Scott Lively speaking at a 2007 Watchmen On the Walls conference in Riga, Latvia

Let me be absolutely clear. I do not support the proposed anti-homosexuality law as written. It does not emphasize rehabilitation over punishment and the punishment that it calls for is unacceptably harsh. However, if the offending sections were sufficiently modified, the proposed law would represent an encouraging step in the right direction. As one of the first laws of this century to recognize that the destructiveness of the “gay” agenda warrants opposition by government, it would deserve support from Christian believers and other advocates of marriage-based culture around the world.

Saddleback Pastor Rick Warren is now on record as saying that Christian leaders have a moral responsibility to oppose Uganda’s proposed Anti-Homosexuality Act. Warren goes further, saying, “I oppose the criminalization of homosexuality. The freedom to make moral choices is endowed by God.” This sets Lively in direct opposition to the most respected Evangelical pastor in the nation, and it leaves Uganda with a very clear choice. They can either do the Christian thing and drop the Anti-Homosexuality Act, or they can remove some of the most outrageous provisions and still be aligned with one of the world’s most venomous anti-gay Holocaust revisionists. That’s quite a position to be in.

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

Uganda Media Centre Removes Op-Ed Questioning “Kill Gays” Bill

UPDATE: It’s back up with a different link. It’s also at the top of the “Responses/Clarifications” section of the the Uganda Media Centre’s main page.

In a discouraging development, the Uganda Media Centre has taken down Obed K. Katureebe’s op-ed which appeared to lay the groundwork for withdrawing the Anti-Homosexuality Act. The original link now leads to a blank page. It’s Google cache is here, and the full text is posted below. Is this a sign of differing factions within the government?

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

Click here to read Obed K. Katureebe’s article, “Homosexuality: We Can Still Avoid Foreign Bad Press”

Ugandan MP Defends “Kill Gays” Bill

Uganda MP David Bahati, prime sponsor of the Anti-Homosexuality Act

Ugandan Member of Parliament David Bahati, who introduced the Anti-Homosexuality Act into Parliament, appeared on the BBC’s Focus On Africa program to talk about his handiwork. Bahati appears not to have gotten the memo about the death penalty being eliminated or the trial balloon of dropping the whole bill that was floated on the Uganda government’s official Media Centre web site. Bahati remained firmly behind the bill, saying that it is all about responding to child sexual abuse:

David Bahati says the new offence of “aggravated homosexuality” is a penalty against “defilement” of under-18s. “There has been a distortion in the media that we are providing death for gays. That is not true,” he said. “When a homosexual defiles a kid of less than 18 years old, we are providing a penalty for this.”

This, of course, is an outright lie. The text of the Anti-Homosexuality Act, which we have posted online and refer to continuously, defines “aggravated homosexuality” this way:

3. Aggravated homosexuality.
(1) A person commits the offense of aggravated homosexuality where the

(a) person against whom the offence is committed is below the age of 18 years;

(b) offender is a person living with HIV;

(c) offender is a parent or guardian of the person against whom the offence is committed;

(d) offender is a person in authority over the person against whom the offence is committed;

(e) victim of the offence is a person with disability;

(f) offender is a serial offender, or

(g) offender applies, administers or causes to be used by any man or woman any drug, matter or thing with intent to stupefy overpower him or her so as to there by  enable any person to have unlawful carnal connection with any person of the same sex,

(2) A person who commits the offence of aggravated homosexuality shall be liable on conviction to suffer death.

(3) Where a person is charged with the offence under this section, that person shall undergo a medical examination to ascertain his or her HIV status.

This clearly goes way beyond rape or child molestation. Anyone who is HIV positive and gay is subject to death by hanging. As is anyone who is a “serial offender” — someone who has had more than one lover, or maybe even someone who has had sexual relations more than once with the same person.

Bahati also declared:

“Homosexuality it is not a human right. It is not in-born. It is a behaviour that is learned and it can be unlearned.”

Gee, I wonder where he got that idea?

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

Vatican Statement about Uganda’s Proposed Legislation

Today the Vatican representative read a statement (webcast) to a United Nations panel on anti-gay violence. Although the Holy See did not reference Uganda by name, it does address in a general sense its response to the Ugandan Kill Gays bill. The timing suggests that this statement is driven by the publicity surrounding the bill.

Statement of the Holy See

Mr. Moderator,

Thank you for convening this panel discussion and for providing the opportunity to hear some very serious concerns raised this afternoon. My comments are more in the form of a statement rather than a question.

As stated during the debate of the General Assembly last year, the Holy See continues to oppose all grave violations of human rights against homosexual persons, such as the use of the death penalty, torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. The Holy See also opposes all forms of violence and unjust discrimination against homosexual persons, including discriminatory penal legislation which undermines the inherent dignity of the human person.

As raised by some of the panelists today, the murder and abuse of homosexual persons are to be confronted on all levels, especially when such violence is perpetrated by the State. While the Holy See\’s position on the concepts of sexual orientation and gender identity remains well known, we continue to call on all States and individuals to respect the rights of all persons and to work to promote their inherent dignity and worth.

Thank you, Mr. Moderator.

The Catholic Church is masterful at crafting careful language so we should be cautious not to see here what is not present. The Ugandan bill as it currently stands, calling for the death penalty and life sentences, would clearly fall outside the Church’s approval.

However, the Church speaks of “cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment” and of “discriminatory penal legislation”. The Church is not, in this message, calling for the decriminalization of homosexual acts.

Indeed, to do so would be contrary to their statements of a year ago. At that time, when the European Union called for decriminalization, the Vatican officially objected, making the peculiar argument that such a call discriminates against nations that don’t recognize same-sex unions. (Catholic News Service 12/08/08)

The Vatican has made clear its opposition to the United Nations endorsing a universal declaration to decriminalize homosexuality.

Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Vatican’s apostolic nuncio to the United Nations, and Vatican spokesman Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi said unjust forms of discrimination against homosexuals must be avoided.

However, the Vatican does not approve of a formal declaration with political weight that might be used to put pressure on or discriminate against countries that do not recognize same-sex marriage, they said.

However, even though the Catholic Church does not have the courage or integrity to directly oppose Uganda’s proposed legislation by name nor the moral character to oppose the criminalization of homosexuality in general, I do welcome this very powerful voice to the chorus who oppose draconian laws such as the one proposed.

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

Austria’s Civil Unions passed by legislature

In November we informed you that the Austrian government had agreed to a bill which would enact Civil Unions. The AP is reporting that the bill has now passed the legislature:

Earlier in the day, Hoegl and co-president Jona Solomon passed out pink rum-filled cupcakes to parliamentarians, along with a letter that urged them to vote yes.

The legislation — considered a compromise between the governing coalition — did not pass unanimously. In the end, of the 174 lawmakers who cast ballots, 110 voted in favor of the bill, and 64 voted against it.

The opposition right-wing Freedom Party rejected it outright, saying it goes too far. The Greens, on the other hand, argued it was too limited.

Congratulations, Austrians.

Oooops, Australia does NOT get Registered Partnerships

OK, that was a colossal blunder. The story is not about Australia but about Austria.

The Associated Press is reporting:

Austria’s parliament passed legislation Thursday allowing same-sex couples to enter into civil unions, a move hailed by proponents as a historic win for gay rights in the country.

The bill, slated to become law Jan. 1, will give same-sex couples many of the rights enjoyed by their heterosexual counterparts, including access to a pension if one partner dies and alimony in the event of a split.

Calling them Civil Unions seems to be a bit of an inaccurate nomenclature. If I understand correctly, the relationships cannot include a celebration or be solemnized. Rather they are to be recorded in a national registry and, as such, are better understood as Registered Partnerships.

I’m unable as yet to find this story from an Australian new source, so more accurate clarification may be coming.

Prior to this action, Registered Partnerships were recorded in Victoria and Tasmania, and Civil Unions were legal in the Australian Capital Territory.

Maine’s anti-marriage leader commends the Ugandan Kill Gays bill

Bob Emrich is the pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Bible Church in Plymouth, Maine. He was also a campaign leader and spokesman for Stand for Marriage Maine, the organization primarily responsible for the passage of Question 1 which reversed the Maine Legislature’s law enacting marriage equality. Emrich was, in many ways, the voice and face of the anti-gay marriage movement in Maine.

When campaigning against equality for gay Mainers, Emrich tried to portray himself and his organization as being in favor of traditional marriage rather than being anti-gay.

Emrich said he has tried to keep the emphasis on marriage, rather than on “homosexual behavior.”

“At some point, it’s a personal, private matter,” he said. “There’s an obligation on all of us to try to warn and encourage each other away from destructive behaviors and toward healthy behaviors, but we’re always going to debate what those are. When it comes to public policy, that’s not what this bill is regulating. It’s about something more than that.”

But Emrich’s “personal, private” comments may have only been for public consumption in Maine, and his real goals and desires may be something quite other than what he was willing to admit. In fact, Emrich may well favor draconian laws that enact extreme civil punishment of gay men and women.

And Emrich is part of that previously-unknown but amazingly large collection of conservative evangelical Americans who have been investing time and effort in Uganda.

GoodAsYou.org has a copy of an email sent out yesterday by Emrich to those who share his religious and political views.

I have just recently returned from two weeks in Uganda, ministering the Word among village pastors and Churches. It was a refreshing change of pace from the last year spent on the “marriage referendum”. My trip to Uganda took me away from email, cell phones and the internet (also from electricity, running water, etc.). But I was able to see the Spirit of God working apart from the many distractions that we are faced with every day in Maine. I visited almost 20 remote villages and spent time with the believers. One of the common sentiments expressed there was that “in order to have a healthy village, there must be a strong and healthy church”. That is one of the important lessons we have been learning here as well. We will have more to say about that later. But as I work my way back into ministry here at Emmanuel Bible Baptist Church (Plymouth) and with the Maine Jeremiah Project, I wanted to share the following article I found in Uganda\’s largest daily newspaper. I had tucked it into my journal and found it yesterday as I reviewed some of my scribbling. I think it speaks for itself, but I hope you will wonder, as I do, where our own culture lost its way.

The article in question is from New Vision which calls itself “Uganda’s leading website”. It rails against the West and in declining morals. The most relevant part is:

One can now shamelessly stand up and tell you: “I do as I please. You have no business in my affairs.” A sodomist can now swear to you that what they do in the privacy of their bedroom does not concern the public.

No wonder when a brilliant MP comes up with a Bill against homosexuality, the human rights activists baptise him an enemy of the people.

It is high time politicians, religious leaders, cultural leaders and all concerned Africans woke up and defended the African heritage against the moral confusion of Western civilisation. This civilisation is eroding African moral pride.

The so-called human rights activists have hijacked the driver\’s seat and are sending nations into the sea of permissiveness in which the Western world has already drowned.

Every evil that has penetrated our society comes disguised as a human right and is watered by a group of elites who have attained education in the West. These elites have come back to impose on us practices that our forefathers deemed abominable.

Emrich wonders where our culture, the Western culture, “lost its way”. There simply is no other possible interpretation than that Emrich extols the ideas in the article and wishes that the United States were more like Uganda in such matters.

Let me be clear. It is virtually impossible that Bob Emrich is unaware of the nature of the Ugandan Kill Gays bill. Surely no one who has any interest in Uganda could possibly have missed news coverage of the proposed death penalty for HIV positive gays, life sentences for others, and incarceration of their friends, family and acquaintances.

Yet, as incredible as it seems, Bob Emrich is suggesting that the West has lost its way and that Uganda has important lessons that we need to learn here. I’m finding it difficult to find any interpretation other than that Bob Emrich, the leader of the Yes on 1 Campaign, endorses recriminalization of homosexuality and may even support execution of gays.

So when they tell you that they don’t hate you and that they are only trying to protect the traditional definition of marriage, remember Bob Emrich.

For full coverage on the recent situation in Uganda see here.

Rick Warren “Vigorously Condemns” Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act

Saddleback Pastor Rick Warren came under tremendous fire for refusing to denounce Uganda’s proposed Anti-Homosexuality Act, saying “it is not my personal calling as a pastor in America to comment or interfere in the political process of other nations.” Now Pastor Warren has issued a video encyclical to his fellow pastors in Uganda urging them to speak out forcefully against the bill:

The key points that Warren raised are:

First, the potential law is unjust, extreme and un-Christian toward homosexuals, requiring the death penalty in some cases. If I am reading the proposed bill correctly, this law would also imprison anyone convicted of homosexual practice.

Second, the law would force pastors to report their pastoral conversations with homosexuals to authorities.

Third, it would have a chilling effect on your ministry to the hurting. As you know, in Africa, it is the churches that are bearing the primary burden of providing care for people infected with HIV/AIDS. If this bill passed, homosexuals who are HIV positive will be reluctant to seek or receive care, comfort and compassion from our churches out of fear of being reported. You and I know that the churches of Uganda are the truly caring communities where people receive hope and help, not condemnation.

Fourth, ALL life, no matter how humble or broken, whether unborn or dying, is precious to God. My wife, Kay, and I have devoted our lives and our ministry to saving the lives of people, including homosexuals, who are HIV positive. It would be inconsistent to save some lives and wish death on others. We\’re not just pro-life. We are whole life.

Finally, the freedom to make moral choices and our right to free expression are gifts endowed by God. Uganda is a democratic country with remarkable and wise people, and in a democracy everyone has a right to speak up. For these reasons, I urge you, the pastors of Uganda, to speak out against the proposed law.

UPDATE: To be honest, when I posted this, I was speechless — literally. Which is why I didn’t write anything personally. Now that I’ve had a chance to reflect on it, I’m simply overjoyed. This statement, in its forcefullness and clarity, is what we’ve been waiting for. I’ve been wating for clarity like this since last February when I first warned of the then-planned anti-gay conference in Kampala. Now, those who support this bill — or any form of criminalization of homosexuality for that matter — will have to defend themselves in opposition to Pastor Warren’s statement.

It doesn’t get any better than this. Well, yes it does: we’re still looking for that day when this bill is finally withdrawn from Parliament.

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

Click here to read a transcript of Rick Warren’s statement.

Uganda’s Official Media Centre Publishes Article Suggesting Anti-Homosexuality Act Not Needed

(Correction: An earlier version of this report identified the Ugandan statement’s author as Minister of Ethics and Integrity James Nsaba Buturo. We regret the error.)

UPDATE: In a discouraging development, the Uganda Media Centre has taken down Katureebe’s op-ed. It’s Google cache is here.

UPDATE 2: It’s back up with a different link. It’s also at the top of the “Responses/Clarifications” section of the the Uganda Media Centre’s main page.

Columnist Obed K. Katureebe wrote an opinion piece in which he suggests that the Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act may not be needed. While Katureebe does not hold a governmental position, the fact that this piece appears on the government’s official Media Centre web site might be significant. The Media Centre acts as a “centralized location where all official government correspondence and information can be easily accessed.” In an undated article published by the Media Centre, Katureebe writes:

Hon. (David) Bahati has a strong point. However, I personally think that there is no need to have a fresh legislation on such unnatural offences. What Hon. Bahati should have emphasized is to improve the penal code just to widen the definition already existing.

According to the Penal Code Act (cap 120), any person who permits a male person to have carnal knowledge of him or her against the order of nature, commits an offense and is liable to imprisonment for life. There is no question about that homosexuality, long regarded as taboo (culturally and socially) in the highly-religious society of Uganda, has of recent been raising its head and profile in the field of public debate.

No longer content to remain in the closet, proponents of homosexuality and lesbianism are actively seeking to be heard. They are up against an uphill task as they are pitched not only against culture and religion but against public perception of morality.

What is required at this moment is to let all Ugandans be rational and put their views across before parliament moves to debate the contents of the bill. Calls by rights organisations that Uganda’s obligations under the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights would be undermined are uncalled for.

The bill was introduced in Uganda’s Parliament by MP David Bahati. While Bahati is a member of the ruling party, he introduced the Anti-Homosexuality Act as a private member’s bill, meaning that it was not a part of the official ruling government’s program. Observers suggested that this mechanism was used in order to provide maximum flexibility on the part of the government to respond according to reactions. That now appears to be happening. Bloomberg has already reported that Ugandan officials have moved to drop the death penalty from the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Act. This statement appears to lay the groundwork for dropping the legislation altogether:

However, the country should recognise the impressionable body politic and civil society groups in developed economies of the west. With their clever portrayal of the fight against homosexuality as a human rights abuse, the attachment of the adjectives like fascist to regime may lead to policy reviews.

Which is why I call on the government to avoid the bad press. Since homosexuality is already criminalised in Uganda, one wonder whether parliament is utilising its time optimally by focusing on homosexuality when the majority of our people are suffering from hunger, lack of access to water and disease and collapsing infrastructure.

Moreover, as pointed out by the gay lobbyists, same sex marriage is not a common social practice in Uganda therefore legislating against it is redundant and is likely to attack more attention to them. Perhaps parliament should be spending its time on real issues that impact on the lives of long-suffering Ugandans.

As a country, let us also engage other remedial institutions to try and counter this vice that is slowly but steadily coming into our lives. We ought to know that homosexuality community across the world is now 10% of the world population. Since we are part of the global community how feasible would it be to kill off 10% of the population.

But just as the statement becomes encouraging, it ends with this:

As research has shown homosexuality is not a mental illness symptomatic of arrested development or that gays desires are genetic or hormonal in origin and that there is no choice involved. Homosexual behavior is learned. According to research by Dr. Cameron, no scientific research has found provable biological or genetic differences between heterosexuals and homosexuals that were not caused by their behavior. Dr. Cameron is the chairman Family Research Institute in Colorado Springs, USA.

That “researcher,” Paul Cameron, is the researcher who has been denounced and disbarred from the American Psychological Association, the Nebraska Psychological Association, the American Sociological Association, and more recently, the Eastern Psychological Association for his unethical practices, including specifically his falsification and abuse of legitimate research. Cameron’s admiration for how the Nazis dealt with homosexuality suggests that he may have no problems should Uganda decide to “kill off 10% of the population.”

Uganda’s Minister of Ethics and Integrity James Nsaba Buturo has been a strong proponent for the Anti-Homosexuality Act, making him the highest governmental figure advocating directly for the bill.  It is unclear whether the appearance of Katureebe’s article on an official Ugandan governmental web site marks a trial baloon, the opinions of a faction within the government, or an attempt to lower the temperature of the controversy surrounding the legislation.

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

Uganda’s “Kill Gays” Bill Sparks Schism Inside The Family; U.S. Sens. Remain Silent

Rachel Maddow had author Jeff Sharlet on her program last night. Sharlet is the author of The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, and has been following the connections of The Family to the current attempt in Uganda to legislate LGBT people out of existence through its draconian Anti-Homosexuality Act. That proposed Act is now reportedly being modified to drop the death penalty but add forced conversions. If true, that would provide even more evidence that the anti-gay conference last March by three American ex-gay proponents was a major factor in propelling this bill to where we are today.

Sharlet had earlier identified Ugandan Member of Parliament David Bahati, who introduced the Anti-Homosexuality Act in Uganda’s Parliament, as a “rising star” and member of The Family. It is The Family that organizes the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., and Bahati has played a role in organizing the Ugandan National Prayer Breakfast for some time.

While the March anti-gay conference in Kampala played a huge role in providing impetus for the proposed legislation, Sharlet reports that the idea for the draconian bill predates that conference. According to Sharlet, Bahati got the idea for the Anti-Homosexuality Act at the October 2008 Ugandan National Prayer Breakfast where he floated the idea during a private meeting. Sharlet reports that other Family members tried to dissuade Bahati from his plans, but in the end they work a balance “between access and accountability” and the decided that access to Ugandan political figures was more important than holding them accountable for the lives of a reviled minority.

Sharlet reports that Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) may have attended this particular prayer breakfast, although he’s still trying to get confirmation of that. He has been very active in Ugandan Prayer breakfasts in the past and travels to Uganda about twice a year. Ugandan Family members credit Inhofe for making the Ugandan National Prayer Breakfast a success.

Sharlet reports that the bill has caused something of a schism between the Ugandan and American branches of The Family. While several American members of The Family are quietly trying to put a stop to the bill, Sens. Inhofe and Sam Brownback (R-KS) have refused to step up, characterizing the bill as an internal Ugandan matter that they don’t want to “interfere” with — despite the fact that they’ve had no reluctance to “interfere” in Ugandan matters where condom distribution to fight AIDS is concerned.

David Bahati and Ethics and Integrity Minister James Nsaba Buturo plan to come to the American National Prayer Breakfast in February 2009. Sharlet reports that the Ugandans pushing for this bill may be dis-invited to the Prayer Breakfast.

L-R: Unidentified woman, American holocaust revisionist Scott Lively, International Healing Foundation's Caleb Brundidge, Exodus International boardmember Don Schmierer, Family Life Network (Uganda)'s Stephen Langa, at the time of the March 2009 anti-gay conference in Uganda.

This is important news to help place the line of events into context. While it appears that the anti-gay conference put on by three American ex-gay proponents wasn’t the source for the idea of outlawing LGBT people, it certainly played a major role in making this proposal a reality by putting a public face on the “pressure” for the legislation. That conference served as a launching pad for a public campaign demanding that “something be done” — a campaign that included further meetings and demonstrations, culminating in an orgy of public outings and denunciations as part of a national vigilante campaign. Throughout the campaign, the words and writings of the three American activists were used as fuel to propel the hysteria further. All of this breathed new life into a germ of an idea hatched five months earlier.

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

Time Magazine Covers the Ugandan “Kill Gays” Bill

A Time Magazine reporter met with a doctor in Uganda who treats gay men

In a matter of weeks, the Ugandan doctor’s admission to TIME could land him in jail and his patients on death row. An anti-homosexuality bill now before Uganda’s Parliament would include some of the harshest anti-gay regulations in the world. If the bill becomes law, the doctor, who asked that his name not be published, could be prosecuted for “aiding and abetting homosexuality.” In one version of the bill, his sexually active HIV-positive patients could be found guilty of practicing acts of “aggravated homosexuality,” a capital crime, according to the bill.

Thanks to a clause in the would-be law that punishes “failure to disclose the offense,” anybody who heard the doctor’s conversation could be locked up for failing to turn him in to the police. Even a reporter scribbling the doctor’s words could be found to have “promoted homosexuality,” an act punishable by five to seven years in prison. And were any of the Ugandans in the park to sleep with someone of the same sex in another country, the law would mandate their extradition to Uganda for prosecution. Only terrorists and traitors are currently subject to extraterritorial jurisdiction under Ugandan law. Even murderers don’t face that kind of judicial reach.

The article ties the bill to the conference that Box Turtle Bulletin has been reporting on since March.

The bill has an American genesis of sorts, inspired to a large extent by the visits of U.S. evangelicals who are involved with a movement that promotes Christianity’s role in getting homosexuals to become “ex-gays” through prayer and faith.

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

NJ Senate Marriage Vote Postponed

The New Jersey Senate vote on same-sex marriage scheduled for Thursday has been postponed until the bill can be heard by the state Assembly Judiciary Committee. The blog Blue Jersey saysthat this postponement is a good thing — the votes aren’t there yet in the full Senate for it to pass. The votes are there in the Assembly, but Assembly speaker Joe Roberts doesn’t want to schedule a vote until it passes the Senate, which is seen as the more difficult House for this issue.

Legislators are working against a January 18deadline, which is the last day Gov. Jon Corzine (D) will be in office. Corzine has said that he would sign a same-sex marriage bill into law. Incoming governor Chris Christie (R) has promised to veto such a measure should it reach his desk.

Is this wrongful termination?

Consider for a moment the following scenario.

You work for a private business. An advocacy group issues a statement and sends it to your employer which blames a recent vote on group bias. You respond by sending an email to that group which says:

\’Who are the hateful, venom-spewing ones? Hint: Not the [opponents]. You hateful people have been spreading nothing but vitriol since this campaign began. Good riddance!\’

Question: how long would you remain employed?

This occurred in Maine following the passage of Question 1. HRC sent a statement to the press, including the Maine Morning Sentinel in Waterville, Maine.

Larry Grard, a journalist for the Sentinel responded by sending the following email to Trevor Thomas, HRC’s deputy communications director:

\’Who are the hateful, venom-spewing ones? Hint: Not the yes on 1 crowd. You hateful people have been spreading nothing but vitriol since this campaign began. Good riddance!\’

Thomas emailed the editor, “I received the below email this morning after our national media release was sent to your team. … It’s frankly, just not acceptable coming from a news organization the morning after our defeat.” Shortly thereafter, with no further communication with HRC, the editor fired Grard.

Grard says it’s “anti-Christian bias”. What do you say?

New Jersey marriage vote delayed

The vote on marriage equality in the New Jersey Senate was scheduled for tomorrow. It has been delayed. (NJ.com)

Sens. Ray Lesniak (D-Union) and Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) said the bill — which was up for passage on Thursday — instead will likely be introduced in the Assembly Judiciary Committee in preparation for a vote by the lower house.

Meanwhile anti-equality Democrats are getting pressured.

Lawmakers said phones in their district offices continued to ring off the hook this week, with in-state and out-of-state opponents and advocates burning up the lines of Democratics senators committed to opposing gay marriage.

“Most of us have spent the last week, even just alone in our district offices fielding questions and speaking to folks, advocates and detractors of the gay marriage bill about this issue,” said Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-Cape May), who said he will vote against the bill.

As this debate plays out across the nation, I am finding that for me this is becoming less of a “agree to disagree” issue.

I am no longer willing to accept as a credible position that I am inferior to other citizens, that my rights are not equal to thiers and I am not qualified to determine to whom I should be married.

I no longer see this as “a slowly shifting cultural perspective”. I no longer find that “good people just haven’t gotten there yet”. I can no longer accept that others have “their own moral beliefs which have to be respected.”

There are no credible arguments that argue in favor of a need for discrimination against gay couples. This has become abundantly evident in the debates in the New York Senate and the New Jersey Judiciary Committee. Those who opposed equality either did so silently – I suspect shamefully – or couched their objection in the language of bigotry.

Opponents of equality are left with nothing more than an appeal to their own religion, their own biases, or those of their constituents. No principled objections are made because none exist.

After all of the fiery denunciations of the homosexual agenda and pleas for “the children”, after all of the lobbying and praying and faith-based lying through their teeth, after all has been said, this simple truth remains: Either you believe in equal rights for all citizens or you do not.

Senator Jeff Van Drew does not.