Box Turtle Bulletin

Ugandan LGBT Activist To Tour Eastern US

Jim Burroway

March 18th, 2010

I just received this announcement from the good folks at Political Research Associates. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend any of these events. But if you are anywhere near these venues, I strongly urge that you go and listen to Frank Mugisha of Sexual Minorities Uganda to talk about the connection between U.S. conservative religious forces and increased harassment of LGBT people in Uganda.

Frank Musgisha, Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) spokesperson, will appear at several public events in New York City, Boston, and Washington, D.C. this month to explain the connection between U.S. conservative religious forces and increased harassment of LGBT people in Uganda .

Mr. Mugisha is visiting the United States to publicize the crisis in LGBT human rights in Uganda. Conservative religious leaders from the United States have targeted African nations such as Uganda, Kenya, and Nigeria as anti-gay arenas where they can encourage support of homophobic sentiment at home. African LGBT people have suffered discrimination in the form of “collateral damage” from these campaigns. While it is already illegal to be a homosexual in Uganda, pending legislation would make it punishable even to know an LGBT person and not to report them to the authorities.

Mr. Mugisha was among the first gay Ugandans to come out in order to challenge the myth that homosexuals do not exist in Uganda. The law that prohibits homosexuality in Uganda has successfully keeping LGBT people in the closet. He is among those whose names were printed in the Ugandan media, after which he lost jobs, friends and family. He has faced hostility, threats, arrests, intimidation, and discrimination for his fight for the recognition of gay rights in Uganda. Mr. Mugisha has worked internationally with religious leaders, NGOs, and diplomatic missions to stop the latest anti-homosexuality bill and is a moving speaker on international human rights.

He will be accompanied by Rev. Dr. Kapya Kaoma, author of the recent report published by Political Research Associates, Globalizing the Culture Wars: U.S. Conservatives, African Churches , and Homophobia. Rev. Kaoma attended the infamous anti-gay conference in Uganda in March 2009, collecting video footage undercover. He has appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show, been cited in media such as the New York Times, Time, and Newsweek, and he has testified before Congress and the UN on how US evangelicals are exporting homophobia to Africa.

Frank Mugisha appearances:

March 22; 6-7:30 pm
Astraea Foundation
116 East 16th St.
New York, NY 10003
(212) 529-8021

March 23; 7-9 pm
The Riverside Church
490 Riverside Drive
New York, NY 10027
(212) 870-6700

March 26; 7-9 pm
Harvard Epworth UMC Church
1555 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02138
(617) 354-0837

March 27; 12-2 pm
Cathedral Church of St. Paul
138 Tremont St.
Boston, MA 02111
(617) 482-5800

March 30; 7-9 pm
Foundry UMC Church
1500 16th Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 332-4010

Uganda Burning

Jim Burroway

March 17th, 2010

Virtually all of our reporting over Uganda has been mostly limited to the international furor over the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill that has been introduced before Uganda’s Parliament. Last week, I discussed some of the possible reasons for Parliament’s slow movement on the bill, which had been presented as being so urgent and a high priority. Now other events in Uganda which threaten to overwhelm the government are likely to take center stage for quite a while. While it is possible that these events may prove to be enough of a distraction to allow the anti-gay bill to quietly slip through, it is more likely that the government may have more important things to worry about for the time being.

The Ugandan government has its hands full on several fronts all of the sudden. Earlier this month, there was the tragic landslide in Bududa district, which has resulted in at least 300 deaths. President Yoweri Museveni’s government has come under harsh criticism for its slow response to the tragedy. Then on Monday night of this week, two Makerere University students were shot and killed by security guards at a university dormitory. Local police quickly moved to arrest the shooter and disarm the rest of the guards, but that hasn’t gone very far to quell massive demonstrations which have engulfed the campus of Uganda’s largest university. Both students were Kenyans, which adds an international element to the shootings. Kenya has formally protested the killings.

As bad as all of that is, it may prove to be a minor distraction compared to the dangerous developments that are now unfolding in the traditional kingdom of Buganda. Uganda is divided into several such traditional kingdoms, with the kingdom of Buganda being nominally headed by a traditional king (known as a Kabaka) and his cabinet. Their positions have cultural significance, but under Uganda’s constitution they hold no political power. Nevertheless, the Kabaka, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II, is widely revered and respected among the Baganda. Tensions between the Kabaka and Museveni have been building ever since the Ugandan government blocked the Kabaka from visiting the disputed Kayunga district just outside of Kampala last September. Several days of intense rioting broke out, and the government shut down several radio stations operated by or sympathetic to the Kabaka. Dozens were reportedly killed, and more than 400 arrested and detained by police.

Those tensions are about to flare again.

The Kasubi Tombs are the royal tombs for four previous Kabakas. The royal enclosure at Kasubi hill was first built in 1881, and was built in the traditional Baganda style with wood frame and thatched roof. The tombs were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001, and they remain an important spiritual and political site for the Baganda people.

Last night, the historic Tombs went up in flames, in what is widely believed to be an arson fire. According to Uganda’s Daily Monitor:

Kasubi Tombs burning (Joseph Kiggundu / Daily Monitor)

Hundreds of Kingdom subjects, some prostrating, crying and screaming, gathered in front of the embers. The grass-thatched hut was completely destroyed within minutes, leaving the skeletal brick wall. The burial grounds, revered by the Baganda, are 128 years old.

Witnesses said the blaze started around 8:30pm. One woman, Lydia Nabambulide, said she heard “a loud explosion” behind the tombs, just before the fire began. She said: “I saw a white box wrapped in something like bark cloth and it looked strange.”

A white numberless pickup truck reportedly emerged from the tombs shortly after the fire broke out, Mr Andrew Jjuko said, quoting Boda Boda [motorcycle taxi] men who were at the scene.

The Kabaka has already made a visit to the ruined tombs, as has President Museveni, but not before soldiers fired live rounds into a crowd of hundreds who had gathered at the tombs to grieve and block the President’s visit. Two are dead, with the more five injured being treated at Kampala’s main hospital. [Update: Uganda's The Independent puts the death toll at five.]

Anne Mugisha puts this tragedy into context:

The mind of a Muganda might grasp the idea of an exiled king, even a king denied the right of passage through his own kingdom — they were well prepared for such incidents by the history of tension between their kingdom and central government.  Nothing has prepared the Baganda for an attack on this significant symbol of their culture.  African cultures show great respect for the dead and all burial grounds are sacred.  Kasubi tombs was that much more sacred because it is a burial ground for the kings.  This attack will be understood by many as an attempt to destroy their culture.

…And so if someone torched Kasubi tombs last night, who will stop them from torching the palace at Bulange?  Have they not already torched the King’s own school in Buddo?  How many arsonists have been brought to trial since this wave of arson hit the country.  Who is answerable for these fiery crimes?  If someone torched Kasubi last night they also torched the spirit of Buganda and an invisible line has been crossed by Uganda as a nation.  We have entered a dark, fiery, and smoky place that feels my heart with fear for the Kingdom and the country as a whole.

Meanwhile, this morning’s Daily Monitor reports that rioting at Makerere University continues unabated.

The Lies of Martin Ssempa, Part II

Jim Burroway

March 13th, 2010

Ugandan pastor Martin Ssempa’s latest tirade includes a “testimony” by George Ooundo, a deeply disturbed man who was an important ex-gay “success story” for a short while. A very short while. Last we heard, he is now ex-ex-gay and seeking forgiveness in the LGBT community for being part of a massive anti-gay vigilante campaign. I don’t know what demons Oundo is wrestling with, and for the sake of compassion for this obviously troubled young man, the less said the better. But Ssempa’s account of Oundo’s “story of transformation” somehow avoids one critically important element: Oundo hasn’t changed at all.

It looks like we may have the beginnings of an ongoing series.

Coalition of Ugandan Catholic, Anglican, Muslim, Other Leaders Unite Against Anti-Gay Bill

Jim Burroway

March 13th, 2010

Not only is this major news, but it was carried exclusively in Uganda’s state-owned New Vision, which is the largest daily newspaper in Uganda. The statement was released on Tuesday, but with the non-descriptive headline of “Position of ICRCU” [sic], I didn’t notice its importance. (GayUganda also missed the statement when it came out.)

The Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU) is a coalition composed of the supreme heads of Uganda’s largest officially-recognized religions: Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Muslims, Christian Orthodox and Seventh-Day Adventists. Among the Council’s goals are to “promote non-violence, peaceful coexistence and respect for human rights.” But with respect to the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill that is now before Parliament, the IRCU’s position had been in direct conflict with their stated goal. Shortly after the anti-gay bill was introduced into Parliament last fall, the IRCU met with a Parliament committee and strongly supported for the bill, although some of the individual council members expressed reservations over the death penalty. This became the official position of the Ugandan Anglican Church, while the head of Uganda’s Roman Catholics called for the bill to be rejected altogether.

Now, with this latest statement from the IRCU, it appears that the Council’s position has evolved toward a position which is closer to rejecting the bill. It’s unclear that they reject the bill entirely — they throw in the caveat that “we recognize the need to improve on the Penal Code as it has gaps which can be addressed by some provisions contained in the proposed Bill” — this statement may well be interpreted politically as a rejection. Despite the strong prejudices and vitriol expressed in the statement (they openly call for another vigilante campaign in point #7), it is nevertheless a notable criticism of the proposed legislation. Here’s the statement:

IRCU is an initiative that brings together different religious institutions to address issues of common concern.

Its membership comprises of the Roman Catholic Church in Uganda, the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, the Church of Uganda, the Uganda Orthodox Church and the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

Vision: A divinely Peaceful, prosperous and HIV/AIDS free Uganda

We the Council of Presidents of the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU) gathered this 10th day of February, 2010, at IRCU Secretariat;

Having read and considered carefully the provisions in the Anti-Homosexuality Bill yet to be debated by Parliament;

Aware of our mandate to nurture and protect the moral fibre of our society, guided by the Holy Scriptures of the religions we subscribe to;

Hereby state that:

1. The Bible, the Quran and other Holy Teachings treat homosexuality as a sin. Both the Bible and Qur’an are categorical in their objection to same sex relationships (Lev. 18:22; Surah Ash’shura 26:165-166). Homosexual acts are contrary to the natural divine law, and under no circumstance can be approved.

2. The IRCU Council of Presidents, therefore, condemns homosexuality as an undesirable evil that should not be allowed in our society.

3. Our religious teachings promote respect, compassion and sensitivity. We, therefore, condemn the sin but welcome the sinners to confess, repent and seek a new beginning. This is based on the belief that all people are called by God to fulfill His will in their lives; IRCU, therefore, decries the proposed death penalty and life imprisonment in the proposed Bill as unwarranted. We believe homosexuals need conversion, repentance, support, and understanding and love in order to abandon their practices and return to God fully.

4. Since the proposed death penalty and life imprisonment do not provide the sinner an opportunity to repent, hence falling short of compassion to those who need conversion, repentance, support and hope, they are unnecessary.

5. Even the proposal to prosecute those who fail to disclose information regarding homosexual acts is inconsistent with the trust, confidentiality and professional ethics of persons such as parents, priests, counselors, teachers, doctors and leaders, to whom the sick, troubled and repentant sinners turn in search of support and advice for rehabilitation. The proposed law does not provide for the rehabilitation of repentant homosexuals. Yet as Religious Leaders, we are mandated to reach out to all people of God in a show of love and compassion (Mt. 9:10-13). The proposed Bill also has the potential to destroy the family as it is likely to undermine the important role of parents in providing guidance to their children.

6. Additionally, in our view the proposed Bill may not be called for considering that acts of sodomy are already condemned under section 145 of the Penal Code. However, we recognize the need to improve on the Penal Code as it has gaps which can be addressed by some provisions contained in the proposed Bill.

7. We the Council of Presidents of the Inter – Religious Council of Uganda, therefore, advise government, and all well-meaning groups and individuals to take remedial measures against this evil that has crept into our society by:

a. Exposing the people and organizations funding homosexuality in the country;
b. Providing enough information on recruitment and funding to the public in the interest of transparency and accountability;
c. Establishing facts on homosexuality and gay activities in Uganda and publishing a brochure which IRCU can distribute through its structures;
d. Emphasizing our core cultural and religious values and undertaking moral education in schools; and
e. Counteracting the distortion and misrepresentation of the debate on homosexuality by the media.

His Eminence Metropolitan Jonah Lwanga: Archbishop of the Uganda Orthodox Church; Chairperson, IRCU Council of Presidents

His Grace the Most Rev. Henry Luke Orombi: Archbishop of the Church of the Province of Uganda/Member IRCU Council of Presidents

Pr. Dr. John Kakembo
President, Seventh-day Adventist Uganda; Union/ Member IRCU Council of Presidents

His Eminence Sheikh Shaban R. Mubaje: Mufti of Uganda/ Member IRCU Council of Presidents

His Grace Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga
Archbishop of Kampala Archdiocese
Member IRCU Council of Presidents

As I said, it’s difficult to get to the bottom line in this message, but there are some encouraging elements to this. First, while this is still a deeply homophobic and ill-informed document, it represents the strongest criticism yet of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill by Uganda’s mainline religious leaders. Catholics, Anglicans and Muslims together make up almost 90% of Uganda’s religious adherents.

It is also significant that this statement was published in full in the state-owned New Vision newspaper. Not only is it Uganda’s largest newspaper, but it can be reasonably assumed that New Vision’s content is closely monitored by the government. While Uganda has the trappings of a democracy, it is effectively a one-party state which has been ruled continuously for twenty-four years by President Yoweri Museveni and his New Resistance Movement (NRM). One reflection of New Vision’s short leash with the government is the fact that despite the tremendous controversy the bill has drawn both inside and outside of Uganda, New Vision has been almost completely silent on the controversy. In fact, their reporting has been so scant that if one were to rely solely on New Vision for information about the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, one might be left with the impression that there is no such bill before Parliament. New Vision, despite being Uganda’s largest mass-circulation newspaper, has been almost completely missing in action on this story.

[Update: Another significant point to notices is that this statement repeats a line others have put forward as possible justification for dropping the bill. "In our view the proposed Bill may not be called for considering that acts of sodomy are already condemned under section 145 of the Penal Code," they say in point #6. This has been put forward by other less prominent critics as a face-saving way out of the mess by pointing out that Ugandan law already criminalizes homosexuality, and it also criminalizes child sexual abuse and rape in gender-neutral terms. While this line of objection comes across as very weak to western ears (slanderously equating, as it does, homosexuality with pedophilia and other sex crimes), when raised in the context of how the debate surrounding the proposed legislation has been framed in Uganda until now, it would be a serious mistake to overlook its importance. The IRCU is now the most prominent body to raise this particular objection.]

These two three factors are encouraging signs, which may help to explain something else I’ve noticed but haven’t publicly asked until now: Where is the bill itself? When Parliament returned from recess in February, it was expected to be near the top of Parliament’s business in the Legal Affairs and Presidential Affairs committees. Some six weeks have passed, and we still have heard of no action on this supposedly urgent, high-priority bill from either committee.

One possible explanation for this inaction may well be the massive landslides that Uganda has been grappling with in the Bubuda district in eastern Uganda on March 3. While we’ve been hearing a lot about the Haitian and Chilean earthquakes in the west, Uganda’s media has been consumed with their own natural disaster at Mt. Elgon near the Kenyan border which has claimed at least 300 lives.

But that doesn’t explain the delay through February. There is now some speculation that there may well be a conscious slow-down on the measure, as “suggested” by President Museveni at January’s meeting of the ruling party’s Executive Council at State House Entebbe.

If the bill is not passed into law, the next more likely scenario would be for the bill to die a quiet, unannounced death. It is inconceivable that Parliament would vote to defeat the measure, and making an official announcement of its withdrawal would likely inspire political unrest ahead of the 2011 elections. Even though Uganda’s Electoral Commission is packed with Museveni’s supporters and the fairness of the upcoming elections is very much in doubt, such unrest would only serve to further stain Museveni’s rather shaky reputation as a reformer. Museveni is expected to run for another five year term as president. If the 66-year-old President completes that term, the “democratic reformer” will have ruled Uganda for an unprecedented thirty uninterrupted years.

It’s difficult and perhaps foolhardy to try to read the tea leaves in Uganda politics — especially by a foreigner some 9,5000 miles and ten time zones away — but I don’t believe that we will ever see this bill officially “killed.” It also appears that Museveni doesn’t have the stomach to incur worldwide condemnation by passing this law, not now when his government is already under heightened scrutiny in advance of its upcoming elections. Instead, after observing what is going on in Uganda’s state-owned media, coupled now with this statement by Uganda’s most influential religious leaders, it appears increasingly possible that this bill may remain in the two committees (most notably, in the Presidential Affairs committee)  to be “studied” and “revised” for a very, very long time.

[Hat tip: GayUganda]

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

State Departent Issues Annual Human Rights Report, Highlights Uganda,

Jim Burroway

March 12th, 2010

The State Department has issued its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2009, which shows that LGBT people continue to experience state-sanctioned or permitted violence and discrimination. For example, the report notes the following cases of human rights violations against LGBT people in Uganda:

For example, on April 5, police in Mbale District arrested SMUG activists Fred Wasukira and Brian Mpadde. On April 17, a court in Mbale charged Wasukira and Mpadde with homosexual conduct and remanded the suspects to Maluke prison. On May 20, the court released Wasukira on police bail; Mpadde was released on June 16. The case was ongoing at year’s end.

On June 19, police in Kitgum interrogated former police coach Charles Ayeikoh over allegations that he was involved in homosexual acts. An investigation was ongoing at year’s end.

In July the administration of Mbalala Senior Secondary School in Mukono District dismissed student John Paul Mulumba after he acknowledged that he was a SMUG member.

During the year the UHRC stopped investigating the July 2008 case in which SMUG activist Usaam Mukwaya alleged that police tortured and humiliated him during an illegal detention; Mukwaya reportedly decided not to pursue the case.

During the year police dismissed for lack of evidence a September 2008 case against SMUG members George Oundo and Brenda Kiiza, who were charged with indecent practices.

LGBT persons were also subject to societal harassment and discrimination.

For example, on March 17, the Uganda Joint Christian Council and the Family Life Network launched a campaign to curb homosexual conduct in higher institutions. SMUG accused the organizers of using religion to attack the LGBT community in the country.

The report also mentions arrests, executions, and other violence and abuses in Malawi, Senegal, Nigeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jamaica, and elsewhere around the world.

US State Department Officials Meet with Ugandan LGBT Advocates

Jim Burroway

March 11th, 2010

Canada’s Xtra is reporting that two diplomats from Washington met with LGBT advocates in Uganda to discuss the pending Anti-Homosexuality Bill that is now before that nation’s Parliament. Geeta Pasi, US Bureau of African Affairs’ East Africa director and Bruce Wharton, the bureau’s director of public affairs, met with a Kampala-based US embassy staff member and local advocates to discuss some of the options, including imposing economic sanctions and convincing US Evangelicals who are popular in Uganda to speak out against the bill.

According to Brown Kiyimba, a gay Unitarian minister, the diplomats spoke very little at the meeting, and were mostly listening. The diplomats however did express concerns that passage of the draconian bill would limit American investment in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Diplomats also said they would consider granting visas for LGBT leaders to travel to the US to raise awareness about the legislation. Local leaders expressed concerns about the safety of LGBT people, with many planning to flee if the law is passed. While that reportedly led to a short discussion on the possibility of asylum, no commitments were made as far as I can tell. According to Xtra, the US Embassy had no comment on the meeting.

Exodus President Wants To Apologize for Ugandan Conference. So What’s Holding Him Back?

Jim Burroway

March 10th, 2010

As I write this about now, ABC’s Nightline, which is slated to cover the current anti-gay situation in Uganda, is just about to wrap up its broadcast on the east coast. I still have to wait another hour before I can see it, so I don’t know what the report will look like. But if the shorter segment shown on ABC World News with Diane Sawyer earlier this evening is any indication, it should be a good one.

Among the clips shown in the shorter evening broadcast were interviews with Ugandan pastor Martin Ssempa (who comes off looking like a buffoon — no surprise!), and video clips of the March 2009 conference put on by the three American anti-gay activists: Holocaust revisionist Scott Lively (who reiterated that he was very proud of his “nuclear bomb”), Exodus International board member Don Schmierer (who refused to be available for an interview or make a statement) and International Healing Foundation’s Caleb Brundidge (who was also nowhere to be found).

Exodus International president Alan Chambers has already responded, in a comment left on Grove City College professor Warren Throckmorton’s web site:

I am disappointed that Exodus won’t be heard in this piece. Sadly, Don Schmierer declined the interview and our request to go on record with ABC was denied. I would have loved nothing better than to share our disdain for this bill and apologize for going anywhere near such a horrible conference.

If Chambers is sincere that he really does want to apologize on behalf of Exodus, then it is lamentable that ABC decided not to include his statement on their broadcast. An apology would be a very welcome — and I think newsworthy — development. But what’s stopping Exodus from issuing that apology that they know in their hearts is the right thing to do?

As we’ve discussed before, BTB’s Timothy Kincaid tried in vain to warn Chambers personally about the conference before it took place, but those warnings went unheeded. We also know that Ex-Gay Watch’s David Roberts had also contacted Chambers personally, as did Warren Throckmorton. But those please to contact Schmierer at the posh Triangle Hotel in downtown Kampala — they have faxes, Internet, and telephones like any other world-class hotel — went unheeded.

Instead, we got self-congratulatory sanctimony in the weeks following that fateful conference, when they were still proud of Schmierer’s performance. (By the way, people have been arrested in Uganda since then; we’re still waiting for Exodus VP Randy Thomas to book his flight to “plead for their freedom.”)

Back when the media hadn’t quite awaken to the unfolding tragedy in Uganda and BTB was one of the few outlets refusing to allow the story to go unnoticed, Exodus wrote us off as “American militant gay activists” making a bunch of “North American noise.” Now that mainstream television is highlighting the conference in prime time, Alan feels moved to make an apology. Odd, isn’t it?

But darn, now that he wants to apologize, there isn’t an ABC camera around to broadcast it. Oh well, I guess that means he can’t apologize now.

Seriously, if Exodus were to issue such a policy, BTB would be happy to do its part to get the world out. I’m no Diane Sawyer (Shut up, guys!), but I think we now have the world’s attention finally. I know that Exodus doubts my sincerity, but all I ever wanted was for them to respond responsibly to the mess they helped to create by their action and inaction. There is no better time than right now to make amends. Don’t tell me you you’re holding out for Diane Sawyer to do the right thing.

What To Expect From Tonight’s “Nightline” Report on Uganda

Jim Burroway

March 10th, 2010

ABC’s Nightline will report tonight on the anti-gay hysteria now griping Uganda. Here’s a taste of what to expect:

Standing onstage in black velvet robes, despite the stifling heat in the open-air church, Pastor Martin Ssempa’s face is a mask of disgust. “Anal licking!,” he shouts, directing the crowd’s attention to the images of hardcore gay pornography that he’s projecting via his laptop. “That is what they are doing in the privacy of their bedrooms.”

Ah, yes. Ssempa’s megamaniacal obsession with porn continues unabated. Dude, between that and your tenuous grip on reality, you really should see a professional.

Tonight’s Nightline on ABC at 11:35 EST promises to be must-see TV, to borrow a phrase from another network. A shorter segment will appear on World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer at 6:30 EST. Check your local listings.

Uganda’s “Kill-The-Gays” Bill To Be Featured on ABC’s Nightline Tonight

Jim Burroway

March 10th, 2010

The story that we have been following for more than a year will be the main focus of tonight’s Nightline on ABC at 11:35 EST. A Nightline producer tells me that a shorter segment will also appear on World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer at 6:30 EST. Check your local listings.

It looks like it will be well worth watching (or recording, if you can’t stay up for it). Martin Ssempa is already upset that the Nightline crew didn’t fall for his easily-disproven lies. Journalists see a lot of crazy and corrupt megalomaniacs  in their line of work, and madmen like Ssempa can be spotted from miles away.

Martin Ssempa Lies Again, This Time On BTB

Jim Burroway

March 8th, 2010

We sometimes make mistakes — nobody’s perfect — but for the most part, they are rare, relatively minor, and corrected when we become aware of them. That was the basis for this post this morning.

But what we will not do is knowingly commit fraud. Unlike Ugandan pastor Martin Ssempa, one of the main supporters of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill — and yes, we do call it the “Kill the Gays Bill” for a very good reason — who left this bald-faced lie in a comment on our web site this afternoon:

This is one of the many errors that have been made concerning this whole issue of the anti homosexuality bill.

There is too much panic reporting and little double checking of the facts. One hour back I just asked facebook to shut down a false Martin Ssempa who was linked with photos of murders.

You have called this the “kill the gays bill” but it is really about capital punishment for “paedophiles and rapists”. The more we have states this, the more you dont want to hear us.

There’s some debate in the comments whether this particular comment is genuine, but the record shows that this comment is entirely consistent with similar lies that we know Ssempa has repeatedly told elsewhere. I believe the comment is genuine, and it’s that lie which has been repeated numerous times that I want to address.

There is a reason we don’t take the word of liars like Martin Ssempa at face value. The man of “the Word” willfully misrepresents the very words of the “Kill the Gays Bill” — yes, I said it again — and what they really mean. That’s why we have the full text of the bill posted here (PDF: 847KB/16 pages), straight from the official governmental Uganda Gazette in which all bills are published before being voted on. We posted the full text of the bill for a very simple reason — so that you can see for yourself exactly what the bill says.

Ssempa, on the other hand, is too cowardly to post the text of the bill on any of his web sites. And the truth is he can’t, because if he did those very words would show Ssempa’s followers exactly what a compulsive liar he really is. He cannot post the bill, and he desperately hopes that nobody else reads it to learn what it actually says.

But the truth sets you free, and that’s why, with the truth firmly on my side, I enjoy the total freedom of posting the plain and unadulterated text of the bill on this web site to point out Ssempa’s prevarications. Unlike Ssempa, I have nothing to hide and the real truth leaves me free as a bird. And so here are the death penalty provisions, in the plainest of English:

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.

True enough, parts 1a and 1c deal with child molestation, as Ssempa says. And whatever Ssempa or anyone else would want to with child molesters is of little concern to me. Sections 1d and 1g deal with rape. Again, while the death  penalty is harsh (and I’m against the death penalty on general principles), I have no quarrel here.

However, I would expect that these four provisions apply to everyone, and not just gay people. But they don’t, do they? They only provide the death sentence when it involves people of the same gender. Where are the death sentences for the same crimes when they are committed by people of the opposite gender? Rape and molestation are equal-opportunity offenses. Why are these provisions in an Anti-Homosexuality bill when neither provision has anything specifically to do with homosexuality? Why aren’t these provisions part of anti-rape or anti-child exploitation bills instead?

I’ll tell you why. They are there to serve as a red herring, and to allow liars like Ssempa to divert attention from the rest of the bill. Sections 1b, 1e and 1f have nothing to do with rape or child abuse (and neither do sections 2 through 19, which you can see here). As Ssempa knows very well but is too cowardly to reveal, there is only one target for these other “aggravated homosexuality” provisions: gay people. Anyone with the smallest smidgen of comprehension of the English language can see that as plain as day. It takes a fraud like Ssempa to claim that the words somehow say something other than what they actually say. So much for a man of “the Word” when he won’t read the very words in front of him.

Of one couple that I know, one man has perfect hearing but the other man is profoundly deaf — “a person with disability” as section 1e puts it. They have been happily together for I don’t know how many years, but one would die (the hearing one) and one would live (the deaf man) under this bill. While Ssempa claims that this is only about rape or exploitation, there is no mention of consent in this provision where one has a disability and the other does not.

Closer to home, my partner is HIV-positive; I’m HIV-negative. If we were in Uganda living under this law, I would be imprisoned for life, but my partner would be sentenced to death by hanging. Disclosure, consent — none of that matters. My partner is hanged and I’m imprisoned. Aren’t I the lucky one? Well, knowing the conditions of Ugandan prisons, a man or woman sentenced to a life sentence for homosexuality would be, for all practical purposes, not particularly “lucky.” A lifetime sentence under these circumstances is merely a more torturous and drawn-out death than the one Ssempa would demand for my partner under this law.

But wait! It turns out I’m not exactly saved from the gallows anyway. It’s that “serial offender” provision that would still get me. The “Kill The Gays Bill” — because now we know that this is exactly what this bill does — defines a serial offender this way:

“serial offender” means a person who has previous convictions of the offence of homosexuality or related offences;

Get that? Homosexuality or related offenses. I have violated — and it is my solemn promise to you that I will continue to violate — the following related offenses:

• Section 7 — “Aiding and abetting homosexuality” through my private and public efforts to help gay people who are being persecuted, wherever they may be.
• Section 12 — procuring a same-sex marriage, when it become available.
• Section 13 — “promoting homosexuality,” because that is what this blog would be accused of doing under this bill, and I won’t stop defending gay people wherever they are in the world.
• Section 14 — “failure to disclose the offense,” because I absolutely refuse to turn in other people for the so-called crime of merely loving one another.

So there you have it; upon a second conviction I will have committed “aggravated homosexuality,” and I too can join my partner at the gallows.

So I have one message for Ssempa:  I will not stand by while you post a lie on this web site, and use that lie to accuse me of lying. I publicly dare you to post the text of the bill on your own web site, and refer to it when you try to explain your lies. Failure to take this dare reveals your cowardice and guile. Your acceptance of this dare exposes your guilt as a liar and a fool. What do you choose? Either way, with the entire world and your God as my witness, I call you out.

Ssempa’s lies are no mere “mistake” like the one I corrected yesterday. His are deliberate attempts to deceive, deceits by a unrepentant serial liar. Ssempa claims to be a man of God, but he is a fraud and a serial falsifier. He claims to bring light and truth, but he instead spreads darkness and hatred borne by blatant and clearly demonstrable distortions in order to turn neighbor against neighbor and wreck havoc on God’s creation. Whatever Ssempa accomplishes or fails to accomplish in this life, we can be assured that there will be a very special place in hell set aside for him in the next.

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

Being Gay In Uganda

Jim Burroway

March 8th, 2010

Time magazine explores what it’s like:

[Pepe Julian] Oziema’s partner doesn’t mind that her girlfriend works trying to protect gay rights and change public opinion in Uganda. But she worries about the dangers Oziema might face, especially with the bill working its way through parliament. In 2008, when Onziema and a few other kuchus, handed out flyers at an HIV conference in Kampala, they were charged with trespassing. The trial dragged on for months and months. Though the charges were ultimately dropped, the experience in prison was traumatic for Onziema. Several officers taunted her — was she to be put with the male inmates or the female ones? Her clothes were forcibly removed and an officer touched her genitals “for confirmation.”

Both Onziema and her partner know that next time might be even worse.

Uganda’s Unfair Trade, Coming To Your Grocer’s Coffee Aisle

Jim Burroway

March 4th, 2010

Coffee is a huge cash crop in Uganda, but most of it is grown on very small farms of less than 2 acres. And yet it somehow manages to support some 5 million people in that impoverished nation. Almost all of Uganda’s coffee goes to Europe, but that is starting to change. One U.S. company is working to bring Ugandan coffee into the U.S. while maintaining environmentally sensitive and financially responsible policies for impoverished, small-farm coffee growers in Uganda. According to Heifer International’s web site:

This coffee is a Social Responsibility Initiative promoted by the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) and Coffee Legends, to preserve the farmer’s livelihood through Beyond Fair Trade practices, to encourage sustainable use of the environment (an initiative of Heifer International) and to build Ugandan farmer equity brands by remitting back to farmer groups in Uganda a percentage of the retail price of the coffee to support community and social projects of their choice.

According to Heifer International’s Facebook page, the coffee is becoming available at Sam’s Clubs as a discount organic gourmet coffee. And while the goals appear to be laudable, Karoli Ssemogerere, writing from New York for Uganda’s independent Daily Monitor, notes that buying Uganda coffee will not be an easy sell for well-informed American consumers:

So as the Bahati Bill [or the Anti-Homosexuality Bill] publicity starts to fade — in Uganda many big things have a short shelf life — the American press continues to highlight the Bahati Bill as detailed last week. It comes at a time when Sam’s Club is carrying a major first for Uganda; Uganda Mountain Coffee- a blend of three of Uganda’s best coffee(s): Bugisu AA, Okoros, and Drugars grown by farmers in Mbale, Nebbi and Kasese.

In America, we have two forms of governance: The common public sector dominated by government and elected officials and the private sector dominated by markets, private enterprise and social groups. The latter rules for the most part.

The American public first receptive to the experiment — the coffee is carried in 75 stores in more than 20 states — starts to point out that the coffee is from Uganda where the government (never mind it is a private Bill) promise execution or life in prison for private sexual conduct.

American retailers have a host of legal exposure they contend with everyday for business decisions they make. One of the rules of thumb is to drop merchandise that riles consumers and increases its exposure. For the farmers, this will be a tragedy. In Nebbi, a small farmer coop made a 64 per cent premium over the general market price by shipping coffee to Wal Mart. How can this be arrested?

How indeed.

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

State Department Investigating LGBT Treatment In Uganda and Throughout Africa

Jim Burroway

March 4th, 2010

Last January, we reported that Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US Trade Representative Ron Kirk, asking them to “communicate immediately to the Ugandan government, and President Yoweri Museveni directly, that Uganda’s beneficiary status under AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act) will be revoked should the proposed legislation be enacted.” The legislation he’s referring to, of course, is the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill that is, as far as we are able to determine, awaiting its second reading before Parliament.

The State Department has now responded to Sen. Wyden’s request. In a letter dated Feb 22, 2010 and released by Sen. Wyden’s office, Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs Richard Verma responded that the department is not only “identified this issue as a priority in our bilateral relationship” with Uganda (PDF: 112KB/2 pages):

We have reached out at the highest levels; Secretary Clinton and Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Johnnie Carson have discussed our concerns directly with President Museveni. In addition, our embassy in Kampala has been in close and regular contact with key political, media and civil society actors on the ground in Uganda, registering strong opposition to the bill and warning the Ugandans of potential consequences if it passes. The ambassador reiterated our concerns with President Museveni as recently as January 25, and Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs Maria Otero just visited Uganda on January 29. She met and offered support and encouragement to civil society groups opposed to the legislation and underscored our views to senior Ugandan officials. We are following this bill very closely.

In Museveni’s remarks urging Parliament to “go slow” on considering the draconian legislation, he cited a long conversation with Secretary Clinton in declaring that the bill was not just a domestic issue but also had foreign policy considerations.

Assistant Secretary Verma characterized Uganda’s proposed bill “a serious affront to internationally accepted human rights standards.” And interestingly, the State Department’s concerns aren’t limited to Uganda:

The State Department is also evaluating attitudes and laws that marginalize and criminalize and penalize the LGBT community in Africa more broadly.  We have asked all of our embassies in Africa to report on host country laws and pending legislation that criminalizes homosexuality.  In addition, our Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor has established a task force on LGBT issues to strategize a United States Government response to LBGT issues worldwide.

Reuters: Uganda’s Anti-Gay Bill Hinders Investments

Jim Burroway

March 3rd, 2010

From Ed Cropley, Reuter’s African Investment Correspondent:

Malawi and Zambia are set to win hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. infrastructure grants in the next two years due to steady improvements in the way they are run, U.S. aid officials said on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, an anti-gay law being tabled in Uganda is likely to hamper the east African country’s progress from ‘threshold’ partner with the U.S. government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) aid arm to fully-fledged grant-receiver.

… “How a government deals with its human rights situation is definitely an indicator that we think is important,” said Cassandra Butts, senior adviser to the MCC’s chief executive. “That will be something we will review and we will make a determination of our continued investment in Uganda,” she told reporters at an investment conference in South Africa.

The MCC has a budget of US$1.5 billion over the next five years, with only US$10 million earmarked for Uganda, which it sees as a “threshold” country partly due to its troublesome human rights record and rampant corruption. Neighboring Tanzania, in contrast, is a “compact” country with a five-year deal worth US$698 million.

However, Malawi will also be brought in is also seen as a “compact” country later this year, making it eligible for higher levels of development aid. That development comes despite an arrest of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga last December on charges of “gross indecency” following a traditional wedding ceremony. They are scheduled to be sentenced on March 22 following a show trial involving massive abuses. Meanwhile, Malawi authorities have arrested one LGBT advocate and are at last report conducting a witch hunt for LGBT citizens in that country.

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

Group Presents Petition Against Anti-Gay Bill to Ugandan Parliament, Warns of More Pastor Wars

Jim Burroway

March 2nd, 2010

Here is NTV Uganda’s coverage from last night’s newscast:

As we reported yesterday a group representing religious leaders, AIDS service providers and health care workers presented a petition with more than 450,000 signatures to Uganda’s Parliament calling for the withdrawal or defeat of the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Led by Anglican Canon Gideon Byamugisha and retired bishop Christopher Senyonjyo, the group handed the petition over to Parliament Speaker Edward Ssekandi. Speaker Ssekandi said that it was “too late” to withdraw the Anti-Homosexuality Bill from Parliament, but said that Parliament would take the group’s concerns under advisement.

Cannon Byamugisha warned of the bill’s dangers:

This would obstruct religious leaders, doctors, counselors, and other service providers in their essential role, and will facilitate political and religious witch hunts and false accusations.

Uganda has a long history of political and religious witch hunts, in which rival pastors accuse each other of sodomy in order to increase their own standing among their followers. The most recent accusation has been levied by the notorious tabloid Red Pepper, which recently accused American televangelist Benny Hinn of having an affair with a prominent Ugandan pastor. This is seen as retaliation from last June, when several Kampala pastors were denied entrance to Hinn’s “Fire Conference” revival in Kampala. Those pastors were denied entry after having falsely accused the pastor of the revival’s host church of sodomy.

Since the Ugandan pastor has been cleared of charges following a police investigation, the Red Pepper has declined to name him in these latest charges, although virtually everyone in Uganda who knows of the very popular Hinn (His program is carried twice-daily on Kampala-based Lighthouse TV) also knows the pastor whose name is hinted in the “story.”

An alert and helpful BTB reader has provided this scan of the kind of religious witch hunts which are a shamefully common practice between pentecostal pastors in Uganda. Given Uganda’s religious climate, it would seem that perhaps those who should fear the Anti-Homosexuality Bill the most would be pastors who become prominent enough to become a threat to the prestige or finances of other pastors.

Last spring, the Red Pepper launched a public vigilante campaign in an attempt to “out” LGBT people in Uganda. In December, the tabloid published what it claimed were “city tycoons who bankroll Ugandan homos.” Pastors Martin Ssempa and others are believed to be behind many of these campaigns.

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

American Political Science Association Moves Conference From Uganda

Jim Burroway

March 2nd, 2010

This year’s theme for the American Political Science Association’s 2010 African Summer Workshop is Global Perspectives on Politics and Gender, a theme which would necessarily touch on sexual identity and LGBT issues in politics. The APSA had begun planning for the 2010 Workshop in Kampala, Uganda last summer, before the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill was introduced in Parliament. Obviously, that poses a problem for the APSA, which has announced that they will be moving their 2010 Workshop to another location:

The political climate in Uganda now, along with the possibility that the legislation in some form will pass, and that it will include criminalization of thought as well as harsh penalties, precludes our going forward there with this Workshop. The long lead time to plan and reorient a Workshop session requires that we identify right now another venue where the Workshop topics can be addressed openly. We cannot commit today to send staff and scholars to work in Uganda safely on topics that include the study of sexual identity in politics, and we of course must not remove these topics from our agenda for the Workshops.

The new location for the African Summer Workshop hasn’t been settled yet, but APSA Executive Director Michael Brintnall suggests that Dar es Salaam, Tanzania may be a possibility.

[Hat tip: GayUganda]

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

Martin Ssempa Has A Blog

Jim Burroway

March 1st, 2010

The Ugandan pastor and kill-the-gays advocate is not only blogging, but he’s also Facebooking and commenting on BTB.

UK Scouts Condemn Uganda’s Anti-Gay Bill

Jim Burroway

March 1st, 2010

On first blush, that’s doesn’t look like a headline that would strike fear in the hearts of those who support Uganda’s proposed “kill the gays” bill, but there is an important angle to it. Ugandan Member of Parliament David Bahati, sponsor of the notorious Anti-Homosexuality Bill, also happens to be chairman of Uganda’s Scouts Board.

According to a press release from UK LGBT advocate Peter Tatchell, the Chief Executive of the Scout Association UK, Derek Twine, has condemned the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill as “discriminatory and contrary to the sanctity of life, [and] completely incompatible with our interpretation of the values of our worldwide Scouting Movement.” Twine continues:

We have already drawn our grave concerns on this to the attention of the Secretary General of the World Organisation of the Scout Movement (WOSM), and we are subsequently aware that the issues are now subject both to WOSM’s direct engagement with the Chief Scout of Uganda (Mrs Maggie Kigozi) and to ongoing global consideration by members of the World Scout Committee.”

Tatchell adds:

“Scouting is very big in Uganda and Mr Bahati derives great prestige from his position as Chairman of the Scout Association of Uganda. If we can get him removed from office it will be a significant personal blow to him. He’ll be weakened and his credibility undermined.

“OutRage! is urging the disaffiliation of the Ugandan scout organisation from the world scouting movement, as a way of adding further pressure on the Ugandan government to drop the Bill. Our request for disaffiliation was immediately forwarded by the Scout Association UK to the World Organisation of the Scout Movement (WOSM) in Geneva.

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

Ugandan Religious Leaders, Human Rights Advocates to Petition Against Anti-Gay Bill

Jim Burroway

February 28th, 2010

The anonymous blogger GayUganda passes on a press release from a group of Ugandan human rights advocates and AIDS service providers led by Anglican priest Canon Gideon Byamugisha, announcing a meeting with Parliament speaker Edward Ssekandi Kiwanuka on Monday to present their opposition to the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill. They also plan on presenting a petition to the Speaker and members of Parliament signed by more than half a million people around the world. After the meeting, there is to be a press conference.

People locally voicing opposition to the bill is absolutely vital, and much more important than outcry from abroad. This is a very important meeting. No one meeting will likely change things, but pastor Martin Ssempa and others have had an almost exclusive hold on the rhetoric behind the bill until now. The question now is whether Ugandan media will pick up on it.

In December, Canon Byamugisha blasted the proposed bill, calling it “state-legislated genocide against a specific community of Ugandans.” He also lambasted it as a cynical ploy by the ruling party for the upcoming elections. President Yoweri is seeking to extend his 24-year lock on power in 2011 despite his National Resistance Movement (NRM) party being rocked by a long series of financial corruption scandals.

Update: Uganda’s Daily Monitor has picked up the story with a photo:

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

Will Gay Porn Becomes Chritianity’s New Recruiting Tool?

Jim Burroway

February 26th, 2010

We reported last week that Ugandan pentecostal pastor Martin Ssempa has been showing gay porn as part of his anti-gay campaign in support of that country’s proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill. A columnist identified as “The Analyst” for Uganda’s independent Observer took that premise and ran with it with tongue firmly planted in cheek, claiming that gay porn is responsible for increasing attendance at his church.

This makes Makerere Community Church the only place in Uganda where watching pornography is “legal”. According to Uganda’s laws, even mere possession of pornographic material is a crime. It would appear that Makerere Community Church has got a special license to show porn. Moreover, perhaps following Jesus Christ’s example of welcoming children, even kids can watch porn at Makerere Community Church.

The, er, money shot is here:

“I can’t wait to get home and try it out. The men in the movie really seemed to be enjoying themselves,” one member of the congregation told The Analyst.

We’ve seen megachurches reinvent themselves into coffee houses, rave clubs and concert halls, all in an attempt to incorporate elements of popular culture to make themselves appear hip and relevant. Why not porn? Even the worst of it beats the treacly karaoke singers that have become so popular over the past couple of decades.

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