Box Turtle Bulletin

Tech Companies Team Up Against LGBT Discrimination Measure

In May, House Republican Leadership broke their own House rules in order to preserve a provision in the 2016 Defense Authorization Bill which overturns President Obama’s executive order requiring federal contractors to maintain anti-discrimination policies that cover sexual orientation and gender identity. The Senate has also passed a similar version of the defense bill, and those differences now need to be reconciled with the House version. This week, a consortium of tech and telecom companies — with members including Comcast, Apple, Microsoft, and Google, — have issued a statement urging Congress to remove the provision that would allow LGBT discrimination among federal contractors:

“The technology industry is the nation’s most innovative sector precisely because it values and embraces a talented and diverse workforce,” said TechNet president Linda Moore. “Unfortunately, Section 1094 undermines these values by placing prejudice and fear above inclusion and diversity, which is bad for our employees and bad for business.”

“To ensure that our nation’s economy remains robust and innovative, we must support the best and brightest people.

While Section 1094 might intend to promote religious freedom and liberty, in reality it sanctions discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, which has no place in our country.”

…”LGBT Tech supports TechNet in the request to remove any language in the National Defense Authorization Act that would allow discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity,” said Chris Wood, executive director of the LGBT Tech Partnership. “While freedom of religious expression is a bedrock of our values in the Untied States, too often, especially recently, it has been used as a cover for sanctioning discrimination. As we witnessed in Indiana, and other state, these efforts are often supported by anti-LGBT groups and result from significant antiLGBT animus. As written, section 1094 of H.R. 4909 opens the door to discrimination, reinforcing a divide with fear and prejudice instead of inclusion and diversity.”

The letter from TechNet was sent to members of the House-Senate conference committee which will hammer out the final bill.

Vacation Update: More Peaceful Waters

Yesterday, we left Marietta, Ohio and traveled slowly up the Muskingum River along what used to be a branch of the Ohio and Erie Canal. Today, we’ll be back in Columbus, still hanging out with family and still mostly offline.  See you next week!

The Ohio Is Beautiful This Time Of Year

I grew up with the Ohio literally in my back yard in Portsmouth, although the levee blocked the view. I could sit and watch the Ohio roll by all day long.

Here’s one of my relatives, Isaac Boroway (1754-1801), in the Gnadenhutten cemetery. The spelling of the family name seems to have gradually changed through the 1800s. Isaac was Moravian, the world’s oldest Protestant sect; its establishment preceded Martin Luther by about a century. Isaac was also a Revolutionary War veteran from Lancaster, PA.

That photo up there is the view of the river from Marietta, Ohio. We’ve been traveling throughout Ohio this past week visiting family, and we’ll be here another week  before returning to Tucson. That’s why blogging has been so light, and it’s why it will continue to be so until about this time next week.

Yesterday, we were in Zoar, the site of Ohio’s most successful communal and separatist settlement. It’s not far from Uhrichsville, where my dad’s side of the family came from and where my uncle (his older brother) still lives.  Today, we’re in Marietta. I have no connections here. We’re here just because it’s pretty and I’ve really never been here before.

And as it turns out, Marietta has been a pretty amazing discovery. Why hasn’t anyone told me that Marietta was such a happening place? Restaurants downtown were packed — on a Wednesday night. I think any real Brooklyn hipster — and I’m not speaking of  hipsters lifestyle adoptees who wear flannel and work boots as fashion accessories — would feel right at home here.

Trump To Join Rubio At Anti-Gay Meeting In Orlando

The Christian Broadcasting Network reported that Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump will appear at the anti-LGBT “Rediscovering God in America” conference in Orlando. The event will be held this week on August 11 and 12, coinciding with the two-month anniversary of the Pulse night club massacre:

Trump will speak to them about his push to repeal the Johnson Amendment. The law, which has been in place for decades, has made it more difficult for pastors to speak out on political issues and candidates from the pulpit. We should also note that former presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio will also speak to pastors at the two-day event.

Liberty Counsel Action, the political action arm of the Liberty Counsel, and the Florida Renewal Project, an affiliate of the American Renewal Project, are sponsering the the private event which will be closed to the public and press. About 700 pastors and spouses are expected to attend. David Lane, founder of the American Renewal Project told Bloomberg that Trump’s talking about the Johnson Amendment would be just “a good first step”:

“That’s a good first step,” said David Lane, the American Renewal Project’s founder. “But what about the religious liberty of Christian photographers, Christian bakers, Christian retreat centers, and pastors who believe same-sex intercourse and marriage is sin? These Christians were simply living out their deeply held convictions of their Christian faith when they politely refused to provide services for a same-sex wedding. Doesn’t the First Amendment give us all a right to our beliefs?”

Lane added, “Homosexual totalitarianism is out of the closet, the militants are trying herd Christians there.”

Last month, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) was named the event’s headliner, a move which brought fierce criticism from members of Orlando’s gay community. Rubio tried telling the Tampa Bay Times, presumably with a straight face:

“The event I will be speaking at in Orlando is a gathering of local pastors and faith leaders. Leave it to the media and liberal activists to label a gathering of faith leaders as an anti-LGBT event. It is nothing of the sort. It is a celebration of faith,” he said.

So is it an anti-LGBT event? You tell me. Here’s a rundown on some of the other speakers that Trump and Rubio will be sharing a platform with:

• Mat Staver: He is head of the Liberty Counsel and Liberty Counsel Action. Liberty Counsel defended Kentucky clerk Kim Davis’s refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. When Staver was dean of Liberty University’s law school, he taught his law students that they should counsel their clients to break the law in favor of “God’s Law.” And according to a RICO lawsuit connecting his law school to the Miller-Jenkins kidnapping case, his law school apparently practices what he taught. Last month, he denounced Orlando area churches for participating in “homosexual love feasts” by offering prayer services and open channels of prayer, and dialogue with the grieving community.
• David Barton: He is a Texas-based fake historian who has said that God was preventing the medical profession from finding a cure for AIDS because it was “the penalty due them.” He has also repeated the false claim that gay people die decades earlier than straight people. In 2011 when Democrats still held the majority in the Senate, Baron claimed that prayers from the Senate side of the U.S. Capital can’t get through to God because “they get delayed twenty-one days because the principalities are up there fighting in the Heavenlies.”
• David Lane: Right Wing Watch has this rundown, which included his 2013 statement that we would see “car bombs in Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Des Moines, Iowa,” because of “homosexuals praying at the Inauguration.” In 2015, Lane organized a trip to Israel for sixty Republican Party leaders which was paid for by the American Family Association.

Ugandan Government Minister Promises Program To “Rehabilitate the Members of LGBTI Community”

Yesterday, Uganda’s Minister of Ethics and Integrity Simon Lokodo appeared before journalists and read a statement following last week’s police raid on a Mr/Ms/Mx Pageant that was being held as part of Uganda Pride celebrations. The U.S. Ambassador to Uganda has condemned last week’s raid, as did a coalition of Ugandan LGBT and human rights organizations.

The law is clear that the promotion of LGBT activities is criminal in letter and intent, and offensive to the laws of the Republic of Uganda. I therefore, call upon all stakeholders, ministries, departments, agencies, local governments, faith-based organizations, civil society organizations, the media, the families , the communities join the government to curb the escalating levels of immorality by upholding and integrating the national ethical values of Uganda into their daily life and work.

A program to rehabilitate the members of LGBTI community with the ultimate aim of giving them a chance to live normal lives again has been developed in my office. And Government remains committed to ensuring that Ugandans live today our cherished values and principles.

Lokodo’s comments apparently received fairly wide play in Uganda’s press:

@KuchuTimes @KashaJacqueline @nkali_biggie @SMUG2004 @Opimva @frankmugisha @RevJide @USAmbUganda @femauganda @ pic.twitter.com/V47XWJsNfm

— FARUG (@Far_Uganda) August 9, 2016

The Ugandan government has also released a more lengthy statement on the official press office’s web site, which paints Uganda’s local LGBT community as a product of “foreign forces”:

The Government has learnt of the ongoing promotion of activities of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Movement in Kampala, who with the influence of some foreign forces have organized week-long festivities in different locations in Kampala and Wakiso Districts.

The promotion of these festivities, which would purportedly culminate in a “Gay Parade” on Saturday 6th August 2016, is criminal and illegal as they have not been cleared by the Uganda Police Force, and are against the laws of the Republic of Uganda; specifically the Penal Code, which is built on precedents set in many other countries.

…We wish to emphasize that whereas the promotion of homosexuality is criminalized under the Penal Code, there is no violence against the LGBT community in Uganda — contrary to some claims made loosely by proponents of this movement.

…Government will not condone the promotion of the illegal activities of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)movement and through the Uganda police will work to ensure that the criminal and illegal activities of the Gay community are halted.

The organizers of the planned Gay Parade on Saturday 6th August 2016 are advised to stop their activities immediately. The public is called upon to refrain from joining and participating in Gay activities.

Hon. Lokodo is lost on the law as there is no such offence as "promotion of homosexuality" under the PCA. #UgPride16

— Susan Mirembe (@Cell_met) August 8, 2016

As several Ugandans have already pointed out, Uganda has no such law against “the promotion of LGBT activities.” Uganda’s constitution promises broad freedom of speech protections, although in practice the authoritarian President Yoweri Museveni has pushed a set of draconian laws through parliament that he has used as a pretext to jail dissidents and political opponents and ban meetings, rallies and other gatherings. The law requires organizations holding such meetings to notify police ahead of time and obtain permission before going ahead with the meeting. LGBT activists in Uganda say that they have complied with the law for Uganda Pride activities in 2014 and 2015 without incident. They also say that they gave notice to police in 2016, but the Ugandan authorities have accused the groups of violating the law.

Homosexuality itself is a crime under an older Ugandan law that was inherited from Britain when Uganda gained independence in 1962. According to that law, any person who “permits a male person to have carnal knowledge of him or her against the order of nature…commits an offence and is liable to imprisonment for life.” But there is no legal mechanism that prohibits LGBT advocacy or support activities. There are, however, plenty of non-legal or extra-legal mechanisms at play, which Lokodo has no fear of deploying.

Ethics Minister Simon Lokodo is a defrocked Catholic priest who was one of the strongest proponents of the notorious Anti-Homosexuality Bill, also known as the “Kill the Gays Bill” due to the death penalty for “repeat offenders” of homosexual activity, as well as for anyone who was gay and HIV-positive. Lokodo was among the chorus of Ugandans who repeatedly lied to the rest of the world about the existence of the death penalty in the proposed legislation.

The bill also would have added criminal penalties for anyone who advocated on behalf of gay people, anyone who provided housing or other services to gay people, and anyone who neglected to report gay people to police. In 2014, the Uganda Parliament approved an amended version the Anti-Homosexualty Bill which dropped the death penalty in favor of a lifetime sentence. Following worldwide condemnation and several countries suspending foreign aid to Uganda, the country’s Constitutional Court annulled the law on a technicality later that year in a face-saving move.

But even before Parliament acted on the bill, Lokodo often pretended as though the proposed legislation had already become law by shutting down LGBT rights conferences and meetings. He arrested the producer of a play which was being performed at a small theater portraying the difficulties LGBT people face living in Uganda. He has also moved to shut down NGOs for their perceived or actual support for LGBT rights, although Ugandan activists have repeatedly defied his ban on their work.

In 2009, American extremist Scott Lively, along with ex-gay activists Don Schmierer and Caleb Lee Brundidge appeared at the now infamous March 2009 conference in Kampala and called for “offering”  gay people the false choice between lengthy prison terms and ex-gay therapy. Conference organizers also distributed copies of discredited American ex-gay activist Richard Cohen’s book, Coming Out Straight. Cohen was banned for life from the American Counseling Association, and his controversial “holding” or “touch” therapy techniques has made him the laughingstock of the ex-gay movement.

In his talk at the 2009 conference, Scott Lively re-inforced several stereotypes about gay people in Uganda, principally the idea that homosexuality is a foreign import in Africa and that people become gay as the result of financial and other material inducements from wealthy foreigners. Several members of Uganda’s parliament reportedly attended that conference and several other follow-up meetings after an announcement was made at the end of a Parliamentary session inviting members to the conference. While Lively is not the origin of those false stereotypes, he did reinforce them. They are also included as part of yesterday’s official government statement:

In our society, our African values and cultures consider sexual activity to be private and personal, and it is not conducted in public. Certainly, neither is homosexuality.

It is for this reason that the promotion of ‘gay’ activities is unwelcome.

In addition, we have noted that the promotions being held are aimed at mobilizing people to join this LGBT movement, which interestingly goes against the argument that gays are “born” that way. We are aware that there are inducements, including money, being offered to young people to promote the practice.

Meanwhile, local activists vow to resist government efforts to shut down public meetings:

Lokodo 2day addressed e nation n vowed 2 do everything within his power 2 'stop' gays.Wen wl this persecution end? pic.twitter.com/ICKE1yUEpW

— KuchuTimes (Q-Times) (@KuchuTimes) August 8, 2016

Minister Lokodo says, LGBT Ugandans can hold private events & I am saying we shall hold any events public or private like any Ugandan

— Dr. Frank Mugisha (@frankmugisha) August 8, 2016

@realraymond55 True! No one is hiding. We are here for good. @KuchuTimes @frankmugisha @KashaJacqueline @muganziruth

— Pepe Julian Onziema (@Opimva) August 9, 2016

We wont b forced 2 turn in2 an underground movement, we've worked way 2 hard 4 that. @KashaJacqueline @frankmugisha @Opimva @muganziruth

— KuchuTimes (Q-Times) (@KuchuTimes) August 9, 2016

LGBT Activists Cancel Uganda Pride After Threats From Government Official

Uganda government official Minister of ethics & integrity Lokodo has threaten to call for mob violence towards any @Prideuganda2016 events

— Dr. Frank Mugisha (@frankmugisha) August 5, 2016

Minister Lokodo threatened to mobilize mob & large police attacks 4anyone who turns up for Pride Parade.This events suspended 4safety of all

— Nicholas Opiyo (@nickopiyo) August 5, 2016

Engagements with the State will continue next week with a view of holding Parade at a later date to be announced. Hopefully soon. Stay safe

— Nicholas Opiyo (@nickopiyo) August 5, 2016

UPDATE: @Prideuganda2016 postponed after lokodo threatens 2arrest any1 who takes part @KashaJacqueline @SMUG2004 #ugpridehijack #UGpride2016

— KuchuTimes (Q-Times) (@KuchuTimes) August 5, 2016

Is this right,no. But we must prioritize our lives.We wl b of no gd dead o behind bars @Prideuganda2016 #UGpridecancelled #ugpridehijack

— KuchuTimes (Q-Times) (@KuchuTimes) August 5, 2016

Yesterday, Uganda police raided a private party being held as part of Uganda Pride celebrations, arresting about 20-25 people and severely beating several transgender and crossdressing people attending a Mr/Mrs/Mx Uganda Pride pageant. Police later released all of those who had been arrested. LGBT leaders had vowed to continue with the rest of the planned activities for the week, but after a meeting with a government minister, organizers called off the rest of the Pride activities out of concern for the safety of participants. J. Lester Feder at BuzzFeed has the details:

On Friday, lawyer Nick Opiyo of Chapter 4 Uganda met with Ethics Minister Simon Lokodo to discuss the raid. Following the meeting, Opiyo told BuzzFeed News that Lokodo had threatened to bring opposition to the event to the streets, so organizers decided it should be canceled.

Frank Mugisha of Sexual Minorities Uganda, a local NGO, confirmed to BuzzFeed News that the parade on Saturday was cancelled and postponed “at least” until the following week.

“We decided to suspend it because of the risks to personal safety,” Opiyo said. “The minister threatened to mobilize a mob and a large police group to beat up anyone who shows up for pride tomorrow. We will engage the government next week with a view of holding the pride parade at another date soon.”

Opiyo indicates that Lokodo may be acting as a loose canon by directly breaking an agreement between the Ugandan government and donor nations which allowed similar pride events to take place quietly in 2014 and 2015.

Ethics and Integrity Minister Simon Lokodo

Simon Lokodo is a defrocked Catholic priest who is now, ironically, in charge of the Ministry of Ethics and Integrity. Seriously. He was one of the strongest proponents of the notorious Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which provided the death penalty for “repeat offenders” of homosexual activity, as well as for anyone who was gay and HIV-positive. It also added criminal penalties for anyone who advocated on behalf of gay people, anyone who provided housing or other services to gay people, and anyone who neglected to report gay people to police. Lokodo was among the chorus of Ugandans who repeatedly lied to the rest of the world about the existence of the death penalty in the proposed legislation. Even before Parliament acted on the bill, Lokodo often pretended as though the proposed legislation had already become law by shutting down LGBT rights conferences and meetings. He arrested the producer of a play which was being performed at a small theater portraying the difficulties LGBT people face living in Uganda. He has also moved to shut down NGOs for their perceived or actual support for LGBT rights, although Ugandan activists have repeatedly defied his ban on their work.

In 2014, the Uganda Parliament approved an amended version the Anti-Homosexualty Bill which dropped the death penalty in favor of a lifetime sentence. Following worldwide condemnation and several countries suspending foreign aid to Uganda, the country’s Constitutional Court annulled the law on a technicality later that year in a face-saving move.

This latest action against the LGBT community is taking place amid a rapid escalation of human rights violations being committed by Uganda police over the past few years in support of the increasingly authoritarian President Yowery Museveni. Police violence against the ruling party’s political opponents have become routine, culminating the arrest last March of opposition leader Kizza Besigye on trumped up charges of treason after Museveni won an unprecedented fifth term to continue his 30-year rule. According to a statement issued by a coalition of NGOs participating in the Uganda Pride activities:

This episode of police brutality did not happen in isolation, the groups said. It comes at a time of escalating police violence targeting media, independent organizations, and the political opposition.

“Any force by Ugandan police targeting a peaceful and lawful assembly is outrageous,” said Frank Mugisha, executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), who was among those arrested. “The LGBTI community stands with all Ugandan civil society movements against police brutality.”

“The Ugandan government should condemn violent illegal actions by police targeting the LGBTI community and all Ugandans,” said Asia Russell at Health GAP. “The US and all governments should challenge President Museveni to intervene immediately and hold his police force accountable.”

LGBTI Ugandans routinely face violence, discrimination, bigotry, blackmail, and extortion. The unlawful government raid on a spirited celebration displays the impunity under which Ugandan police are operating. “The state has a duty to protect all citizens’ enjoyment of their rights, including the right to peacefully assemble to celebrate Pride Uganda,” said Hassan Shire, executive director at Defend Defenders. “A swift and transparent investigation should be conducted into last night’s unacceptable demonstration of police brutality.”

Yesterday’s raid provides a tragic reminder of why everyone needs to be concerned about the personal safety of anyone who might show up at a pride event the next few days. During yesterday’s raid, one transman was severely injured when he tried to escape by jumping from a balcony on the fourth floor of the hosting pub. He is currently in Mulago hospital in very serious condition:

The young man who was hurt last night, still needs our strength. He has not received full treatment – @Prideuganda2016

— Dr. Frank Mugisha (@frankmugisha) August 5, 2016

Young man hurt @Prideuganda2016 earlier examinations show 2 broken vertebrates,more exams tomorrow & possible treatment,send him strength

— Dr. Frank Mugisha (@frankmugisha) August 5, 2016

U.S. Ambassador to Uganda Condemns Police Raid of Uganda Pride

A statement by @USAmbUganda on last night's police raid of a Uganda Pride Week event in Kampala. pic.twitter.com/1nzGeFD7fQ

— U.S. Mission Uganda (@usmissionuganda) August 5, 2016

The U.S. Ambassador to Uganda has released its statement on last night’s police raid on a LGBT pride celebration in Kampala:

Statement by U.S. Ambassador to Uganda Deborah R. Malac.

I was dismayed to hear the accounts of a police raid last night on a peaceful event in Kampala to celebrate Uganda Pride Week and recognize the talents and contributions of the country’s LGBTI community. The fact that police reportedly beat and assaulted Ugandan citizens engaged in peaceful activities is unacceptable and deeply troubling.

This incident adds to a growing list of reports concerning police brutality in Uganda. While the United States has faced its own recent allegations of improper use of force by law enforcement officials, the fact remains that abuses committed by those sworn to uphold the law are unacceptable in any country. As our own experience shows, issues of police brutality and impunity can only be resolved by holding officials accountable, and by encouraging open and frank dialogue between citizens and government. I hope Ugandan authorities will investigate this and other incidents, and treat them with the seriousness they deserve.

No person should face abuse or discrimination because of who they are. The U.S. Embassy stands with Uganda’s LGBTI community and Ugandans of all backgrounds and beliefs to defend the dignity of all citizens. We call on the Ugandan authorities to safeguard the freedoms of all Ugandans under the law.

The increasingly dictatorial president Yoweri Museveni continues to hold power after thirty years in office by grabbing ever greater police powers to harass and jail dissidents and political opponents. Last night’s raid is just part of a much larger pattern of police crackdowns on all peaceful gathering and meetings, including those taking place in private venues.

Meanwhile, Ugandan media have been following very closely the examples of police shootings in the U.S., and East Africans know the names of Michael Brown, Alton Sterling, and Philando Castile about as well as do most Americans. Museveni has been pointing to those events to discredit American criticisms of Ugandan police actions against his political opponents.

More Details About Police Raid on Uganda Pride Emerge

Kasha Jaqueline’s Kuchu Times has published more details about yesterday’s police raid on a Uganda Pride event at a rooftop pub in downtown Kampala:

Soon, they started confiscating people’s cameras and phones claiming they did not want people to spread the news on Facebook! The Officer in Charge, a rather arrogant man in demeanor, addressed the now extremely perplexed crowd and informed us were being held for conducting a gay wedding even though the laws of the land were very clear on homosexuality. Our faces fell! It seemed like our ordeal had just began and on bad note. Efforts to correct this information were futile as he shut down everyone who attempted to pass on the right information of what was actually happening.

A short while later, the same officer said he was retaining us for holding an unlawful gathering under the Public Order Management Act. The organizers still tried to inform him that they had attained permission from the Police prior but all their pleas fell on deaf ears.

…The beatings then started as the officers kicked and whipped people. Media was called and pictures of the attendees taken; all this while with the police forcing them (the attendees) to look into the cameras. The officer once again addressed us and said he would not tolerate this kind of ‘nonsense’ in his division.

After staying in the cold bundled up like criminals for over one and a half hours, we were released with caution that next time would be fatal.

According to other tweets from last night, it appears that police singled out transgender and crossdressing participants for especially harsh treatment. It’s unknown at this time what other media photographers were at the raid. One tabloid, Red Pepper, has a particularly notorious history of publishing, photos, names, occupations and places of residences of LGBT people in prior vigilante campaigns.

Despite last nights events, the LGBT community remains defiant, and promise to maintain their schedule of activities this week:

If we get scared they win, pride is still going on @frankmugisha @KashaJacqueline @maronharewood @Opimva @FredKwint @KuchuTimes @HealthLGBTQ

— Pride Uganda (@Prideuganda2016) August 5, 2016

Yes, today we continue with the festival as planned! we refuse to be broken #ugpridehijack https://t.co/oQFZav5bDv

— KuchuTimes (Q-Times) (@KuchuTimes) August 5, 2016

Although activists urge caution:

dont pik unknown calls o meet wt any 1one requestg 4 a meetg.u cn refer em 2 @Prideuganda2016 o @clarekabale @KashaJacqueline #ugpridehijack

— KuchuTimes (Q-Times) (@KuchuTimes) August 5, 2016

Uganda Pride Raided By Police

These are tweets Pride Uganda, Kasha Jaqueline’s Kuchu Times, Frank Mugisha, and other Ugandan LGBT activists describing a raid on a Uganda Pride event as it happened Thursday night:

@deryk_beatsby_deryk is the makeup artists for the Miss Pride 2016 Contestants @maronharewood @miz_cracker pic.twitter.com/cYnxsfFLnn

— Pride Uganda (@Prideuganda2016) August 4, 2016

Creative wear dedicated to #orlando49 @Prideuganda2016 @KashaJacqueline @SMUG2004 @Far_Uganda @frankmugisha pic.twitter.com/ONc1GaaiZX

— KuchuTimes (Q-Times) (@KuchuTimes) August 4, 2016

Creative wear showcasing @Prideuganda2016 @KashaJacqueline @Opimva @SMUG2004 @frankmugisha @Far_Uganda pic.twitter.com/xQNvhCJ5uZ

— KuchuTimes (Q-Times) (@KuchuTimes) August 4, 2016

Police interrupts Mr and miss pride pageant calm is being restored @KashaJacqueline @SMUG2004 .we remain strong Faith

— KuchuTimes (Q-Times) (@KuchuTimes) August 4, 2016

Uganda Pride has been held annually for several years, although it is never widely publicized. In most years, it has been held in secret, and publicized only after the events have taken place. Pride participants are usually told where the event is located very soon before it is scheduled to begin.

But there is one catch to that secrecy. The ruling party of Uganda’s increasingly dictatorial President Yoweri Museveni pushed the Public Order Management Act (PDF: 473KB/20 pages) through Parliament in 2013. The law gives police broad powers to prohibit peaceful assembly for any reason or for no reason. Museveni, who has been President since 1986, has used his expanded police powers to jail political opponents and prohibit peaceful meetings and rallies during his re-election campaign earlier this year.

Nevertheless, LGBT activists say that they had obtained permission from the police to hold this year’s event as required by law, and as they have done since the Public Order Management Act went into effect. No problems with police were reported by LGBT activists in 2014 or 2015. Why things are different for 2016 is anyone’s guess, although speculation obviously turns to possible connections to widespread allegations of police brutality against opposition leader Kizza Besigye and his supporters during and after Museveni’s re-election.  Besigye is currently out on bail on trumped up charges of treason. It’s a common practice in Uganda to divert public attention to LGBT people whenever public confidence in the country’s political and legal institutions is shaken.

Uganda police wants to cover up the ongoing criticism against their brutality with a gay story. It's really absurd. @KuchuTimes @SMUG2004

— DHALIE WOW (@DHALIEWOW) August 4, 2016

Dr. Frank Mugisha is Executive Director of Sexual Minorities Uganda:

I am arrested by Ugandan police

— Dr. Frank Mugisha (@frankmugisha) August 4, 2016

And @Opimva is the Twitter handle for Pepe Julian Onziema, a prominent Ugandan transgender advocate.

Arrested

— TheNilote (@Opimva) August 4, 2016

Trans folks worse attacked by the Uganda Police- kicked, fondled & abused in today's raid of a Pride Beauty Contest pic.twitter.com/CZOIzsi6GC

— Nicholas Opiyo (@nickopiyo) August 4, 2016

Police rounds up all e attendees of Mr and miss pride. Says e gathering is illegal since homosexuality z a crime in uganda @KashaJacqueline

— KuchuTimes (Q-Times) (@KuchuTimes) August 4, 2016

J. Lester Feder at Buzzfeed spoke to some of the activists:

Around 20 to 25 people were arrested, those detained told BuzzFeed News after their release. That number included Pepe Julian Onziema and Frank Mugisha of Sexual Minorities Uganda, who both posted on their Twitter timelines that they were being placed under arrest at around 10:30 p.m. local time. Clare Byarugaba, former co-coordinator of the coalition opposing anti-LGBT legislation in Uganda and now on the staff of the human rights group Chapter 4 Uganda was also among those taken into custody, Chapter 4 director Nick Opiyo told BuzzFeed News.

Michael Lavers at the Washington Blade adds:

Asia Russell, executive director of Health GAP, an HIV/AIDS service organization, told the Washington Blade from Kampala that eyewitnesses said officers entered a nightclub in which a Uganda Pride beauty pageant was taking place at around 11 p.m. local time.

Russell said that up to 300 people were inside the nightclub — which is across the street from the U.S. Embassy — when the raid began.

She told the Blade that police “were assaulting people” with their hands and canes.

Russell said officers were “extremely brutal with” the gender non-conforming and trans women they singled out.

Russell told the Blade that eyewitnesses said the police sexually assaulted those who were inside the nightclub. She said they confiscated their cell phones and threatened to send the pictures they took of them to the media.

 

Police pulled off hair/braids from transwoman, transmen forced to undress by inmates, community queen arrested n severly beaten, To much

— BombasticKasha (@KashaJacqueline) August 5, 2016

Buzzfeed reports:

“They were beating people … mostly the trans women,” Adebayo Katiiti Phiona, who won the title of Mr. Pride in 2015, told BuzzFeed News. “A police person even stepped on a trans woman.”

At one point, police were apparently claiming that a gay wedding was taking place. While Uganda’s constitution does not allow same-sex marriage, conducting a gay wedding is not, in and of itself, a criminal offense in Uganda.

😕😤 Uganda police breaking up À@Prideuganda2016 Mr &miss celebrations mbu it's a gay wedding#brokensystem @KuchuTimes @KashaJacqueline –

— KuchuTimes (Q-Times) (@KuchuTimes) August 4, 2016

We are all waiting on police to tell us what to do next. This is a recap of 2012 @KashaJacqueline @Prideuganda2016 pic.twitter.com/c2V8DQAM7W

— KuchuTimes (Q-Times) (@KuchuTimes) August 4, 2016

Police claims gathering was a gay wedding @Prideuganda2016 @KashaJacqueline @SMUG2004 @Icebreakers_UG

— KuchuTimes (Q-Times) (@KuchuTimes) August 4, 2016

Homosexuality is a crime under an older Ugandan law that was inherited from Britain when Uganda gained independence in 1962. According to that law, any person who “permits a male person to have carnal knowledge of him or her against the order of nature…commits an offence and is liable to imprisonment for life.”

In 2009, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill was introduced into Parliament which would have provided for the death penalty for homosexual acts. It would have also provided criminal penalties for anyone who refused to report gay people to police, or who provided shelter or aid to anyone who was gay. An amended version of the law was passed by Parliament in 2014, but after worldwide condemnation with several countries suspending foreign aid to Uganda, the country’s Constitutional Court found a face-saving technicality to cite in order to annul the law. Meanwhile, the legal situation for LGBT people in Uganda remains very tenuous.

Let's make this inhumanity viral. What did we do wrong?why didn't they say no when organizers asked for permission?

— KuchuTimes (Q-Times) (@KuchuTimes) August 4, 2016

Police calls media to take pictures. Unnecessary outings. People being beaten @KashaJacqueline @Prideuganda2016 @SMUG2004

— KuchuTimes (Q-Times) (@KuchuTimes) August 4, 2016

People demanding to be told what our crime is. Police shuts us down with intimidation @KashaJacqueline @SMUG2004

— KuchuTimes (Q-Times) (@KuchuTimes) August 4, 2016

Of says he doesn't want this 'nonsense' in his division @Prideuganda2016 @KashaJacqueline @SMUG2004

— KuchuTimes (Q-Times) (@KuchuTimes) August 4, 2016

Police reinforcements brought in @KashaJacqueline @SMUG2004 @nickopiyo @chapter4uganda @

— KuchuTimes (Q-Times) (@KuchuTimes) August 4, 2016

All decor brought down. Claims of someone jumping off balcony in fear making rounds. @KashaJacqueline @SMUG2004 @chapter4uganda

— KuchuTimes (Q-Times) (@KuchuTimes) August 4, 2016

Police trying to explain the public management act. But how is this wrong if police has been informed? @KashaJacqueline @SMUG2004

— KuchuTimes (Q-Times) (@KuchuTimes) August 4, 2016

Police apparently were trying to use the Public Order Management Act as justification for blocking the Pride celebration, but activists say that they had complied with the law by obtaining police permission ahead of time.

Pepe Julian Onziema of Sexual Minorities Uganda told BuzzFeed News that police said the event was held without proper permission from police, a claim he emphatically denied.

“There’s no way we would hold an event without a clearance,” Onziema said, saying organizers had always communicated with police before holding Pride events for the last four years. “They don’t care as long as the word homosexuality is mentioned. As soon as that is mentioned, everything else ceases and [police feel they] have to act.”

Oc says gathering z illegal evn though @Prideuganda2016 had sought permission f4m relevant authorities @Prideuganda2016 @KashaJacqueline

— KuchuTimes (Q-Times) (@KuchuTimes) August 4, 2016

People have been released @SMUG2004 @KashaJacqueline @spectrumuganda what happens to the arrested activists now?

— KuchuTimes (Q-Times) (@KuchuTimes) August 4, 2016

Mr n miss pride attendes slowly trickle out of venue.Glad we r safe,nw let's gt our activists out of jail @Prideuganda2016 @KashaJacqueline

— KuchuTimes (Q-Times) (@KuchuTimes) August 4, 2016

A couple of hours later, all of the LGBT leaders were set free, apparently without charge:

After a few hours of detention,I have been set free,every one is safe. Thankyou all my friends for the support & solidarity @Prideuganda2016

— Dr. Frank Mugisha (@frankmugisha) August 4, 2016

@jeenashahesq @frankmugisha @Opimva Everyone has been released without a charge & are on their way home. We remiss unshaken by this

— Nicholas Opiyo (@nickopiyo) August 4, 2016

Although one person was reportedly injured seriously while trying to escape. According to the Washington Blade:

Russell also told the Blade that a trans woman who jumped from the fourth floor of the nightclub during the raid remains in critical condition at a local hospital.

“Police behavior throughout this unlawful raid was brutal,” said Russell.

A victim is currently hospitalized after jumping off the 4th floor to escape @PoliceUg brutality @frankmugisha @Opimva @KuchuTimes

— Sexual Minorities UG (@SMUG2004) August 4, 2016

Now at Mulago national hospital, Ugandan gay young man injured after jumping off 6th floor building during the police raid @Prideuganda2016

— Dr. Frank Mugisha (@frankmugisha) August 5, 2016

All that were arrested are out. But the one who jumped off the building is fighting for his life at the Mulago hospital #PrideUg2016

— Icebreakers Uganda (@Icebreakers_UG) August 4, 2016

This is very unfortunate, that one would rather jump off a building than face @PoliceUg brutality #PrideUg2016 https://t.co/n896wAL3Ai

— Sexual Minorities UG (@SMUG2004) August 4, 2016

Thank u world 4 standing wt n encouraging us!Our activists av bn released. We go to bed with heavy hearts @Prideuganda2016 @KashaJacqueline

— KuchuTimes (Q-Times) (@KuchuTimes) August 4, 2016

Today’s Agenda Is Brought To You By…

From GPU News, June 1977, page 13. (Source.)

You’ll have to click on the image to read the details. It was a short cruise, running from 9:00 p.m. to midnight with music, dancing, and a cash bar. The Quad Cities actually consists of five cities straddling the banks of the Mississippi. Davenport, Iowa, with Rock Island and Moline in Illinois, were the original “Tri Cities.” East Moline grew in the 1930s to rival Moline, and the moniker stretched to encompass the Quad Cities. But the name would stretch no further, despite an Alcoa plant bringing massive growth to Bettendorf, Iowa after the war. By then, the area was so well known as the Quad Cities that efforts by the area’s media to popularize “Quint Cities” failed to take hold.

As I’m putting this Agenda together now, I’m back in my hometown of Portsmouth, Ohio, another river city. (It’s why posting may be light on this blog for the next couple of weeks.) I grew up quite literally on the banks of the Ohio River, which would have been off of my family’s back yard if it weren’t for the levee. And so this ad always brings back some really great memories for me.

When I was in high school, the lone bridge crossing the Ohio into Kentucky from Portsmouth was closed for a couple of years’ worth of reconstruction. That closer split the greater Portsmouth community. For thousands of people living in Kentucky and working in the steel plant, the shoe factory, and other industries in Portsmouth, their ten minute commute was now more than an hour since the next nearest bridge was nearly 30 miles away.

The state of Ohio came to the rescue by providing an auto ferry and a stern-wheeler passenger ferry to try to restore at at least a minimum of transportation links to jobs and hospitals. And so for our Junior/Senior Prom, my high school rented the passenger ferry for the night’s after-prom party and set up a casino (with monopoly money), and a bar (with fruit drinks and pop — we called soft drinks “pop”). I didn’t go to the prom (go figure!) but I joined my friends at the after-prom for a cruise that left the Court Street Landing at midnight and returned at 5:00 a.m. What a great time we had, “gambling,” “drinking,” and watching the water glint in the moonlight off the ferry’s sternwheel as we churned our way upriver to Greenup Dam before turning back.

The view from Tower Hill in Kentucky.

A year later, the bridge repairs were complete, and the ferries were retired from service. The night the bridge opened, you could see a line of tail lights trailing up the road to Tower Hill in Kentucky, Ohioans rushing to reclaim their favorite “parking” spots with their phenomenal views across the valley, although, of course, it wasn’t the views they were after.

Where Did the Vatican II Priests Go?

Sr. Jeannine Gramick co-founded New Ways Ministry in 1977 with Fr. Robert Nugent. New Ways is “a gay-positive ministry of advocacy and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Catholics, and reconciliation within the larger Christian and civil communities.” Both Gramick and Nugent ran into opposition from the Vatican during the church’s rightward turn during the 1980s and 1990s, and in 1999, both were “permanently prohibited from any pastoral work involving homosexual persons and are ineligible, for an undetermined period, for any office in their respective religious institutes.”

Fr. Nugent returned to parish-based ministry and retired in 2014. He passed away a year later. But Sr. Gramick refused to “collaborate in my own oppression by restricting a basic human right (so speak).” She switched orders to the Sisters of Loretto, where she continues her social justice and LGBT outreach work. Last June, she attended a meeting of the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests (AUSCP), which was formed five years ago by a group of priests who came of age during and immediately following Vatican II. She went to find out what ever happened to the “priests of Vatican II”:

At the end of June, I found out where many of them had been when I bumped into dozens and dozens of them in Chicago. Most of them were retired now or, as one said to me, “Not retired, just recycled.” They were still concerned about spreading the Gospel and fostering justice issues. …I felt right at home with these priests whose organization was founded to keep the vision of Vatican II alive. As Paul Leingang, the AUSCP communications director, put it, “We make Vatican II not a matter of nostalgia, but a matter of urgency.”

…As if to show that the AUSCP recognizes the value of dissent, the group presented an award to Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, a church resister who has publicly supported same-sex marriage.

…The significance of community rang clear in a presentation by St. Joseph Sr. Carol Zinn, past president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, who spoke on Pope Francis’ second encyclical, “Laudato Si‘, On Care For Our Common Home.”

Zinn explained that our care for humankind, the earth, and all of creation centers around connection, not separation. Our care for our common home is based on community, not individualism. Whether the critique is about exploitation of our environment or various species; the abuse of people made poor by physical, sexual, or economic violence; global warming or consumerism; insufficient or unsafe water; hostility toward ethnic, religious, or sexual minorities; or the numerous other sins that cry out for justice — we need to grasp the fact that the cause of all these evils is the lack of genuine relationships. Laudato Si‘ calls us to get the message that the universe is connected; it is not isolated bits of matter. Only when we see our relatedness will we be motivated to care about all the beings in our common home.

Pope Francis has become something of a Rorschach test. People on the left see the things they want to see in him, as do people on the right, even as they also pine for the days of his two immediate predecessors when things seemed more clear cut. Just this week, liberals were pleased but cautious when Pope Francis created a new commission to study the possibilities of ordaining women as deacons, while conservatives celebrated his anti-transgender comments to bishops in Poland.

Meanwhile, and getting back to the story, it’s a great irony that, at least here in the U.S., the stereotypes of the past have been completely turned on their head. How many movies and sitcoms can you recall in which the older, authoritarian monsignor found himself in the exasperating position of having to deal with the hip, smart, younger priest who was fresh out of seminary and hell-bent on changing the world? That trope no longer holds in today’s church, as Sr. Gramick’s post illustrates. Today, it’s the older priests — those nearing retirement and those working past retirement — who are far more likely to embrace the kind of openness exemplified by the Second Vatican Council. They were those hip young priests in those story lines. (Sadly, and back to the real world, they were mostly sidelined when it came to promotions to diocesan offices and the hierarchy.) That’s not true for today’s crop who have joined the priesthood under Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Today’s doctrinaire and authoritarian priests are far more likely to sport hipster beards than wire-rim spectacles.

Anti-Gay Tea Party Congressman Loses Primary Race

In a surprising development, Tea Party darling Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) lost his primary bid for re-election to congress. Huelskamp was so tea-baggy that the representative from Kansas’s vast first district representing 63 farming counties voted against the Farm Bill because food stamps! He also voted against the Export-Import Bank, which played a huge role in promoting farm exports. His disruptive antics got so bad that he got kicked off the Agricultural Committee — making it the first time Kansas went unrepresented on the farm committee for more than a century.

And by the way, he’s extremely anti-gay, although that likely had zero effect in this campaign.

Anyway, the surprise wasn’t that Huelskamp lost. Pols showed that the primary race was very close to political novice Roger Marshall. Which was surprising when those polls first came out. But Huelskamp was, after all, an incumbent backed by the Koch brothers, so it seems that most people thought he could still pull this one out. So the surprise now isn’t just that he lost, but that he was so soundly thrashed:

Huelskamp, first elected to Congress in 2010, lost to Roger Marshall by a large 13-point margin in a year that has seen just three House incumbents toppled. Marshall will likely win the general election in November to represent the 1st Congressional District, as the district is heavily Republican and there is no Democratic challenger.

Marshall was the candidate of the establishment, and it’s unclear if his win portends anything larger for Republican House members who many fear will be damaged by the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump. So far during the primary season, worries that angry voters would boot out incumbents have not materialized.

The race became increasingly close in the final weeks leading up to the primary, as well-funded conservative and business groups poured in $1.5 million to shape the outcome.

Marshall, an OB/GYN, was supported by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts’s superPAC. Perhaps more critically, Marshall was also supported by the Kansas Farm Bureau. Huelskamp received support from Club for Growth, Heritage Action, and the Koch brother’s superPACs.

The Freedom Caucus, which is what Congressional tea partiers call themselves, are blaming GOP leaders for Huelskamp’s loss:

Republicans need to be unified behind conservative principles to stop the Obama/Clinton agenda,” Freedom Caucus Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said in a statement. “The House Republican leadership’s opposition to Tim Huelskamp significantly damaged the ability of House Republicans to do that.”

House Republican leaders don’t control outside spending and had nothing to do with the nearly $2 million in anti-Huelskamp ads that poured into his district from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Ricketts family’s Ending Spending political group.

But that’s not the crux of the caucus’ anger. Huelskamp approached Ryan seeking a public assurance that he could reclaim his seat on the House Agriculture Committee next year, a critical position for his farm-heavy district. Boehner (R-Ohio) backed an effort to remove Huelskamp from the panel three years ago as punishment for repeatedly defying leadership in big votes, something Ryan promised he would never do.

The loss of his committee seat was likely Huelskamp’s undoing: Marshall attacked him relentlessly for being ineffective and putting “rigid” conservative values over the needs of his constituents.

The Freedom Caucus got heavily involved in the back and forth with leadership, imploring Ryan to go public with an alleged commitment to reinstall Huelskamp on the panel. But the speaker declined.

This tmeans it’s probably a good time to break out the popcorn. Or a pleasant merlot:

Turns out Speaker Boehner is indeed enjoying Kansas primary night. Just received this from former staffer! pic.twitter.com/hIzmFt8hn0

— carl hulse (@hillhulse) August 3, 2016

Huelskamp reintroduced the Federal Marriage Amendment in Congress in 2013 immediately after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act”. The FMA would ban same-sex marriage nationwide. Huelskamp reintroduced the proposed amendment in February 2015 at the start of the 114th Congress. As a state Senator, he authored the Kansas 2005 constitutional amendment that banned same-sex marriage and civil unions in that state.

Joe Biden Officiates his First Wedding

And it was for a same-sex couple:

Biden officiated over the wedding of two longtime White House staffers, Brian Mosteller and Joe Mahshie, at the Naval Observatory on Monday, his office said. …His office said the vice president obtained a temporary certification from the District of Columbia to preside over the wedding ceremony, which was attended only by the grooms’ families.

Proud to marry Brian and Joe at my house. Couldn't be happier, two longtime White House staffers, two great guys. pic.twitter.com/0om1PT7bKh

— Vice President Biden (@VP) August 1, 2016

Federal Judge Appears Skeptical Of North Carolina’s Anti-Trans Law

From Dominic Holden of Buzzfeed:

A federal judge expressed skepticism on Monday that North Carolina lawmakers were solving a legitimate safety problem when they passed a law that bans many transgender people from restrooms in government facilities that match their gender identity.

US District Court Judge Thomas D. Schroeder also seemed flummoxed at one point by how the law could function in practical terms — it requires people to use single-sex restrooms associated with the sex on their birth certificate, thereby making transgender people enter facilities that conflict with their identity and appearance.

“We would have people dressed like males, who consider themselves male, walking into the ladies room,” he told a lawyer representing Gov. Pat McCrory.

“How on earth is that supposed to work?” he asked.

Schroeder was considering a request to suspend the law while its underlying legal merits are considered at a trial. “I endeavor to make a decision as soon as I can,” he told the courtroom. “I know school is about to ramp up.”

According to Holden, the hearling lasted more than three hours, and his report includes an extended account of the arguments made in court. It seems that lawyers for the state have quite a hill to climb.

Judge Schroeder was hearing arguments over a motion for a injunction to prevent North Carolina from enforcing the anti-transgender public accommodations portion of HB2. The state law was introduced, debated, passed by both state chambers in the legislature and signed into law in a single day, which has to be some kind of a record. HB2 was enacted in response to a Charlotte city ordinance that granted broad anti-discrimination protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity. HB2 overrode the Charlotte ordinance and prohibited all municipalities from passing any such anti-discrimination ordinances. HB2 also added an additional anti-transgender component that single-sex restrooms and locker rooms in public schools and government buildings be used by people according to the gender specified on their birth certificates.

Former Fox News Head Roger Ailes Loved Calling People “Faggot”

That’s one takeaway from this report:

It was 2011 and Ryan, then the CEO of Politico, was on a mission to repair relations between the two media organizations, sources with knowledge of the situation said. Years earlier, Fox News had banned Politico reporters from its airwaves because of suspicions of anti-Fox bias, and Ryan was pushing for a fresh start.

Then, according to the sources, Ailes told Ryan what he wanted: He wanted fair coverage from Politico; he wanted the website to take stock of Fox News’ successes, not just its controversies; and he wanted Politico to stop taking talking points from “that faggot David Brock.”

…”Why am I not surprised?” Brock told CNNMoney when informed of the alleged slur.

After all, it was Brock who noted in his own book, “The Fox Effect,” that Ailes once told President George H. W. Bush he shouldn’t wear a short-sleeve shirt because he’d “look like a fucking faggot.”

Obviously, this shouldn’t have been surprising. People are now coming out of the woodwork to describe instances when Ailes has made derogatory comments about women, Jews, and racial minorities. In a sign of the times when simple manners and polite conversation is derided as “political correctness”, one media consultant who actually admires Ailes described him as the “Toscanini of inappropriateness.”

David Brock is the founder of Media Matters. He is a former conservative journalist and protégé of John Podhoretz, who cut his teeth as a self-described “Right-Wing Hit Man” in his books and articles excoriating Anita Hill the Clintons and. In 1997, he denounced his own writings and in 2002, published Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative. Media Matters has been aggressive in its criticism of conservative journalism and of Fox News especially.