Box Turtle Bulletin

Thousands Surround Salt Lake Temple

An estimated 4,500 people surrounded the two blocks downtown that make up the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints last night to protest a recent anti-gay statement by LDS Apostle Boyd K. Packer.

Paker spoke at the Mormon Church’s 180th Semiannual General Conference spoke out against same-sex marriage and called homosexuality “impure and unnatural”:

“There are those today who not only tolerate but advocate voting to change laws that would legalize immorality, as if a vote would somehow alter the designs of God’s laws and nature,” Boyd K. Packer, president of the church’s Quorum of Twelve Apostles, said in a strongly worded sermon about the dangers of pornography and same-sex marriage. “A law against nature would be impossible to enforce. Do you think a vote to repeal the law of gravity would do any good?”

Those comments, coming on the heels of at least five suicides in September, drew sharp condemnations inside and outside the church:

Tonight, we are symbolic of all the children who have been killed by messages like Boyd K. Packer’s,” said organizer and Salt Lake City blogger Eric Ethington. “When you hear nothing from [church leaders] but that you are nothing but evil and you need to change the unchangeable nature of yourself, that is only a message kids can take for so long.”

Some HIV+ Ugandan Teens Choose Religion Over Meds

We’ve been documenting the corrosive power of unscrupulous religious leaders in their fight to hang gay people. But the LGBT population isn’t the only one suffering from the ignorance and superstitions that pass as Christianity:

Rebecca Nakityo, 17, spends every free moment watching gospel TV, reading the Bible or praying in church. The soft-spoken teen — who has lived with her aunt and uncle since her parents’ death several years ago — told IRIN/PlusNews she believed she was cured by God six months ago.

According to Nakityo, as the pastor’s voice reverberated through the church hall, she felt filled with the healing power of God. Nakityo now regularly gives testimonies about her “healing” and has stopped taking her ARVs (anti-retroviral medications).

By the time many young people find their way back to the health system, it is too late. “We had a client who was in church; they brought her and dumped her at Baylor (Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation Uganda) — we tried to treat her but it was too late,” Ssuna said.

The so-called “prosperity gospel,” sometimes known as “name it and claim it” theology, has become a major force in Uganda. Much as elsewhere, there are entire satellite and terrestrial television stations whose entire programming is devoted to making all sorts of miraculous promises in exchange for prayer — and donation. Well-known American pastors like Benny Hinn, Creflo Dollar, T.D. Jakes and others have inspired legions of home-grown Ugandan prosperity preachers who are known as much by their immense houses and expensive S.U.V’s as they are by their highly-charged emotional services.

If pastors have no shame about living in extreme wealth and extravagance  while 52% of Ugandans get by on less than US$1.25 a day, then it should come as no surprise that they would also have no shame about urging their followers to also abandon life-saving medications.

According to Mary Kiwanuka, who has an adolescent daughter living with HIV, the influence of television evangelists should not be underestimated. “These children are exposed to too much television which shows people being healed,” she said. “In their circumstances, with too much peer pressure and the pill load, if there is an alternative they take it.”

Seth Walsh’s “Daily Gauntlet”

The mother of Seth Walsh, the Bakersfield-area teen who committed suicide in response to a daily dose of bullying in school, quietly mourns the loss of her son. She is refusing to speak to the public, as are Seth’s friends. But Seth’s grandparents have opened up, and the world gets to see just a bit of the incredible kid that we lost:

Judy and Jim still laugh over his tastes. He colored his hair blond on occasion and wore it with a long swoop that partly covered his eyes. Judy took him shopping once, and he went to the girl’s department to find pants with tapered legs. He added a vest, and a few months later she noticed the style everywhere.

…He was a gentle child, they say, who preferred to “relocate bugs” rather than kill them, who made sure his younger brother got his share of Easter eggs and who once apologized to a bed of flowers when he picked one and placed it on the grave of the family dog.

But the Walshes realize that Seth’s gentleness made him a target, and they recall listening to Wendy (Seth’s mother) as she shared her worries about Seth and what he had to endure.

The teasing and bullying began in fourth grade. At first it was because he was different — more comfortable with girls, not interested in sports, neither aggressive nor assertive — and then it was because he thought he was gay. Once classmates found out and the news spread, the abuse became more focused and cruel.

When Judy learned from her daughter that Seth was gay, she became concerned for the challenges that lay ahead of her grandson.

“Life is hard enough,” she says, “but this makes it harder.”

“Especially in a small town,” Jim says.

The Los Angeles Times’ profile is a must-read.

Pew Research: for first time, majority of Americans do not oppose same-sex marraige

The Pew Research Center has released its annual report on public opinions on same-sex marriage. And while Pew does show support levels for marriage equality that have been observed in other polls, they are reporting the same sort of uptick in support that others have shown. According to Pew, marriage is now supported by 42% and opposed by 48%, the first time that they have observed less than half opposing equality.

Polls this year have found that more Americans favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally than did so just last year. In two polls conducted over the past few months, based on interviews with more than 6,000 adults, 42% favor same-sex marriage while 48% are opposed. In polls conducted in 2009, 37% favored allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally and 54% were opposed. For the first time in 15 years of Pew Research Center polling, fewer than half oppose same-sex marriage.

Pew provides a great deal of breakdown on exactly who is supportive and who is opposed. And while the results are predictable (supporters are younger, educated, Democratic, liberal, and female), there are sizable portions of non-traditional supporters who now favor equality:

38% – men
35% – Southerners
34% – high-school or less
30% – African Americans
28% – age 65 or older
24% – Republicans
16% – “conservative” Republicans
14% – white Evangelicals who attend church weekly

While some of these numbers are small, they are the one which give me the most hope. If a quarter of all Republicans (and 1 in 7 conservative Republicans) support equality, then it can no longer be assumed that the party will hold together much longer in ideological opposition to decency.

These smaller percentages still influence the conversation at the senior center or the church potluck and challenge presumptions that might otherwise yield near unanimity of opposition to our rights among some demographics. And all of these categories show increases in support over the last year.

Exodus International Returns “Day Of Truth” Sponsorship To ADF

[Update: The original headline for this post read, “Exodus International Ends ‘Day Of Truth’ Sponsorship.” The headline and content of this post has been updated based on this statement from Exodus International]

David Roberts at Ex-Gay Watch reports that Exodus International will no longer sponsor the “Day of Truth,” an event designed to counter the Day of Silence in which students remain silent for a day to call attention to anti-LGBT bullying and harassment in schools. According to Roberts:

[Exodus International president Alan] Chambers confirmed to XGW that the activist component of the DOT contributed to a polarizing debate rather than a relational dialogue.  “As a tool, it seemed to emphasize the divide rather than building a bridge,” he said.  “We want more than that.”

Exodus now confirms that they are returning the Day of Truth back to the Alliance Defense Fund, who started the event in 1996 2005. Exodus International vice president Randy Thomas writes that “ADF will likely find another group to run the event or end it altogether.”

Day of Truth, which takes place on the day following the Day of Silence, is intended “to counter the promotion of the homosexual agenda and express an opposing viewpoint from a Christian perspective.” Exodus International’s ex-gay message was an integral part of the “Day of Truth’s” message, and in later years became the dominant part. It only made sense then for Exodus to take over sponsorship of Day of Truth from the ADF in 2009.

In August, Exodus announced several cutbacks due to higher expenses (they had bought their office building at the height of the real estate bubble) and lower donations. It is estimated that they were facing about a 12% budget shortfall from the previous year.

According to the Exodus announcement, they had decided to end their leadership of the event last April, but didn’t officially notify ADF of their decision last week. Despite making the decision last April, it appears that Exodus sees the attention being paid to the September Suicides as an opportunity to cast their decision in a more positive light:

“All the recent attention to bullying helped us realize that we need to equip kids to live out biblical tolerance and grace while treating their neighbors as they’d like to be treated, whether they agree with them or not,” said Alan Chambers, President of Exodus International, the group that sponsored the event this year.

The web site for Day of Truth, as of this writing, is in “maintenance mode.” The next Day of Silence is scheduled for April 15, 2011.

Pop Quiz: Who Wrote this?

The death of University student Tyler Clementi might have been properly mourned if it were not for the massive rallies and aggressive news coverage that altered the nature of the situation. The truth is that an 18-year-old boy killed himself – he was a student just like the rest of us, someone just trying to receive an education. Yet people’s relentless agendas took his death and turned it into a cause based on false pretenses.

Was it:

a) Focus On the Family’s Candi Cushman?
b) Amerians for Truth’s Peter LaBarbera?
c) Mission America’s Linda Harvey?
d) The editorial staff at the Rutgers University student newspaper, Daily Targum?

The answer is after the jump…

Discrimination? Certainly Not!

My take on one of the most annoying and ill-reasoned arguments against marriage equality.

Are these Martin Ssempa’s Fingerprints on the Latest Anti-Gay Campaign?

I broached that question this morning after reading Warren Throckmorton’s blog. Throckmorton had obtained more complete scans of the article that appeared in Uganda’s tabloid Rolling Stone (no relation to the U.S. publication by the same name) with the screaming headline, “Hang Them; They Are After Our Kids!!” In the larger scan, we have the following quote attributed to Martin Ssempa:

We shall fight on until we rescue our country from the hands of evil. A lot of money from gay organizations is filtering in to destroy the morals of our kids. The was has just started,” said Sempa in an exclusive interview at his office in Kampala last night.

Given the wholesale myth-making that made up the rest of the article, Throckmorton asked whether Ssempa actually was interviewed by Rolling Stone, saying “If Ssempa did not give this interview, then he should immediately offer a public statement that he no longer believes in these tactics and fulfill his word to his supporting church, Canyon Ridge Christian Church in Las Vegas.”

Martin Ssempa's email to governmental officials, as reproduced in Rolling Stone, Oct 2,2010. (Click to enlarge)

Since that post this morning, a helpful reader in Uganda sent more scans from the same edition of Rolling Stone. Of particular interest is another article that appears on page six, immediately following the pictorial spread on pages 4 and 5 of LGBT Ugandans. That article by Giles Muhame, who is also identified elsewhere in the paper as Rolling Stone’s managing editor, is fully devoted to Ssempa’s demand that an audit of Uganda’s AIDS commission be made public.

I have no quarrel with Ssempa’s demand, as I haven’t been following this particular issue. In general, transparency is always critical to good governance and an important guard against corruption, and I hope HIV/AIDS NGO’s and doners are paying attention. But what is particularly interesting is that some five-sixths of this article consists of what is described as a “secret email” that Ssempa sent to Uganda’s Inspector General of Government and the Health Ministry. Rolling Stone reprints the entire email verbatim, including the email addresses.

There are only four email addresses listed in the reprinted email. The three “To” addresses are to the Ugandan government, which, according to Rolling Stone, is sitting on a “damning” audit report. The fourth email address, the “From” address is Ssempa’s gmail address, which happens to be the very same email account he used when he commented on BTB last March.

Given the circumstances of the controversy and the framing of it in Rolling Stone, there are only four sources where this email could have come from, and three of those sources would not benefit from its publication. Only one possible source benefits, and that is Martin Ssempa. On that basis, it appears almost certain that Ssempa fed Rolling Stone virtually the entire contents of the full-page article.

And if this is indicative of a close working relationship between Rolling Stone’s managing editor and Ssempa, then that helps to explain something else that is puzzling about the anti-gay vigilante expose published on page 2.

"Hang Them; They Are After Our Kids", published in the October 2, 2010 edition of the Ugandan tabloid Rolling Stone (Names, places and photo obscured by BTB. Click to enlarge.)

Our helpful reader sent a full-page scan of the article titled “Hang Them; They Are After Our Kids!!” It’s a more complete scan than I was provided yesterday. Again, I have obscured names and places, as well as the photo. Except I left one name unobscured, that of an American journalist by the name of Katherine Roubos. Her “outing” is located at the top of the leftmost column:

KATHERINE RUOBOS [sic]: She used to work for Daily Monitor. She was deported on Pastor Ssempa’s influence. He reportedly contacted government officials who pressured the newspaper to take action. Katherine used to ask only gay-related questions at press conferences. At one time, she asked FDC boss Col. Kizza Besigye whether he would give gays powers to recruit more kids in their groups.

Katherine Roubos is an American citizen and resident. In 2007 she was journalism intern assigned to Daily Monitor, Uganda’s largest and most reputable independent newspaper. Her byline appeared on a handful of stories covering a range of topics, but the story that caught Ssempa’s ire was one she published on August 16, covering first ever press conference held by an LGBT advocacy group in Uganda. (The Monitor’s story is no longer online, but a copy is available here.)

Daily Monitor photo of Sexual Minorities Uganda's press conference in 2007.

The press conference was groundbreaking. Conducted by Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), many of the leaders and attendees famously wore masks in order to hide their identities. The message of the conference was simple: “Let us live in peace,” as they discussed HIV/AIDS, discrimination, and police brutality.

This came as a dual shock to anti-gay activists in Uganda. Not only was the press conference itself an unprecedented act of boldness, but Roubos’ coverage of it was wholly balanced and completely devoid of the typical stereotypes and sneering attitudes commonly expressed toward gay people in the popular press.

Demonstrators demanding "Catherine" Roubos' deportation.

Coverage in the government-owned New Vision was, surprisingly, similarly balanced. But for whatever reason (Roubos’ nationality maybe?) it was Roubos’ article that attracted Ssempa’s attention. Just a few days later, he organized a mass rally at a rugby field in Kampala to denounce the press conference and demand Roubos’ deportation. Ethics and Integrity Minister James Nsaba Buturo also spoke at that rally. As far as I am able to determine, Roubos has never been deported. (My attempts to contact her have been unsuccessful.) She stuck around at least long enough to finish another article co-written by LGBT advocate Val Kalende for Daily Monitor in late September, which documented a famous case of police misconduct and brutality — another landmark story in its own right.

That was more than three years ago. As far as I have been able to determine, she left the country when her three-month internship was up. I have no idea whether she’s been back or not. At any event, Ms. Roubos’ time in the Ugandan limelight is ancient history. But whoever contributed Roubos’ name to Rolling Stone certainly hasn’t forgotten her, and wants to make sure readers don’t forget that Ssempa was responsible for her “deportation.”

It’s very puzzling to see her name in these pages, considering that she is neither a Ugandan citizen nor resident, nor even relevant to Ugandans generally. Except, perhaps, for someone who still holds a grudge and never forgets a name. Even if he did spell her name wrong.

The Jewish Standard kicks out the gays

Last week the Jewish Standard ran the engagement notice of Avi Smolen to Justin Rosen. However, Orthodox Rabbis thought that this was simply unacceptable. So they expressed their discontent.

And as it seems that the Jewish Standard believes that Smolen and Rosen’s sexual orientation makes them less Jewish (or at least less important), they’ve adopted an all-new “no homos” policy. And they have apologized. To the rabbis.

We set off a firestorm last week by publishing a same-sex couple’s announcement of their intent to marry. Given the tenor of the times, we did not expect the volume of comments we have received, many of them against our decision to run the announcement, but many supportive as well.

A group of rabbis has reached out to us and conveyed the deep sensitivities within the traditional/Orthodox community to this issue. Our subsequent discussions with representatives from that community have made us aware that publication of the announcement caused pain and consternation, and we apologize for any pain we may have caused.

The Jewish Standard has always striven to draw the community together, rather than drive its many segments apart. We have decided, therefore, since this is such a divisive issue, not to run such announcements in the future.

Well guess what, JS, you haven’t brought ANYONE together. When you throw some Jews out of the family due to the whining of others, you don’t have cohesion, you have coercion. And I think you’ll soon come to discover that there are more Jews in this country (and in New Jersey) who believe in inclusion than in winnowing out the not-Jewish-enough.

Throckmorton: prioritizing the well-being of the kids

Focus on the Family, and those who fear “the homosexual agenda,” tend to oppose anti-bullying programs that include specific curricula which seeks to counter-act anti-gay bullying. They fear that it contributes to the “normalization of homosexuality” and in a perverse distortion of “faith” they give this fear a far higher importance than the physical well-being of the children.

However, Dr. Warren Throckmorton, a conservative evangelical Christian who advocates for a conservative sexual ethic, advises evangelicals to reconsider their priorities (CNN):

As a traditional evangelical, I may have some differences of opinion with my gay friends. However, such ideological differences don’t matter to a middle school child who is afraid to go to school.

There are many such children who need adults to care more about their well being than about religious differences. Adults need to focus on common values of respect and civility and take the culture war off the school campus.

Throckmorton reminds fellow Christians that their role in society is to protect the oppressed and that Christians should be part of the solution, not contributing to the problem.

It seems to me that people of faith should lead the way in providing safe and respectful environments for all. To do this, you have to be there and you have to name the problem to solve it.

Let’s hope the Church is listening.

NSSHB on gay percentages

Indiana University’s Center for Sexual Health Promotion has released its National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior, what is dubbed “the largest, most comprehensive national survey of Americans’ sexual behavior since 1994.” As part of its extensive review of American sex practices, the NSSHB also provides information on the prevalence of gay people in the population.

Determining the size of the LGBT community is difficult. Even defining it can be a challenge.

I define a homosexual as someone who exclusively or predominantly experiences romantic and/or sexual attraction towards persons of the same sex. A bisexual experiences significant romantic and/or sexual attraction towards person of both sexes.

But measuring such characteristics can be problematic. Because same-sex attraction occurs in small percentages of the population and because there are few ways of measuring attraction that can be applied across a large study sample, calculation of the size of the gay and bisexual subpopulation relies on self-reporting, a notoriously flawed method. Self-reporting is only as accurate as the participants’ honesty with themselves and with the survey and requires that there be some agreed upon definitions.

Further, sexuality can be complex. I once had a conversation about sexual definitions with someone who was dating a MTF transgender friend of mine. While he was attracted to her femininity and appearance (she’s a beautiful woman), there was also the fact that she still had a penis.

Most good studies try and observe both sexual identity and sexual behavior. Neither of these exactly line up with sexual attraction, (there are some who experience predominantly same-sex attractions but who neither identify as gay or engage in same-sex behavior, as well as some who fit in one category but not the other). However, when taken in conjunction, they can provide information as to homosexual or bisexual orientation. The NSSHB presents both.

Before we discuss the results, let’s look at the validity of the survey and the appropriateness of relying on its findings. The NSSHB is not intended to be a measurement of same-sex sexuality, but rather a measure of human sexuality in Americans at a particular moment. However, if it is of sufficient size and quality, it can be of use.

Sampling Method

The study used probability sampling to survey 2,936 men and 2,929 women age 14 to 94. They randomly selected addresses from a pool of about 98% of the population. They adjusted for demographic distribution and invited those selected to participate. About 64% responded, of which 82% agreed to participate. The questions were answered at the participant’s convenience over the internet.

This sampling method is fairly good for the purpose of identifying participants. However, it is skewed towards those who wish to participate in sex surveys, a consideration that could either over- or under-represent gay people. The sample results were verified against separately collected data on sexual orientation.

All in all, this is a credible survey of a fairly representative sample of significant size and should be given weight and consideration when discussing the extent of homosexual and bisexual orientation.

Sexual Identity

In general, sexual identity measures best add to the understanding of those who are “in the gay community.” It includes those who think of themself as being gay, but would not include those who are closeted, ex-gay, religiously opposed to self-inclusion in the community, or even some who happily live in a same-sex relationship but who see their lives as outside of the community.

Additionally, for purposes of self-reporting, it is well known and understood that gay is under-reported and bisexual is over-reported within the community (we all know someone whose “bisexuality” consists of one drunken opposite-sex hook-up in college). So it is probably reasonable to assume that surveys share this bias as well

As time goes on, identity will more closely parallel attraction, but for as long as there are anti-gay activists and social pressures which disadvantage those who are openly gay, this measure will not fully align with sexual orientation as experienced.

The NSSHB study revealed sexual identity as follows:

Male Adult:

92.2% – Heterosexual
4.2% – Gay
2.6% – Bisexual
1.0% – Other

Female Adult:

93.1% – Heterosexual
0.9% – Lesbian
3.6% – Bisexual
2.3% – Other

Unfortunately, with “other” registering so high, it is difficult to give any sense of certainty as to what this means. Certainly asexual or “not really sure” can be included, but there may be other cultural factors at play which shift definition from “gay” to “other”.

But we can say that this study reveals that about 7% of men and about 4.5% of women identify as gay or bisexual. This result is significantly higher – for men – than the result of the CDC’s 2005 report which found gay/bi men to be 2.3/1.8% and gay/bi women to be 1.3/2.8%.

Based on the two reports, and due to the small percentages and the margins of error, “4-7% of men and about 4% of women” may be the best quantification we can use for gay/bi identification.

Another interesting observation can be made from the identity results. Adolescents boys (14 to 17) report 1.8% gay and 1.5% bisexual while adolescent girls report 0.2% lesbian and 8.4% bisexual. These identities probably reflect social pressures to a great extent and may tell us about sharp differences between teenage acceptance of male homosexuality and female homosexuality, and especially the chic status that bisexuality may have among teen girls.

Sexual Behavior

In current American society, sexual behavior can be hard to translate into orientation.

Many people whose sexual orientation is virtually entirely heterosexual may have experimented with same-sex behavior at some point in their life and such responses may not well correlate with homosexuality. But there are those who may also be fully homosexual in orientation and identity who are currently partnerless or who choose not to engage in same-sex behavior. So it would be foolish to equate single sexual experiences with homosexuality or bisexuality or even same-sex attraction.

Some indicators, however may be better than others. For example, it might be reasonable to assume that men who perform oral sex on another man are more likely to be same-sex attracted than a man who lays back, closes his eyes, and says, “hey, a blowj*b is a blowj*b.” And there is probably not a significant percentage of the population who regularly are anal sex recipients yet who lack any same-sex attraction.

Figures at both ends of the age scale were lower than average (due to obvious reasons), but looking at those men between the ages of 20 and 60 who “gave oral to male” we find

4.4% – during the past month
6.3% – during the past year
10.3% – during lifetime

Men between the ages of 20 and 60 who “received penis in anus” were

1.9% – during the past month
4.2% – during the past year
7.9% – during lifetime

These calculations are composite from individual age groups (for example, 10.8% of 20-24 year olds have been anally receptive) and do not take into consideration the probability range. However, they do confirm that the 7% of men who identify as gay or bisexual is a minimum number.

Women between the ages of 20 and 60 who “gave oral to female” were

0.9% – during the past month
3.1% – during the past year
11.0% – during lifetime

These numbers correlate interestingly with the lesbian/bisexual identities as reported above, and confirm that the 4.5% of women who identify as gay or bisexual is likely a minimum number.

Heterosexual Behavior

In addition to providing information about the prevalence of homosexuality in society, this study blows the myth off the assumptions about “what gay sex is.” About 40% of heterosexuals (age 20 to 60) have engaged in anal sex, and about 15% have in the last year.

Oral sex is even more predominant. For example, of men aged 30 to 39, 49.4% received oral sex from a woman in the past month, and 38.1% reciprocated. Lifetime percentages of adults ranges averaged in the high 80s for both.

When anti-gay activists rant about the “dirty and diseased” aspect of gay sexuality, they are deceiving both themselves and their readers. Both anal sex and oral sex occurs far more frequently between heterosexuals than between gay or bisexual people.

Anti-gay McHugh notes the same misreporting that I saw

Dr. Paul McHugh is not a friend of our community. Long an anti-trans activist, he wrote an amicus brief in support of the Proponents of Proposition 8 in which he claimed that homosexuality cannot be defined.

But McHugh wrote a letter to the editor of the Baltimore Sun in which he noted the same misreporting of a study on HIV prevalence that I discussed here last month.

Sexually transmitted diseases proliferate among men and women who have multiple sexual partners. If the recent measure of HIV infection among Baltimore’s gay men was restricted to those who frequent “gay” bars and clubs, then it will overestimate the prevalence of HIV in Baltimore because it will not include those gay men who are not seeking extra partners (“Baltimore leads in HIV infection in gay men,” Oct. 2). The prime public health message to the people in any community seeking to reduce STDs, including HIV, is and has ever been, “If you are sexually active, have few and preferably only one sexual partner.”

McHugh is correct both in his analysis of the numbers and in his recommendation for the best way to avoid contracting sexually transmitted infections. It’s a pity that his anti-marriage efforts are in direct contradiction to his observation.

Was Martin Ssempa Behind The Latest Vigilante Campaign?

Top: Canyon Ridge Community Church in Las Vegas. Bottom: Canyon Ridge's "dearly beloved family and friend."

Warren Throckmorton has some more scans of Monday’s edition of the Ugandan tabloid Rolling Stone (no relation to the U.S. publication by the same name) which lends credence to suspicions that pastor Martin Ssempa has played a hand in the story’s creation. The additional scans contain this segment which includes, first, a quote from an un-named “radical church leader” followed by a statement attributed to Ssempa:

“Unless government takes a bold step by hanging dozens of homosexuals, the vice will continue eating up the moral fibre and culture of our great nation. Unless a strong action is taken, the country will soon go to the dogs,” said a radical church leader who preferred anonymity.

Renowned anti-gay pastor Martin Sempa (sic) vowed to continue anti-gay demonstrations in the country with the view of combating perpetrators of the vice that threatens human race.

“We shall fight on until we rescue our country from the hands of evil. A lot of money from gay organizations is filtering in to destroy the morals of our kids. The was has just started,” said Sempa in an exclusive interview at his office in Kampala last night.

The suspicious character I mentioned last night who is believed to have obtained photos from Facebook is known to have worked with Martin Ssempa in anti-gay campaigns in the past. Warren Throckmorton notes Ssempa’s financial ties with Las Vegas’ Canyon Ridge Christian Church and has asked the church to verify the quote.

If Ssempa did not give this interview, then he should immediately offer a public statement that he no longer believes in these tactics and fulfill his word to his supporting church, Canyon Ridge Christian Church in Las Vegas.

Ugandan Tabloid May Have Used Facebook To Obtain Photos In Anti-Gay Vigilante Campaign

Front cover of the October 2, 2010 edition of the Ugandan tabloid Rolling Stone (Click to enlarge)

We have more information on the Ugandan tabloid Rolling Stone (no relation to the U.S. publication by the same name) which promises to embark on a virulent anti-gay outing campaign. It appears that the tabloid, which published only eleven of its promised “100 pictures of Uganda’s top homos,” may have obtained some of the photos from Facebook profiles of ordinary LGBT people in Uganda and abroad.

Sources in Uganda express concern that they recognize some of the published photos as having been posted on the popular social networking site. Many believe that someone posing as a gay man may have “friended” some in the LGBT community in order to obtain private information and photos, which were then turned over to Rolling Stone for publication. One name in particular has surfaced, someone who was involved with last year’s anti-gay outing campaign. We are unable to confirm those concerns, but given the circumstances behind this campaign and knowing the involvement of key people in previous mass outing campaigns, I think those suspicions are not without basis.

[Update: According to additional scans obtained by Grove City College professor Warren Throckmorton, Rolling Stone acknowledges that some of the photos also came from Gaydar, a popular U.K. based dating website.]

[Update (Oct 16): The anonymous blogger GayUganda confirms that some of the photos were obtained from facebook profiles]

Photos published in the October 2, 2010 edition of the Ugandan tabloid Rolling Stone, along with a description of lymphogranuloma-venereum, "a disease associated with homosexuals." (Photos obscured by BTB)

The October 2 edition of Rolling Stone only outed a few dozen people so far, but the tabloid promises that their list will be continued in the next issue, in what they describe as a four-part series. Of the names mentioned in this edition, some of them make no sense. One person “outed” by the paper is an American journalist who no longer lives in Uganda. Another person who was fully named — by first name and last — had “quit lesbianism.” Rolling Stone added, “She told our investigators ‘I am a changed girl.’ She is now married with a baby girl.”  It’s puzzling that this woman was identified along with the name of her very small village in Western Uganda — and deeply troubling.

As we said earlier, the tenor of this outing campaign is even more vicious than those conducted by the notorious Red Pepper tabloid, which Rolling Stone appears to see as its chief rival. This time, Rolling Stone‘s front cover headline includes the admonition to “hang them,” while inside the pages they included many people’s surnames in their descriptions, a practice that Red Pepper had avoided.

It was in the aftermath of last years’ conference put on by three American anti-gay activists that the Red Pepper joined a similar vigilante campaign instigated by conference organizers. During that campaign, we began to receive reports of mobs attacking LGBT people in the streets and police making arrests.

"Uganda's Top 100 Homos" published in the October 2, 2010 edition of the Ugandan tabloid Rolling Stone (Names, places and photo obscured by BTB. Click to enlarge)

It remains to be seen whether this campaign will take hold or not, but Rolling Stone isn’t leaving anything to chance. They’ve chosen a two-pronged approach to stoking anti-gay hysteria. In addition to outing specific people, Rolling Stone published an incredibly fanciful “investigation” into the gay community. According to their imaginary findings:

Our research showed that most gays meet along Jinja Road based [redacted bar name] in Kampala. They usually gather at this place on Fridays for meetings and recruitment. It’s here that they assess the performance of their recruitment drives and initiate new members.

During these meetings, new members are given nick names they will use in gay circles. … Research also revealed that graduates are the biggest target as they are desperate for opportunities of earning a living. They are promised jobs in gay organisations abroad, monthly allowances and connections to rich gays residing in United States, Norway, Canada and United Kingdom.

The new members are also provided with gay blue movies,a list of gay websites and telephone numbers of representatives of gay organizations.

At the end of every month, gays usually gather at homes of gay organization leaders… Wine is popped and sometimes gays engage in orgies. …We have accessed secret videos of top citizens enjoying steamy gay sex.

This newspaper also discovered that most secondary schools and tertiary institutions have been penetrated by gay activists to recruit kids… The curriculum has been altered to include gay-promoting ideals with the view of brainwashing kids toward bisexual orientation. An informer said so far 10,000 secondary students have been recruited while 100,000 graduates have been enlisted in gay organizations.

This plays into two popular myths promulgated by anti-gay forces in Uganda. The first myth is that the LGBT community represents a vast, well-organized conspiracy to recruit children into homosexuality. The second myth is that homosexuality is a Western import, facilitated by wealthy gay people abroad. After naming several local and international NGO’s which are allegedly part of this imaginary conspiracy, Rolling Stone adds:

An insider said that organizations receive funding in billions which is now used to eat into the moral fabric of kids.

The inaugural edition of Rolling Stone, August 23, 2010.

Rolling Stone’s debut occurred just five weeks ago on August 23. The top headline in its inaugural edition was “Rwenzori mineral water full of feaces,” a description that would aptly fit the fledgling scandal sheet. The editors trumpeted their new rag in a page 2 editorial:

Our esteemed readers, the much-awaited savior – The Rolling Stone newspaper, is born today. We have liberated you from the monopoly of half-baked news, inaccurate reports, deliberate misinformation and agents of propaganda and populism. Under our motto “Nothing But The Truth”, we promise to strip all facts bare and leave no stone unturned in exposing the evils in our cherished society without fear or favour.

And black is white and up is down, in the greatest tradition of tabloid “journalism.” The most amusing part is where the editors get to their qualifications:

Based along Sir Apollo Kaggwa Road in Kampala, Rolling Stone is the only newspaper in the country owned and managed by three youthful men who have attended Mass Communication lectures at Makerere University.

Clearly, the six people named in the editorial — Managing editor Giles Muhame, Editor Joseph Bahingwire, Advertising manager Cliff Abenaitwe, Brand Manager Benjamin Rukwengye, HR Manager Collins Murangira, and Circulation “Expert” Nicholas Mwesigwa — hadn’t bothered to actually graduate from a journalism program, let alone pass a single course in ethics.

That inaugural issue also carried a mild preview of the gay-baiting that was to come, with a comparatively timid article claiming that an un-named mayor was “suspected to be gay.” But even in that brief one-paragraph article on page five, Rolling Stone covers all the bases of anti-gay myth-making:

We have information that the politician, who travels abroad almost thrice a month, has been holding gay meetings with a top city pastor and homosexuals in the United States. At his home, we are told, he maintains a separate room where he meets male visitors. It’s also rumoured that he receives lots of dollars from US and Scandinavian countries to boost gay activities in Uganda. He also recruits young children into gay organizations under the guise of education sponsorships overseas. This eloquent man applies “make up” on his face.

The September 24, 2010 edition of Red Pepper featuring asylum seeker Moses Mworeko on the front cover (Click to enlarge)

It’s now five weeks later and that timidity has worn off.

Last week, the more established tabloid Red Pepper published an appalling distortion of an interview originally published in Washington, D.C.’s Metro Weekly by Ugandan asylum seeker Kushaba Moses Mworeko. This week, we have this Rolling Stone’s clarion call to hunt down and lynch LGBT people, in precisely the kind of vigilantism that has been Red Pepper’s trademark. It’s not a stretch to see Rolling Stone’s effort as a direct challenge to Red Pepper, to demonstrate which tabloid can be the most sensationalistic and the most homophobic.

This raises the ugly possibility of a circulation war breaking out with LGBT Ugandans bearing the brunt.  We already noticed that Red Pepper’s Stanley Nduala, who had written many of that paper’s outing articles, drives a shiny Mercedes. Exposing gay people to mortal dangers and calling for their deaths is a proven pathway to great riches in Uganda for reporters and newspaper editors. And for Pentecostal preachers with ties to U.S. megachurches. That works just as well.

Update: It appears that Ugandan pentecostal pastor Martin “Eat Da Poo Poo” Ssempa, who has close financial ties to Las Vegas-based Canyon Ridge Christian Church, may have played a role in this latest campaign.

Valores tour Days 5, 6, and 7

On Friday, the Vota Tus Valores tour continued with its $1-million bid to win votes for Carly Fiornia. It wasn’t a happy day.

Day 5, Stop 1: Santa Cruz (Mercury News)

The dozen or so protestors, who met the bus at its scheduled stop at the Santa Cruz Mission, outnumbered supporters. The protestors organized when they heard the bus was coming to town and accused tour leaders of trying to mislead Latino voters.

They noted, for example, how Fiorina supports Arizona’s new crack-down on illegal immigration.

“We are here to unmask candidate Fiorina who in reality is not with the Latino community,” Erik Larsen, an SEIU organizer said in a statement.

The confrontation between the two groups was noisy, but without incident.

Day 5, Stop 2: Hollister (Courage Campaign)
This little city is known not for a clothing line (which is Southern Californian) but for its agriculture. One of my first professional tasks was doing an inventory of a seed distributor in Hollister thus, ironically, starting my career as a bean-counter all too literally.

In Hollister, the Vota Bus was greeted by an even larger crowd of SEIU and LGBT equality counter-protesters – 24 in total.
…
Alfonso showed more signs of frustration at this stop. “I know you’re being paid,” Alfonso said to the crowd dismissively.

Day 5, Stop 3: Salinas (The Californian)

A busload of social conservatives tailed by a van full union members and another of progressive advocates are California’s unlikely caravan battling for the Latino vote.

On Friday, they rolled into the Salinas Valley.

The conservative “Vote Your Values” campaign, which supports Republican U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina, stopped at Central Park in Salinas to remind Latinos that Democrats are pro-choice and support gay marriage.

The fight over the Latino vote turned into a shouting match between the two sides with few undecideds to hear. The victorious could win the races for the senate and governor.

The roughly 30 union members in attendance out-numbered the group from the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles by about two to one.

Alfonso Aguilar, the group’s executive director, used a microphone to push Latinos to vote for Republican senate candidate Carly Fiorina, but the jeers and chants of “si se peude” nearly drowned him out.

Day 5, Stop 4: Soledad

In Soledad, Pastor Richard Ramos inspired the eight people who had been bused in. You can hear him here.

Day 5, Non-Stop 5: Pasa Robles

Day 5, Non-Stop 6: Santa Maria

The NOM sponsored tour decided to skip the last two stops of the day. This may have been a poor choice, as Courage Campaign reported that there were no protestors and quite a few local Latinos at their planned stop locations.

By this point, Valores has skipped or relocated about as many scheduled stops as they have honored. Perhaps that is why their website has now removed all of the planned stops prior to today.

And on to Saturday, Day 6.

Day 6, Stop 1: Santa Barbara

In Santa Barbera, the Valores tour made the last-minute unusual (and bad) decision to have the first “rally” at their hotel. Sadly, they forgot to tell the press. (Courage Campaign)

Rather than actually get up and engage voters in Santa Barbara, organizers opted instead to host a “private meeting” with bagels and coffee in a conference room provided for free by the hotel.

Tour organizers looked shocked when we arrived at the hotel.

“This is a private meeting,” one organizer quickly said.

“It was advertised on the website,” I replied.

“It was?” asked a new organizer on the tour (he won’t confirm his name so we’ve just been referring to him as “Country Club” because he always looks ready to play golf).

“Yes [it was posted],” confirmed Allegra Herburt-Hewell, Project Director for the Latino Partnership Initiative.

As I sat down for “the meeting” a different organizer began communicating in Portuguese (we believe) with Allegra.

We were then told by Country Club just before being asked to leave that the meeting was posted for people who were invited.
…
A photographer and reporter from the Santa Barbara Press were at Mission Park, the original set location, and luckily were able to get in contact with Allegra and make it to the Best Western Inn in time for the last minute “meeting.”

I was unable to find anything mentioning the tour on the Santa Barbara News-Press website.

Day 6, Stop 2: Camarillo

In Camarillo, we stopped at a private parking lot that included Bank of America, as well as “Nueva Vida”, a Spanish-Christian radio network, for an event.

Courage Campaign doesn’t discuss how well the event went, but a picture suggest that there were a dozen or so listening.

Day 6, Non-Stop 3: Dana Point

The bus was unable to go the the Ritz Carlton, where they were scheduled. But it turns out that their purpose was not really to draw up a crowd anyway. (Orange Juice)

At some point yesterday they erased the Ritz-Carlton “event” from their schedule. Were they trying to throw us off, or had they actually realized that there are no Latinos in that area to convert to the gospel of hate and free markets? Turns out it wasn’t really supposed to be on the schedule in the first place – the fancy beach-side hotel is just where the lucky bus-riders were put up for the weekend – where they’re cooling their heels as I write, in fact, on their Sunday “Day of Rest,” at the expense of some foolish GOP “independent expenditure.”

Day 6, Stop 4: Huntington Beach

So, I got to the good old HB pier early – my home town – with four or five other protesters, and my two freshly-made Spanish-language signs, “Nuestros valores no incluyen odio!” (Our values don’t include hate) and “Carly Fiorina no es tu amiga!” (You can figure that one out.) Dawn, who’d been involved in this longer than the rest of us, was in phone contact with the other Courage Campaigners. Evidently the hate bus was winding erratically up and down PCH, trying to evade its critics. After a while it finally dropped anchor at 6th Street and Main, 3/4 mile from its supposed destination, so we set off on foot to meet it.

By the time we got there, they were just pulling away, heading off back to their comfy hotel in Dana Point for an early start on their weekend of rest, having done all they could for Princess Carly, and utterly uninterested in making human contact with any Huntington Beach people critical or not. Windows closed as always, AC blasting, the bus looked exactly as pictured above. It may just as well have been manned by only a driver rather than the dozen Hispanics and several white NOM homophobes who were apparently hidden inside. But at least Carly and her backers are providing some lucrative temporary employment for these malinches.

And what scared the little group away from Surf City so quickly? It wasn’t so much the dozen or so pro-gay protesters, as it was a man named Don Fuller, a small, well-dressed, very articulate, “Conservative Republican” who had driven all the way from Corona just to ask these people how exactly the Constitution and Declaration of Independence justify denying equal rights to gays, and how they can possibly consider themselves conservative if they believe that. These were questions that they were completely, and mortifyingly, incapable of answering.

And that was it for the weekend. After a day of rest (actually, not at the Ritz Carlton as it turns out, but at the Hyatt Regency Resort and Spa in Huntington Beach) the tour was on to present NOM’s valores today. And, surprise of all surprises, it will actually be NOM presenting them.

Brian Brown, president of NOM, and Jennifer Roback Morse, president of The Ruth Institute, a project of NOM’s Marriage Education Fund, will both be supporting the bus tour as it makes its way around California. Dr. Morse will be at the San Diego stops on Monday, October 4.

I suppose that since they aren’t engaging any Latinos, it doesn’t much matter if their speakers are non-Latino folk who don’t speak Spanish.

Day 7 Stop 1: Santa Ana

The Santa Ana stop had more Victory Outreach members (it now seems there is a bit of a partnership going on).

15 members of the Victory Outreach ministry were present, along with 14 pro-equality counter-protesters.

But in addition to a little campaign stop, NOM & crew also had a little bit of trouble. (Courage Campaign)

Our videographer, Anthony Ash, was just assaulted by a man associated with the Vota Tus Valores tour. The Vota Tus Valores bus stopped at 17th & Main in Santa Ana, in front of the James G. Roche law firm, which is where today’s rally location was held (more on the Roche law firm later). Anthony was wearing a press pass, holding a small Flipcam and walking next to the private parking lot towards the Vota Tus Valores Bus when approached by an older Latino man (seen below) who said that our Trackers were on private property.

The man, who claimed to be the owner of the property, angrily told Anthony that this was private property, and quickly struck Anthony in the arm, knocking the camera to the ground. Our tour camera has been damaged, and we’re not sure that footage can be recovered.

It turns out that Vota Tus Valores’ main spokesman, Alfonso Aguilar, has just joined the James G. Roche law firm. Actually, as best I can tell from their website, he’s the only person working for the James G. Roche law firm.

Day 7, Stop 2: Oceanside

After we completed the filing of the police complaint in Santa Ana, we were lucky to catch up with the Vota Bus in Oceanside at Camarillo Park. One non-Latino supporter of the Vota Bus was present as organizers didn’t even bother to pull out the sound equipment. It appeared as though organizers were merely taking a stretch break while talking to the man who was holding a small video camera.

Day 7, Stop 3: Escondido

In Escondido, six men from the Victory Outreach ministry were bused in, joined by two other supporters of the Vota Bus

And the star power was brought to full use.

Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse from the Ruth Institute was handed the microphone and gave a short speech on life and traditional marriage before handing out “one man, one women” bumper stickers to the small crowd.

Day 7, Stop 4: Rally in San Diego

This is scheduled to take place at 7:00 pm at Communidad Christiana Nam. I can hardly wait to hear about it.