Box Turtle Bulletin

World Vision’s concern about Uganda’s “Kill Gays” bill

World Vision is a Christian relief and development organization focusing on care for children and communities. Although there are many organizations showing a child standing in a puddle with flies buzzing about their heads, World Vision is the largest with a budget in excess of $2.5 billion, with over 97 cents of each dollar going directly to programs.

Although a Christian missionary group, their focus is more pragmatic than dogmatic. They deflect criticism about providing needle exchange or condoms to gay Africans and make no pretense that “abstinence only” is going to rid Africa of AIDS.

And they are not at all pleased with the proposed Ugandan Kill Gays bill. (Seattle Times)

World Vision, the Christian relief agency which has worked in Uganda since the mid-80s, said the legislation could undermine its work by stigmatizing people in communities it targets, according to Rudo Kwaramba, World Vision Uganda national director.

“Uganda is one of the first countries in which we started HIV education and prevention programs,” Kwaramba said in a statement. “One of World Vision ‘s prevention models aims to reduce any stigma which may deter people from seeking to know their HIV status.”

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

A call for a nuanced view of religious leaders

Most of us are capable of seeing our coworkers, family, and neighbors as possessing varying degrees of rejection or support.

We know that Aunt Gladys will ask when you’re going to go to Vermont to marry your young man and we appreciate her. But we also know that Uncle Fred will keep his mouth shut but, if asked, will say, “well, any of your special friends are always welcome in my home, but I’m just old fashioned and think a marriage is between a man and a woman”. And Cousin Susan loves you and supports you but really wishes that you were straight because, “the gay life is so much more difficult”.

Somehow we are able to accept Uncle Fred and Cousin Susan and their limitations without denouncing them as vile people. But too often our community views religious leaders through a dichotomous lens; either the minister is a fully supportive political ally, or a hate-filled anti-gay bigot.

But truthfully, most are neither.

Some ministers are fully supportive of political equality, but believe sexual engagement between anyone other that a heterosexually married couple is sinful. Other may be less quick to assign the “sinner” label, but are not comfortable with treating same-sex couples equally in society. Some accept same-sex attraction in their parishioners in the same way they might accept a physical impairment, not necessarily the ideal but also not soul-threatening. Many have never given it much thought at all, believing that homosexuals are like alcoholics or gamblers or those folk who stay home on Sunday so they have no relevance to the church.

Sadly, our community too often has only one description for any of the above: anti-gay.

But this is unfair to them and foolish of us. We can be, at times, too quick to denounce and drive away some who could in the future – or currently on some issues – be incredibly valuable allies if we only would let them.

One such example is in the news today. Joel Osteen, pastor of Houston’s Lakewood Church, gave an opening prayer at the inauguration Annise Parker, the newly elected lesbian mayor of Houston. To some in our community, this seemed unfathomable.

The Advocate opened their article with:

Megachurch pastor Joel Osteen, who ignited a firestorm in November with his comment to The View that gay people were not among “God\’s best,” thanked the heavens on Monday for Annise Parker, the newly inaugurated lesbian mayor of Houston.

Queerty (who calls Osteen a “smiling bigot”) chose:

Unlike Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration, the mayoral inauguration of Houston’s Annise Parker did not include any flubbed lines. Except for for anti-gay ridiculous person Pastor Joel Osteen, at an opening prayer, praising god for “lifting up our new mayor, Annise Parker.”

It seems difficult to find in these paragraphs anything about Osteen that would suggest he’s not a raging homophobe. But whether or not it was intentional, it was definitely sloppy and lacking in thought.

Actually Osteen did not say that gay people were not among God’s best. In response to a question on The View from Whoopie Goldberg about whether gay people were welcome at his church, he responded,

We have ‘Everybody’s Welcome’. Gays and straights and all different religions and they’re all welcome. But, Whoopie, I come back to the, ya know, what I believe the Scripture teaches is that homosexuality is not God’s best. So I come from that value system of the Scripture, I can’t pick and choose. I love everybody, I can’t say that I don’t have friends who are not gay, they’re some of the nicest people in the world.

These are not the words of a hater or a homophobe. And they do seem consistent with Osteen’s past comments. In a 2005 interview with Larry King:

KING: Do you ever involve politics in the sermons?

OSTEEN: Never do. My father never …

KING: Never mention President Bush?

OSTEEN: Well, only to pray. Only to pray. We prayed for President Bush, Clinton, all of them. But I’ve never been political. My father hasn’t. I just, I have no …

KING: How about issues that the church has feelings about? Abortion? Same-sex marriages?

OSTEEN: Yeah. You know what, Larry? I don’t go there. I just …

KING: You have thoughts, though.

OSTEEN: I have thoughts. I just, you know, I don’t think that a same-sex marriage is the way God intended it to be. I don’t think abortion is the best. I think there are other, you know, a better way to live your life. But I’m not going to condemn those people. I tell them all the time our church is open for everybody.

KING: You don’t call them sinners?

OSTEEN: I don’t.

KING: Is that a word you don’t use?

OSTEEN: I don’t use it. I never thought about it. But I probably don’t. But most people already know what they’re doing wrong. When I get them to church I want to tell them that you can change. There can be a difference in your life. So I don’t go down the road of condemning.

I also note that Osteen welcomed Jay Bakker and Soulforce when they came to visit Lakewood Church and was not part of the recent Manhattan Declaration. Yet some in our community seem incapable of distinguishing Osteen’s religious interpretation of Scripture from, say, Ken Hutcherson’s crusade of hatred and bigotry.

I think it would be useful for our community to adopt a more nuanced view of religious leaders. By doing so, we might find ourselves with unexpected allies.

Joel Osteen does not agree with my understanding of Scripture; but his disagreement does not make him a hater or a bigot. And I recognize the value in having a lesbian politician – elected despite her opponent’s religion-based homophobic campaign – being given blessing by the pastor of the largest congregation in the nation.

Congratulations Amanda Simpson

President Barack Obama has named Amanda Simpson as a Senior Technical Advisor to the Commerce Department, where she will be working in the Bureau of Industry and Security:

“I’m truly honored to have received this appointment and am eager and excited about this opportunity that is before me. And at the same time, as one of the first transgender presidential appointees to the federal government, I hope that I will soon be one of hundreds, and that this appointment opens future opportunities for many others.”

Simpson brings considerable professional credentials to her new job. For thirty years, she has worked in the aerospace and defense industry, most recently serving as Deputy Director in Advanced Technology Development at Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, Arizona. She holds degrees in physics, engineering and business administration along with an extensive flight background. She is a certified flight instructor and test pilot with 20 years of experience.

As a fellow Tucsonan, I have had the rare privilege of knowing Amanda. She is not only a truly amazing, dynamic woman, but she\’s a genuine trailblazer as well. She\’s as been a local activist and former member of the City of Tucson Commission on GLBT Issues, and in 2004 she became the first transgender person to win the Democratic Nomination for the Arizona House of Representatives. She was recognized that same year as one of the YWCA’s “Women On the Move.”

Several of us gathered for a Christmas party on the Friday before Christmas. It was a bittersweet party since it was also our good-bye party for Amanda. We will all miss her here in Tucson, but we are also immensely proud and excited for her new opportunities in D.C. I can’t think of a more qualified person to advise the Commerce Department on the technical issues surrounding technology exports. Break a leg, Amanda!

Ugandan LGBT Advocates Denounce Child Sexual Abuse

It’s a reflection on the sad state of things in Uganda that the main LGBT advocacy organization has to issue a statement like this. But like many of the most anti-gay extremists in the U.S. ( including some who went to Uganda for the three day anti-gay conference last March), most Ugandans believe that gay people are child molesters. This was a prominent theme of the anti-gay conference, and that theme was like napalm thrown on an already burning bonfire.

In normal situations, being against child sexual abuse and molestation is an assumed position. But things are not normal in Uganda, where child molestation is constantly used as justification for the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill that is now before Parliament — even though the bill goes much, much further than simply addressing child sexual abuse, which Ugandan law already covers quite nicely. But two of Uganda’s LGBT advocacy groups have issued a statement clarifying what ought to be obvious in normal societies around the world: gay people oppose child sexual abuse with the same fervor as straight people. They also offer to work with the government to fight against child exploitation and abuse.

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

Click here to read the full statement by Ugandan LGBT advocates.

BBC Faces Furor in UK’s Parliament

British newspapers are reporting that the BBC is facing mounting criticism in the UK’s Parliament over an online poll which asked, “Should homosexuals face execution?” The online forum elicited 206 published comments before it was closed.

Labour’s Eric Joyce, who told MPs about the online forum, said he was “completely mystified” as to why it had been set up. “We should be looking at what is going on in Uganda with abhorrence,” he said. “The BBC are probably thinking they are communicating with people in Africa. As it happens, everyone who has replied comes from somewhere else.”

Lynne Featherstone, Lib Dem youth and equality spokesman, said: “Suggesting the state-sponsored murder of gay people is OK as a legitimate topic for debate is deeply offensive. The BBC are only fanning the flames of hatred. They must act and apologise for their gross insensitivity.’

The debate was published by the World Service Africa Have Your Say forum, which is part of the BBC’s main news website. Its editor David Stead last night insisted he had thought long and hard about posing the question.

Well, as long as they thought long and hard about it, I guess that makes it all okay then. Incredibly, despite the worldwide outcry a BBC spokesman claimed that it had not yet received an official complaint about the question.

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

Exodus Board Members Plays The “Dupe” In Uganda

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

The New York Times has finally taken notice of the anti-gay pogrom that has been brewing in Uganda for nearly a year now. In Monday morning’s edition, Jeffrey Gettleman provides a brief overview of events over the past year that has led up to Uganda’s current attempt to legislate gay people out of existence, beginning with that infamous anti-homosexuality conference put on last March by three American anti-gay activists:

The three Americans who spoke at the conference — Scott Lively, a missionary who has written several books against homosexuality, including “7 Steps to Recruit-Proof Your Child”; Caleb Lee Brundidge, a self-described former gay man who leads “healing seminars”; and Don Schmierer, a board member of Exodus International, whose mission is “mobilizing the body of Christ to minister grace and truth to a world impacted by homosexuality” — are now trying to distance themselves from the bill.

“I feel duped,” Mr. Schmierer said, arguing that he had been invited to speak on “parenting skills” for families with gay children. He acknowledged telling audiences how homosexuals could be converted into heterosexuals, but he said he had no idea some Ugandans were contemplating the death penalty for homosexuality.

“That\’s horrible, absolutely horrible,” he said. “Some of the nicest people I have ever met are gay people.”

What Schmierer has yet to acknowledge is that he had every opportunity not to be “duped,” as he put it. BTB’s Timothy Kincaid sent a warning via Exodus International president Alan Chambers before the conference took place, explaining exactly what he was getting into. Chambers either didn’t pass the warning on to Schmierer, or Schmierer chose to ignore it. The aggravating thing is that this could have been avoided — or, at the very least Exodus International’s implicit participation in the conference.

And of course, let’s not forget Exodus’s first attempt at “fixing” the problem they created — their hamfisted attempt to put a positive spin on Schmierer’s talk by “applauding” his being there.

Schmierer’s behavior in all of this is beyond appalling. He has yet to man up to his responsibility for his actions. Instead, his only public response has been to behave as a befuddled grandfather wondering what the fuss is all about. Charming in some quarters I’m sure, but of absolutely no use whatsoever to the people of Uganda who now stand to fear the midnight knock on the door  — and possibly even the gallows. We’ve already seen arrests and blackmail, as well as  accusations of homosexuality used as a political and sectarian weapon this year. This Times article provides further illustration of what people in Uganda have gone through:

Human rights advocates in Uganda say the visit by the three Americans helped set in motion what could be a very dangerous cycle. Gay Ugandans already describe a world of beatings, blackmail, death threats like “Die Sodomite!” scrawled on their homes, constant harassment and even so-called correctional rape.

“Now we really have to go undercover,” said Stosh Mugisha, a gay rights activist who said she was pinned down in a guava orchard and raped by a farmhand who wanted to cure her of her attraction to girls. She said that she was impregnated and infected with H.I.V., but that her grandmother\’s reaction was simply, ” ‘You are too stubborn.\’ ”

…”What these people have done is set the fire they can\’t quench,” said the Rev. Kapya Kaoma, a Zambian who went undercover for six months to chronicle the relationship between the African anti-homosexual movement and American evangelicals.

Mr. Kaoma was at the conference and said that the three Americans “underestimated the homophobia in Uganda” and “what it means to Africans when you speak about a certain group trying to destroy their children and their families.”

“When you speak like that,” he said, “Africans will fight to the death.”

This, of course, is nothing compared to what we will see should the Anti-Homosexuality Bill become law.

"What, me worry?" Exodus board member Don Schmierer.

If Shmierer feels “duped,” then he needs to put a stop to his helplessness act and behave like a responsible adult. He has no problem traveling extensively around the world when it suits his purposes. This might be a good time for him to return to Uganda, to go on radio and television and talk to newspaper reporters — to try to fix what he helped break. He’s a world traveler, and he’s been to Uganda before; he knows the way.

But since the Exodus gang has no track record whatsoever in accepting responsibility for any of their actions, I predict that Schmierer, Chambers and the rest of Exodus will sit on their hands and pretend that nothing’s wrong. They’ll point to their solitary letter which got no play whatsoever in Ugandan media, and pretend that this small act was sufficient.

Having said that, I keep hoping that someday someone over there will seize the opportunity to prove me wrong. Sure, they’ll grumble about how mean we “militant homosexual activists”  are. (That’s Exodus vice-president Randy Thomas new euphemism for this blog.) But their own engagement in the culture war blinds them from seeing the win-win two-fer that’s before them: they can take the bold steps necessary to correct their egregious mistakes and simultaneously make all of us “militant homosexual activists” look like idiots. All in one fell swoop.

But since they’ve been so entirely predictable, I’ll stick with my prediction. Schimierer will continue with his helplessness act, Chambers will pretend that his letter is enough, and Exodus will go on its merry way and pretend that nothing went wrong on their watch.

The ball is in their court to prove me wrong. I’ll even sweeten the pot: if they can prove me wrong, I’ll wear a dunce hat, publicly proclaim how wrong I was, and issue an apology of my own. Because I’m a man who stands behind my principles.

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

NJ Senate may vote on marriage bill on Thursday

Time is running out for a vote on Marriage in New Jersey. From On Top magazine

Democratic Senators Loretta Weinberg and Raymond Lesniak have asked Senate President Richard Codey, a Democrat from Essex, to hold a floor vote on the bill Thursday.

Realistically, we probably don’t have the votes to enact marriage equality in New Jersey this year. But if we do get a vote, we will know which Senators believe that our rights, our relationships, our loves and our lives are inferior to their own. And we will know who we should oppose in upcoming elections.

Debbie Thurman: the source of Lisa’s last communication

The extent to which Debbie Thurman was involved in the effort to deny Janet Jenkins her legal parental rights is more extensive than might have been guessed. Thurman has often portrayed herself as someone who knows Lisa Miller but who is objective. But the further into the story we get, the more Debbie’s hand is seen.

We knew that she was the spokesperson for the Protect Isabella site and now it appears that she is the administrator of the Facebook page entitled as “Only One Mommy: The Story of Lisa and Isabella Miller“. After having shut down her own website and that of the Formers, Debbie has reported a technical glitch is making it difficult to shut down discussion on that page as well.

It is difficult to determine Debbie’s intentions, but it seems that she is in the process of eliminating at least part of the public history of the discussion about Lisa’s efforts to deny Janet visitation – especially that which displays the words of Lisa’ supporters. I will not speculate on the reason why. Debbie may feel that the discussion is becoming confrontational and unneccessarily angry or maybe she’s embarrassed by the unbridled hatred that some of Lisa’s supporters are spewing.

Or maybe she has other purposes. I do not know.

But it does appear that Debbie – according to the Facebook page – may be the last person who publicly reported any contact with Lisa. The anti-gay LifeSiteNews reports

Miller’s last public communication was posted on her Facebook page December 4 by a supporter.

This supporter was, not suprisingly, Debbie Thurman, who posted the following:

A Note from Lisa
I just wanted to thank all of you for your kind and encouraging words. Please know that I cherish your hopefulness, Bible verses/stories and words of praise for our God that you share with me via this forum. I also want to let you know that due to saving money I am no…t renewing my internet services. However, I will check FB periodically because when I do get on I am immediately encouraged by your faithfulness to our God by how you continue to praise Him –even through this “dark” ruling. Thank You. Please do continue to praise God “who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is work within us, to him be the glory” (Ephesians 3:20-21). Remember, “He will do only as much for us as we allow Him to do in us” (The Alliance). This reminds me of the widow\’s oil and Nahum washing in the river- if they did not believe 100% then they would not have been the recipient of our Father\’s miracles. Furthermore, also please remember that the widow would have received as much oil as the number of her containers- in other words, more faith- more oil. I have been in prayer and Bible study over the matter of late and I believe that God is not finished. God is the God of the impossible: “Nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). “Therefore, may we continue to persevere, for even if we took our circumstances and cast all darkness of human doubt upon them and then hastily piled as many difficulties together as we could find against God\’s divine word, we could never move beyond the blessedness of His miracle – working power. May we place our faith completely in Him, for He is the God of the impossible” (Streams in the Desert). Are we not here in my legal case? I choose to wait patiently on Him (Daniel 12:12) and continue to stand on His promise (for both Isabella and me) that “no weapon formed against thee shall prosper” (Isaiah 54:17). Let us continue to go forward in faith as Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Rahab, Daniel, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David and others who went forward (Hebrews 11). “And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13:58). Thank you again friends in Christ for “standing in the gap for Isabella and me.” “The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule on their own authority. And my people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?” (Jeremiah 5:31)

It is quite possible that Debbie Thurman is not the last person with public knowledge about Lisa’s whereabouts. It would not be surprising if Lias had communication with her legal counsel after she and Debbie arranged for this message to be posted.

It is early in this investigation and many more sources may become available. But at least the police do have a starting spot if they choose to vigorously pursue this parental abduction.

UPDATE: 4/27/11

Debbie Thurman has provided us with the following response:

Do you think this has not been looked into by “the authorities”? It has.
They are the only ones who needed to hear from me on it. It was properly
dismissed last year as insignificant.

Non-biological surrogate declared “Mother”

Those looking for an excuse to justify the kidnapping of little Isabella by Lisa Miller (other than bald bigotry) like to make the distinction that Jenkins isn’t genetically related to Isabella. It will be curious to see if that “reason” holds consistent in another custody case. (New York Times)

A New Jersey judge has ruled that a gestational surrogate who gave birth to twin girls is their legal mother, even though she is not genetically related to them.
…
In the New Jersey case, the surrogate, Angelia G. Robinson, agreed to have the children in 2006 for her brother, Donald Robinson Hollingsworth, an accountant in Manhattan, and his spouse, Sean Hollingsworth. The embryos were created from anonymous donor eggs and fertilized with sperm from Sean Hollingsworth.

In the language of Ms. Miller, allowing Ms. Robinson rights is like turning the children over to the milkman. But somehow, just somehow, I suspect the sexual orientation of the girls’ fathers might create exceptions in the minds of Miller’s supporters.

Because I very very much doubt that biological connection had much at all to do with the reason they support Lisa Miller in the first place. And arguments seeking to hide that their basis is in anti-gay animus don’t stand up well to principle.

NJ marriage bill uncertainties

In an effort to prop up support for marriage equality, the supporters of New Jersey’s marriage bill pulled it from the Senate a few weeks back and sent it to the House for a vote.

On New Years Eve, the House chose to kick it right back to the Senate without a vote (NJ.com):

A bill to legalize gay marriage was dealt a major setback yesterday when the state Assembly speaker tossed it back to the Senate, leaving the measure in limbo as supporters and opponents watch time run out for it to become law.

Speaker Joseph Roberts (D-Camden) said he would call a vote on the measure only if the Senate approved the bill first. That sent the bill’s Senate sponsors scrambling to get a vote scheduled before Gov. Jon Corzine leaves office. His successor, Gov.-elect Chris Christie, has said he will not sign a same-sex marriage bill.

There are only two days in the lame duck session in which the State Senate will to meet and vote. As yet, the bill is not scheduled.

I want a vote.

Even if we lose, as in New York, we need to know who believes in equality and who thinks that gay relationships are inferior.

Because really that is what this entire issue is about. All of the language given by any opponent of marriage equality, no matter how supportive they might otherwise be, illustrates that they oppose equality because they don’t believe that our relationships, our families, our love, is equal to theirs. They believe that we are inferior.

And I want to know exactly who it is that thinks that we are inferior.

Congratulations to New Hampshire couples

As of the first moments of January 1, 2010, New Hampshire’s laws recognized marriage equality. Our most heart-felt congratulations to same-sex couples in that state for achieving civil equality (for state-based rights) and to all the citizens of that state for achieving a society that values its citizens more equally.

Lisa Miller in hiding with Isabella

As we expected, ABC is reporting that Lisa Miller did not appear at her court appointed time to turn custody of Isabella over to Janet Jenkins.

Lisa Miller, 41, of Winchester, Va., was ordered by a Vermont family court judge in November to hand over her daughter Isabella by 1 p.m. to Janet Jenkins , 45, of Fairhaven, Vt.

But according to Jenkins’ lawyer, Miller failed to show up.

“Janet is quite distressed and she notified the police,” said Sarah Star, Jenkins’ Vermont lawyer. “She is concerned about Isabella’s safety and Ms. Miller’s mental stability.”

Happy New Year

“Nonetheless, he knew that the tale he had to tell could not be one of a final victory. It could only be the record of what had had to be done, and what assuredly would have to be done again in the never-ending fight against terror and its relentless onslaughts, despite their personal afflictions, by all who, while unable to be saints but refusing to bow down to pestilences, strive their utmost to be healers.” — Albert Camus

Thanks to the BTB reader who sent this to me. It reminds all of us why we work as hard as we do hear. The record of what has to be done continues. Happy New Year

Ugandan Pastor Issues Video Response To Rick Warren

Ugandan pastor Martin Ssempa issued a video response to Saddleback Pastor Rick Warren’s vigorous condemnation of the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill.  And boy is Ssempa upset with Warren. It took Warren just six and a half minute to concisely and clearly condemn the bill as “unjust, extreme and un-Christian.” It took Ssempa two videos and nearly eighteen minutes to respond.

In the first video posted to YouTube on December 28, Ssempa continues to misrepresent what the text of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill would provide.

In this segment, Ssempa discusses one of the misconceptions about AIDS that some hold in Africa, where some people believe that having sex with a virgin will cure someone of HIV/AIDS. Ssempa then argues that the crime of “aggravated homosexuality” is an absolute necessity in order to criminalize raping of children, which Ssempa incredibly claims is not against the law in Uganda.

The problem with that, of course, is there is no such gaping loophole in Ugandan law. Here’s Section 129(3) and (4) of the Penal Code, as amended in 2007 (Act No. 8 of 2007):

129(3)
Any person who performs a sexual act with another person who is below the age of eighteen years in any of the circumstances specified in subsection (4) commits a felony called aggravated defilement and is, on conviction by the High Court, liable to suffer death.

129(4)
The circumstances referred to in subsection (3) are as follows-

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

(b) where the offender is infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV);

(c) Where the offender is a parent or guardian of or a person in authority over, the person against whom the offence is committed;

(d) where the victim of the offence is a person with a disability; or,

(e) where the offender is a serial offender.

In other words, Ugandan law already covers what is commonly called “defilement” in a very gender-neutral way. What’s more, Ssempa’s contention that the Anti-Homosexuality Bill is intended only to cover “defilement” is blatantly false. Again, we go to the text of the bill for its definition of “aggravated homosexuality:”

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.

The text is very plain. The bill goes beyond criminalizing sex with underage minors — which Ugandan law already does. It penalizes any gay person who is HIV-positive with death by hanging, the method of legal execution in Uganda, whether that person had sex with a minor or a consenting adult.

Part 2 continues with Ssempa’s misrepresentation of “aggravated homosexuality.”

Both parts of this video response taken together follow roughly the letter that Ssempa sent to Warren demanding that Warren apologize for his condemnation of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. He repeats that demand in the second part of his video.

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

Janet Jenkins Files Missing Person Report For Her Daughter

Janet Jenkins and her daughter (2006)

Janet Jenkins, who was granted custody of her daughter by a family court judge, has filed a Missing Person report for her daughter, according to her lawyer. The court ordered her former partner, Lisa Miller, to transfer custody of the child, but Miller’s lawyer said that he does not know Miller’s or the child’s whereabouts.

Rutland Family Court Judge William Cohen had awarded Janet Jenkins custody of the couple’s daughter beginning Friday, January 1. If Miller does not comply with the judge’s order, she could be held in criminal contempt. She could also be charged with custodial interference, a felony which carries a sentence of up to five years.