Consequences

Coming home today, a friend told me of a curious story. He had got a call from George Oundo, aka Georgina. Guy wanted money- if he was not to ‘out’ him.

The friend cursed Georgina away.

And, on returning home from work, he found his domestic help with a strange story. The help was visited by Red Pepper people. They know he has a story about his boss, he was informed. And they were ready to pay well for the story. Which story? The boss’s (homo)sexual escapades.

Georgina, good Christian as he is, (he says he is doing the outing etc for God and Country), has a lucrative side line. Blackmail.

He has blackmailed many. And continues- I have failed to figure out what he is after.

But, besides the blackmail, there is a lot of fear.

Remember the guys in Mbale? The couple that was arrested for being amorous. They are still in jail. On remand, almost a month since the arrests. There is literally no case against them. But public opinion, and politics.

There is a sadder case in Mukono. A seventeen year old was sentenced to life imprisonment, because he had gay sex. Life imprisonment in Uganda means exactly that. No parole. No time out. Life in prison. The boy can only appeal that sentence.

There is another case, in Entebbe. And others.

Suddenly, prison is becoming something that anyone suspected of being gay gets rail roaded to. Doesn’t matter that you may not be gay. Or you may not be guilty. Fact is, us seasoned gay people are kind of too suspicious to be caught in the act. But damn!

I am just thinking of Stephen Langa, that nice Christian man, doing his round on the fm stations, complaining that homosexuals were not being arrested. Well, we are being arrested. And sentenced, to life in prison.

Guy visited me yesterday. His name, his pic was published. He cannot sleep at his house. His LC chairman advised him that residents will lynch him. And a friend that was staying at his house was beaten up. Because of suspicion that he is gay.

He was suicidal. Where is this going to end?

Father Musaala, his career is in tatters. Until he can ‘prove’ that he is not homosexual. His rivals must be happy about that- they did destroy this pretender to the love of god, didn’t they? 

By the way, in the same red rug issue in which people were outed was a pornographic 'confession' from dear Georgina. He detailed how he was a wife to a 'popular priest' for over a year, for some money... Didnt require an Einstein to figure out who the 'popular priest' was supposed to be.

All lovers of homosexuals, (or any who can pretend) have to affirm their heterosexuality. Bishop Ssenyonjo, that venerable granddad has to begin his defence of us by asserting that he is not gay. He must be, after all, Georgina ‘outed’ him.

But the one thing which amused me about this hysteria was the Pastor Kayanja saga. Apparently, his pastor rivals could not get someone like Georgina to accuse him. So, they are offering money for the confessions. Kayanja is a very influential man. Politically very well connected (which in a way makes him vulnerable!). He found the need to make the accusations New Vision headlines. And then to go to Red Pepper, of all papers! Apparently, his detractors complain that he is not anti-gay enough. That is why they say he must be gay, because he is not anti-gay enough. (The headline in the red rug was Pastor Kayanja reveals his homo history! but like much that that rug writes about, the story was miles away from the headlines.  Poor Kayanja!)

I swear, I am not lying. Most of these things are documented, by the Red Pepper, and its sister anti-gay publication, the New Vision.

Actually, it is early days.

Uganda has been homophobic. But not above many other countries in Africa. What started as an anti-gay, Christian seminar to deal with the homosexual agenda has morphed into some tears of pain for many of us. And it is not yet finished.

Where will it end?

 

gug

MP to introduce bill against homosexuality

Thursday, 30th April, 2009   

 

Parliament has adopted a motion granting Ndorwa west MP David Bahati leave of parliament to enable him introduce a private members bill against homosexuality in the country.

 

Presenting his request to parliament, Bahati noted that Uganda needs a comprehensive law to fight homosexuality.

 

Bahati says that the laws in the country do not adequately address the issue.

 

He also appealed to the religious leaders to continue the fight against homosexuality in the country

And the report from UGPulse

Parliament for bill against homosexuality

First published: 20090430 11:44:51 AM EST

 

Following increased pressure from anti gay activists in the country, the Parliament has agreed to allow Ndorwa west MP David Bahati to present a private members bill against homosexuality in Uganda.

A group of activists led by the Stephen Langa of the Family Life Network last week presented a petition to Parliament calling for more stringent laws against homosexuality.

Parliament today granted a motion by Bahati requesting for leave of parliament to enable him introduce a private members bill against homosexuality in the country.

 

Bahati convinced his fellow MPs that the current laws in Uganda do not adequately address the issue of homosexuality. He said Uganda needs a comprehensive law to fight homosexuality which is reported to be on the increase in the country.

 

Bahati while commending efforts by religious leaders in fighting homosexuality said it is important that their efforts are complimented by a more stringent law regime against homosexuality, which he described as immoral and unnatural.

While the debate in Uganda has been focusing on whether homosexuality is a learned or natural behavior as claimed by those against and pro respectively, a High Court judgment in December 2008 ruled that all Ugandans whether homosexuals or not are guaranteed the same human rights by the country’s constitution.

 

Anti-Gay

They make me feel

filthy- anti gay people.

 

I love-

I know I love;

and my love they

malign and corrupt

despise and shame-

just because I love.

 

They make me feel

worthless

and I have to

reach deep to my

depths to cling

to sanity

midst the gale

their hate.

 

©GayUganda 20 Mar. 09

Brethren in Kenya

New Kenyan archbishop vows to fight same-sex unions

First published: 20090428 8:28:23 AM EST

As the issue of homosexuality and lesbianism continue to take big space in the media worldwide, the African Anglican Union has continued to hold onto its so-called conservative stand against same sex unions.

In Kenya, a new Archbishop has also vowed to start where his predecessor had stopped. Eliud Wabukala of Bungoma, who becomes the Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya in July, says he will not reverse his predecessor’s opposition to same-sex unions.

This was after Wabukala was elected on April 24 to replace Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi, who retires on 30 June.

The issue of same sex union has split the Anglican Communion around the world and many pro-gay activists are rising claiming their rights.

On the other hand, anti-gay groups have also risen to preach their message as they know it according to their faith and beliefs.

In Uganda, Family Life Network has spearheaded the campaign in the country while the group of Christian youth under the umbrella Christian Peace Youth Ministries are holding various seminars in western Uganda and using the media to fight the vice.

Another Homosexual Pastor?

UPDATE:

This was disturbing me. Couldnt lay a finger on what exactly it was that is not healthy. Got it now. They are perfoming a withch hunt. And the scare word is 'homosexual'

Father Musaala is (or is not) homosexual… Seems the jury is out on that.

But a comedy is ongoing amongst the Pentecostal pastors in Uganda.

I think it was Thursday that I heard the rumour about an accusation leveled against Pastor Kayanja, another of the mega church pastors. I dismissed it. Was kind of too bizarre. Too way out there. For some reason, every enemy Pentecostal pastor is supposed to be homosexual. Don’t, or cant figure out the logic of that. Actually, I think it is the fact that they (the Pentecostals) have built up homosexuality to be the ultimate sin that one can commit. And, with the infighting between these churches, accusing one another of being homosexual is the ultimate. Especially if it sticks.

Oh, we real homosexuals are just collateral damage.

Anyway, Thursday I heard the bizarre story that Kayanja was accused. Monday it is in the New Vision. Front page.

Take time to read and laugh. But these things are pretty serious.

And, before I forget, the Red rug headlines a story from George Oundo that we homosexuals want to kill the poor lad. Apparently, we are not happy at him ripping apart our closets. Don’t really understand what Oundo is about. I suspect that the guy is just plain crazy. Or just loves the attention!

Here is the Pastor Politics story.

CID probes kidnap of Kayanja’s aide     

Row deepens among city’s top Pentecostal pastors

By Anthony Bugembe and Dorah Naamala 

The Police are investigating the alleged kidnap and torture of Chris Muwonge, the personal aide of Pastor Robert Kayanja of Rubaga Miracle Centre, in what seems a deepening row between rival Pentecostal (Born Again) churches.

Muwonge testified before the press yesterday that he had been abducted by armed men on the morning of April 18, while returning from overnight prayers, and held for five days.

“As I was picking a boda boda to go home, someone called me by name and said I had dropped my money. When I looked back, the man told me to enter a parked car. If I did not, he warned, the man in the car would shoot me,” the 27-year-old told journalists at the Miracle Centre church.

He said a gun was pointed at him as he entered the car; he was blindfolded and driven away. When the blindfold was removed, Muwonge noted, he was in a bathroom with a TV camera before him.

 

“My captors beat me while ordering me to look into the camera and testify that Pastor Kayanja had been sodomising boys. I refused. They promised me $100,000 (sh200m) and pocket money amounting to $20,000 (sh40m). They said they could fly me to any country of my choice.”

Muwonge said he was eventually dumped outside Kayanja’s residence in Kawuku-Gaba on Thursday. His head was covered in a plastic bag and his hands were trussed behind his back.

He was discovered by area residents who at first thought he was dead. They alerted Pastor Kayanja’s housekeeper, who notified her boss. Kayanja called the Police who rushed him to International Hospital Kampala for treatment.

The Police spokesperson, Judith Nabakooba, said they were investigating the incident. “We are taking this very seriously given that it may have security implications. We need to get to the bottom of the matter,” she told The New Vision.

more of the story deals with the Pastor politics...

Some truths about homosexuality

It has taken some time, but Kevin O'Connor has weighed in. In his usual abrassive style. Doesnt like Ssempa, does he...!

At last a newspaper article has been written by a Ugandan which discusses homosexuality in a sensible way. In “When Christians condemn God’s children during the Easter season” (Saturday Monitor April 11 2009), Bernard Tabaire draws attention to the unchristian behaviour of nasty gay-haters such as Stephen Langa of the Family Life Network and Pastor Martin Ssempa of the Makerere Community Church.

 

Christianity and homosexuality

As regards homosexuality, to this list of Satan’s sinners, can be added Dr James Nsaba Buturo, Minister of (supposedly) Ethics and Integrity, who recently labelled homosexuals as, “abnormal, unhealthy and unnatural.”

To the Langas, Ssempas and Buturos of this world, we must ask two questions:

Where is your “treat your neighbour as yourself”? Where is your recognition of the undisputable truth that, the world over, somewhere between one in 10 and one in 20 human beings are born genetically homosexual?

I ask these questions not as a homosexual myself, but as a heterosexual. Yes, I like the ladies, and whether you are a black, brown, yellow or a white female, the more beautiful you are, the more sexually attracted to you I will be. And not only that, I have a particular heterosexual taste in women i.e. I especially like tall, slim ladies!

 

School gayness - normal

The only time I have ever felt sexual feelings towards other males was as a teenager. Most human beings start developing sexual desires when they are too young to have access to the opposite sex. So there is often some sexual experimentation with friends of the same sex. This is a normal and natural part of adolescence and a standard part of heterosexuality. So much of the noise about gay and lesbian behaviour in Ugandan schools is nonsense. Most of these youngsters are just experimenting, and will become heterosexuals as soon as they grow older and their society allows them sexual access to the opposite sex.

 

A gay Kabaka

However, real adult homosexuals have existed all over Africa throughout history. For example, there has been at least one homosexual Kabaka. According to no less an authority than Pastor Martin Ssempa (The New Vision, June 3 2005, Page 8), in the 1880s, Kabaka Mwanga “was a deviant homosexual who used his demigod status to appease his voracious appetite for sodomy”. Put in more simple English, Kabaka Mwanga had anal sex with his page boys.

 

Neighbourliness

In today’s Uganda, a percentage of the Ugandans who are nasty gay-haters, and make the most outspoken attacks against homosexuals, are homosexuals themselves. In order to repress and disguise their own natural homosexual inclinations, they feel it important to be seen in public criticising and insulting homosexuals.

When the truth comes out about such people, let us hope they receive more “treat your neighbour as yourself” behaviour from heterosexuals than they themselves were earlier able to give to homosexuals.

Interview in New Vision

Damn, had missed this interview

Uganda: The Education Ministry is Against Homosexuality

Aggrey Kibenge11 April 2009

Kampala — Following the recent revelation by a self-confessed homosexual, George 'Georgina' Oundo, that schools were the primary recruitment grounds for gay activists, Sunday Vision's Moses Mugalu had an interview with Aggrey Kibenge, the Ministry of Sports and Education's Principal Assistant Secretary and Public Relations Officer. Below are excerpts.

Has the ministry received any reports about the problem of homosexuality in schools?

Yes. The very first report was about a year-and-half ago. It was in the form of an email from a parent outside this country, I think based in the US, who claimed that there had been attempts to sodomise her child, a student at St. Mary's College Kisubi.

She said her efforts to talk to the school administration on this matter had been rebuffed by the school administration, claiming such a thing could not happen in a school like Kisubi.

The parent accused the school covering up the problem, because they have a reputation to protect. I forwarded the complaint to the commissioner responsible for secondary education and asked him to investigate and get back to me. The commissioner reported back that the school administration had denied condoning, or even being aware of the practice, since no case had been brought to their attention.

The commissioner then instituted an independent investigation, which also found nothing to support the allegations. As a ministry, this is the only case we've handled so far. The ministry is against the promotion of sodomy, as some people call it, or homosexuality and lesbianism in schools.

What do you think is influencing students into getting involved in this practice?

I know that young people of school-going age - the adolescents - are at a formative stage where they are keen to try out new things. They are inquisitive about what is happening in the world around them.

Since the world is now one global village, it is possible that they are exposed to cultures and values which are alien to our own culture here in Uganda.

What is the ministry doing to fight the spread of homosexuality in schools?

As part of the ministry's contribution in the fight against HIV/AIDS, we've discussed with students vices like drugs abuse, masturbation, homosexuality and others, which can pre-dispose them to HIV/AIDS.

I have received a number of delegations from different human rights groups - claiming that, by coming out explicitly to fight these tendencies, we're infringing on the rights of some young people, even some teachers. I always tell them, "we as a ministry have no apologies over that because our firm belief is that this is a pervasion of values."

 

Can you name some of these groups?

 

I can't recall their names offhand, but some have even published reports criticising our approach. You have heard about the Presidential Initiative on AIDS Strategy for Communication to Youths (PIACY) programme; it's our main vehicle for reaching out to children in schools on matters concerning HIV/AIDS and to promote a safe lifestyle. Through this programme, we've been emphatic on what we consider a perversion of our values and homosexuality is clearly one of those things that we wouldn't want to promote in schools.

But we also know that there are strong lobbies world over trying to promote some of these tendencies. Some of them consider our talking about it and discouraging students from getting involved as a direct attack on them and an infringement on the rights of individuals.

Recently a self-confessed homosexual George 'Georgina' Oundo admitted to recruiting school children into the practice. What is the ministry's reaction to that revelation?

Of course, it's shocking that somebody is coming out to confess that for all this time he's been enticing young people to join the gay movement. And, as you can see, this is a very systematic group with a lot of inducements that have been put out to the young people to join the movement, and he even tells his own story of how he was attracted into movement.

As a ministry, we are not moving out or doing much more than we had already started because, as part of our ongoing programmes, we built the component of life skills into our programmes within the schools - the PIACY programme especially. It's through this programme that we interact with the young people and teachers in schools to discuss what may be considered risky behaviour and good moral values to the young people.

We are working in partnership with various stakeholders, like religious groups, to promote positive behaviour and good moral values among young people.

We have already come up with an acceptable package that incorporates religious, cultural and ethical values.

 

Oundo's revelation is shocking, but maybe it will inspire us to continue with what we're doing in schools. It adds a new dimension to the outreach programme that we started as a ministry in terms of what to look out for, and what to warn teachers and the young people about.

Q: There are allegations that the problem is mainly prevalent in Catholic-founded schools. Is that true?

A: I wouldn't say so, much as I've told you that the one single case that has been officially registered with us is from Kisubi, a Catholic-founded school. I wouldn't use that as a basis to generalise that the problem is predominantly in Catholic Church-founded schools.

I know that if such a problem exists, it would be more prevalent in boarding than in day schools.

Q: Why?

A: Because in boarding schools young people are confined in an environment for a very long time. Under such circumstances, a vice like homosexuality or lesbianism can very easily find fertile ground. Day schools don't offer the same opportunity, since after school, students return to their respective homes. So where would they do it from, on the way, or at home? I think the problem is largely within boarding schools and not schools associated with a particular faith.

 

Q: The other allegation is that homosexuality is more rampart in single sex schools...

 

A: Possibly. You know as young people grow up, there are various ways of expressing oneself in that form. And even when these relationships may not grow into sexual relationships, there are ways in which young people in mixed schools interact and as a result that excess energy has a way of being let off, which may not be the case within single-sex schools.

 

Q: Some parents are concerned that some school heads are not doing their work; leaving students on their own. Then there's the issue of dormitories being congested. Do you think those two factors might be contributing to the spread of homosexuality in schools?

A: They would, if the school administrations fail to fulfil their responsibilities. As a ministry, we expect the school administration to put in place a leadership system to guide and supervise all the operations within a school. They consist of administration, the head teacher, teaching staff and non-teaching staff.

 

All these are part of the team around these young people to guide their growth and development. Should there be any laxity on the part of any of them certainly the intensity of some of these weaknesses that are being raised will increase. But, to me, it's a shared responsibility so parents shouldn't leave it to the schools because I believe that bad influence exists a lot more outside the school.

 

Q: Has the ministry come across the so-called 'children toolkits' which Oundo claims are circulated into schools by the gay and lesbians coalition?

 

A: No, but I've read and was recently contacted by a journalist about a publication put out by UNICEF into schools. They were allegations that the UNICEF publication had materials promoting that kind of vice and I told him as a ministry we didn't have any idea about that publication.

 

Q: There are allegations that homosexuality movements are putting a lot of money into such ventures to promote the vice. Does the ministry monitor sources of funding for private schools?

 

A: Our monitoring is at the level of registering schools. Before any school is granted a licence to operate, there are certain conditions that must be met. One of them is to provide information on the source of funding and even details about the school bank account to establish whether the proprietor has the capacity to run it.

 

Of course, none of them would, I assume or presume, willingly surrender information that "we're being financed by this group or the other". So the opportunity is very slim for the ministry to establish the funding sources apart from the information that's availed to us.

 

Q: Should we blame poor remuneration of teachers, especially those under UPE and USE, for the spread of the vice in schools? To make ends meet, many teachers start other businesses on the side or part-time with several other schools, leading to a lapse in supervision and opening a window of opportunity for those promoting gay activities.

 

A: I think from time immemorial the remuneration of teachers has always been a point of concern, for not only the teaching profession but also even us the ministry. Historically, teachers have been poorly paid in relation to other public officers (civil servants). And I know that the Executive has explained that it's a question of what the economy can support at a given point in time.

 

Bishop Ssenyonjo. And those arrested in Mbale

Bishop denies being gay but supports gay rights

First published: 20090424 9:53:14 AM EST

Bishop Christopher Senyonjo of the church of Uganda has denied allegations linking him to homosexuality.

Senyonjo says the Church of Uganda Archbishop Luke Orombi has done a lot in making all Ugandans believe that Senyonjo is a homo.

Senyonjo says he simply supports homosexuals to have rights in the church of Uganda. Some of the rights Senyonjo wants homos to enjoy in the church include getting a chance to preach and get recognized seats in the church.

Senyonjo says if he was a homosexual, he would not have a wife and children. Senyonjo started supporting homos in the church of Uganda in 2002 which made Archbishop Orombi to fire Senyonjo from Church of Uganda administration.

But Bishop Senyonjo insists that homosexuals should have rights just like any other human being before God.

The High Court in Kampala last December also ruled that all Ugandans irrespective of their sexual orientation have equal rights and freedoms.

------- 

Mbale Case

On 8th. April. 2009 , Two men Brian Padde and Fred Wasukira (aka) Namboozo Margrete suspected to be gay were arrested and held at Mbale Police station on allegations of public immorality and homosexuality. They stayed in Police cells until the 17th of April 2008, they were taken to court and charged of having carnal knowledge of a man against the order of nature Section 145 (a) of the penal code a sentence that carries a punishment of life imprisonment, they are on remand at Maluku Prison in Mbale, and was be tried before the chief justice on Tuesday, 21st April , Will keep you updated as we get access to court files on this matter

Background:

 

Sexual Minorities Uganda – SMUG, visited Mbale and learnt that Fred Wasukira  who is commonly known as Namboozo Margrete is business man in Mbale town who owns a bar and several houses in Mbale . On the night of 7th  April 2009,  the two were witnessed in a romantic mood at a bar in Namakweki  Mbale  district and according to the  Police officer  we talked to, the  two were calling each other by names  “darling , sweetheart”  ,  we were told that from the bar Fred and Brian proceeded to their house where they were followed by residents, who alerted area local councils and the Police.  They were caught kissing and cuddling at their house. Police and area local councils picked them up and took them to Mbale Police station,

Where they were held until the 17th April. 2008. At Maluke Prison we were not allowed to visit the prisoners saying it was not a visiting day, however we confirmed that they are on remand at Maluke Prison in Mbale.

 

 

Demonstration

Yesterday was the demonstration. Against homosexuality.

Started from Makerere University. Bombo Road, through the main part of the city. To Parliament.

No. I was not there. Just watched bits and pieces of it on TV.

Makerere is the seat of anti-gay activistim in Uganda. For the moment, I guess. And why is that? Martin Ssempa (PhD)… it is his current, official seat of office. We were recently invited for a discussion about sexual orientation there, and people were enthusiastic. Till someone reminded us of what happened at the Medical School in 2008. A similar discussion was arranged. Gay activists were invited.

It was a farce.

The Quaran and the Bible were the texts of reference. It was no discussion, but a very rowdy town hall. The gay activists ran out. Literally, in fear of their lives.

Can a debate be held in this atmosphere?

Not a debate.

Don’t know how many people were at the demo. I think it was less than 100. Clever camera angles to get a good view of the numbers, but it just didn’t seem to be that many… But I am biased. So, maybe they were more.

And cars, vehicles with postures of every imaginable abuse of us homosexuals- to kind of exhibit the demonstrators anti-stand. Ssempa was interviewed, carrying a banner, waving it and dancing in the street. A demonstration against homosexuality. And he spat.

[What is it with Ssempa and spitting? I have seen the suited gentleman spitting when he talks about homosexuality on talk shows… A personal emphasis on how bad we are???? He spits. Looks comical, but interesting. His mind take on it all]

What was the objective of the demonstration?

Not sure. To show the world that Uganda rejects homosexuality? To put it on the political front seat? To deliver some thousands of signatures to parliament demanding that a new, tougher law against homosexuality is passed by that august house.

A tougher law. That seems to be the anti-gay agenda for 2009. A tougher law.

The current law, criminalization of the sexual act, one can get up to life time imprisonment. It does not criminalize being gay. It does not criminalize working for homosexuals. Those facts irk Nsaba Buturo enough for him to do something about it. Once he said Uganda should outlaw being gay. (Not being homosexual. But gayism…! Being out and proud.)

The anti-gay activists are unhappy that current laws are not strong enough. They are too weak. Too few prosecutions are made. Too little time is spent on this moral problem, which is taking over Uganda. Remember the guys in Mbale? The ones who were arrested over Easter

Well, the political situation didn’t allow what should have been a routine release. They are still in prison. On remand…

 

PS, still playing my usual role of victim. That is what my detractors accuse me of. Will not stop me documenting what is happening.

 

gug

And, here is the Monitor article on the demonstration

Homosexuality threat to Ugandans- activists

MERCY NALUGO

 

Parliament

 

Activists against homosexuality in Uganda stormed parliament on Tuesday protesting against the practice and demanded a probe into the practice in the country.

The activists who were holding banners denouncing the activity were led by the Family Life Network in conjunction with religious leaders.

The groups led by the Executive Director of Family Life Network, Mr Stephen Langa while handing over their petition to the Deputy Speaker,Ms Rebecca Kadaga said the Parliamentary select committee should also assess the extent of the damage homosexuality has caused to children and Ugandans.

“The serious threat that homosexuality poses to the stability and survival of the family and the social fabric of the nation has come to light in the recent past. This threat is real and has the potential to destabilize the country socially, politically and health wise,” Mr Langa said.

The petitioners said that former agents of homosexuality have told them how they use coercion and manipulation to recruit unsuspecting innocent children and students into homosexuality and lesbianism.

“These groups have a clear and long term strategy to influence every sector of society to impose their deviant values on the whole society,” reads the petition in part.

Mr Langa said the homosexuals under the group Sexual Minorities Uganda spend huge sums of money to recruit University students and those in secondary schools into homosexuality. They did not give details.

 

“It has been appalling and disgusting to witness the audacity of homosexual and lesbian groups and activists operating freely in the country with total disregard and disrespect of our law which up to now criminalises homosexuality,” reads the petition. 

The petitioners demanded that the government amends the Constitution to openly prohibit homosexuality, bisexuality, trans sexuality and other related practices.

“Parliament should also put in place measures that would ensure that no organization or person teaches things that would fall in the arena of family and sexuality without the approval of the ministry of Education,’’ she said.

Ms Kadaga said she would allow a motion to be moved on the floor of Parliament next week on the matter.

The petitioners moved around town with posters denouncing homosexuality.

Those that participated in the demonstration included university students, representatives from Church of Uganda, the catholic church, the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, traders and born again pastors; Martin Ssempa and David Kiganda.

And, From UGPulse, the same story...

Civil society petitions Parliament over homosexuality vice

First published: 20090423 9:33:06 AM EST

 

   Ultimate Media

 

Members of civil society organizations (CSOs) have today petitioned Parliament, calling for a select committee to investigate the impact of homosexuality in Uganda and to pass stern laws to punish people involved in acts of homosexuality.

 

The petition, signed by over 50,000 Ugandans, was presented to the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, by the Executive Director of Family Life Network, Stephen Langa.

Langa, who was accompanied by Pastor Martin Ssempa, Deputy Mufti, Sheikh Abdul Musisi and other civil society members, notes that homosexuals have continued to roam the country freely promoting the vice yet homosexuality is illegal according to the Constitution and the Penal; Code Act.

He says that the homosexuals have penetrated into schools and distributed reading tools that promote the vice, citing United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) which was recently put in the spotlight for distributing a book that promotes homosexuality without approval from the Ministry of Education.

Langa revealed that the CSOs have submitted a protest letter to UNICEF expressing disappointment in their actions and have called upon them to apologize to Ugandans and also retrieve the books that were distributed to schools in about 30 districts.

Deputy Speaker, Rebecca Kadaga, commended the organizations for their solidarity against homosexuality, adding that Parliament will look into current legislation to ensure that they are strengthened to penalize acts of homosexuality.

Kadaga promised to push for the amendment of Article 31 of the Constitution which prohibits homosexual marriages. Langa had earlier noted that the article prohibits gay marriages but not the actions.

Good News from Senegal

Senegalese Gay Activists Freed

By Fid Thompson

Dakar

20 April 2009

Nine Senegalese men who had been sentenced to lengthy prison terms for homosexual acts were set free Monday after winning an appeal of their convictions. 

In a packed courtroom in downtown Dakar, the appeals court pardoned all nine defendants and overturned charges of committing unnatural acts and criminal conspiracy.

Biram Sassoum Sy, who led the defense team, says the men are completely cleared of any crime or wrongdoing and the case will not be pursued. When they were apprehended, arrested and sentenced, he says the law was broken at every step. The trial, he says, is invalid and they are free to go.

Most of the defendants worked for HIV/AIDS programs targeting men who have sex with men. They were arrested at the home of a prominent gay activist in December.

 

Sy says the police went to the defendant's house after neighbors tipped them off. The attorney says police arrested the men without a warrant and extorted a confession through bullying and harassment.

Senegalese law prohibits homosexual activity but requires that the suspect be caught in the act. A search warrant is also necessary if police are to enter a private home. Sy says the original judgment was hasty and emotional, and correct legal procedure was not followed.

The maximum penalty for homosexual activity is five years. The sentencing judge in this case added another three years for criminal conspiracy. The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission in Cape Town said no other African country has handed down such a severe sentence.

 

Despite the positive outcome of the appeal, AIDS activists in Senegal are concerned about the effect the trial will have on HIV programs serving men who have sex with men.

Daouda Diouf, director of community-led HIV programs at Enda Tiers Monde - an international non-profit organization based in Dakar, says AIDS work with homosexuals will take time to return to the level it was at before. He says the trial has created a lot of fear and the people working with this community feel threatened. It will take time to build up trust again, he says, so they can conduct HIV/AIDS activities without fearing for their safety.

Diouf says that if HIV is not controlled in vulnerable groups like the homosexual community, it will be impossible to manage the HIV epidemic in Senegal. These men, he says, are key players in the country's fight against HIV.

Answer to some Justification for Homophobia

Riled.

Some anonymous, Christian commentor on the blog is riling me. A bit more that the red rug is by exposing some of us under innuendos etc.

Why?

Because, he or she is very well versed in the Conspiracy Theory called the Homosexual Agenda. You remember that theory- the one that we homosexuals are conspiring to take over the world, come 20something. And that we are on course.

To prove his or her cause, anon brought out a ‘book’, which proves everything. 

I was surprised. I am a homosexual. And I am a homosexual activist. ahem, a gay activist. When I say that I have never attended any ‘homosexual agenda’ workshop, he/she rubbishes me. I cant tell the truth. Because I am homosexual.

Apparently, I must have read this text. And, it says such and such things.

Sorry friend. I am a homosexual. Gay. And I have never read that text for us homosexuals to take over the world!

But the book is published. Argues the anonymous one. And, it details the gay agenda. So, I must have read it.

Gosh, why do you insist on persecuting me? Why do you insist on forming your Conspiracy theories and then force feed me to ‘accept’ what you believe? Does being a homosexual mean that I don’t know what I believe? (Oh! I know, that is what you believe. That just because I am gay I left leave of my senses.)

Ok, you may believe that. But that is up to you.

 

Here is the anonymous ones queer logic. (Wrong wording- straight logic; am I wrong again????)

 

You have always denied this. So tell me whether the blueprint for 'Ovehauling Straight America' written by Marshall Kirk and Erastes Pill is something you have seen before. If so, how can you describe Christian efforts to counter that strategy as homophobic? gug, the Truth matters. You know ths which is why you are always seeking information.

 

Marshall and Kirk state,

 

"We have sketched out here a blueprint for transforming the social values of straight America. "

 

They go on to propose a strategy that includes manipulating the media and via the media, the general public. The language is all about deception, for example,

 

" In the early stages of any campaign to reach straight America, the masses should not be shocked and repelled by premature exposure to homosexual behavior itself. Instead, the imagery of sex should be downplayed and gay rights should be reduced to an abstract social question as much as possible. First let the camel get his nose inside the tent--only later his unsightly derriere!"

 

The Table of Contents makes it clear this is an operations manual;

 

Contents

 

1. Talk About Gays and Gayness as Loudly And Often As Possible

 

"The principle behind this advice is simple: almost any behavior begins to look normal if you are exposed to enough of it at close quarters and among your acquaintances. The acceptability of the new behavior will ultimately hinge on the number of one's fellows doing it or accepting it."

 

Perhaps the idea of gays 'recruiting' straights is in context now?

 

2. Portray Gays As Victims, Not As Aggressive Challengers

 

"In any campaign to win over the public, gays must be cast as victims in need of protection so that straights will be inclined by reflex to assume the role of protector. "

 

3. Give Protectors A Just Cause

4. Make Gays Look Good

5. Make The Victimizers Look Bad

 

"At a later stage of the media campaign for gay rights-long after other gay ads have become commonplace-it will be time to get tough with remaining opponents. To be blunt, they must be vilified. "

 

Are Pastor Ssempa and Stephen Langa being vilified by any chance?

 

6. Solicit Funds: The Buck Stops Here

Getting On The Air, Or, You Can't Get There From Here

 

Start With The Fine Print (Using the Print Media)

 

Visual Stage 1: You Really Oughtta Be In Pictures (TV Advertising)

 

Visual Stage 2: Peekaboo Advertising

 

Visual Stage 3: Roll Out The Big Guns

 

Format A For Familiarization: The Testimonial

 

Format B: The Celebrity Spot

 

Format C for Victim Sympathy: Our Campaign to Stop Child Abuse

 

Format D for Identification with Victims: The Old Switchero

 

Format E for Vilification of Victimizers: Damn the Torpedoes

 

Format F for Funds: SOS

 

The Time Is Now

 

There you have it. It has now been published as a book.

 

If you really believe in 'live and let live', let the Christians defend the way of life that is subject to the onslaught descrbed in 'Overhauling Straight America."

 

Talk about queer logic indeed!!!!!!

Ok, I am trying one more time.

Dear anon, despite being gay, I am not super human. I am not, have never claimed to be, and will never claim to be, a super human. I don’t know of any homosexual agenda. I am very serious. I don’t.

I would dearly love to accuse all Christians of a Homophobic agenda. Happily, I know this is not true.

I know my agenda. It is to make sure that homophobic Christians like you stop treating me like rubbish. I have elaborated that elsewhere on this blog.

I cannot, and will never claim to be responsible for any and all books, and blogs, written by people of homosexual bent. 

(are your authors gay? You might be crucifying me for something that a person like Scott Taylor wrote! He has written things like the Pink Swastika which claim to prove the homosexual agenda, and clearly dont... shame, shame, shame) 

I am not Shakespeare. I am not Oscar Wilde. I am not Michelangelo. I am not Leonardo da Vinci. (Damn, maybe I should claim that I am! I mean, I should claim some keenship to these great homosexuals, shouldnt I?)

How can I be? I am only human!

Why do you continue blaming me for other people’s thinking? Even if I think they may be spot on, I just find it suspicious that for your own reasons you try to force feed me their thoughts, however palatable!

As for justifying Ssempa, Langa, and Orombi’s homophobic campaign with logic to resist this homo terror, you will have to think that through. Go ahead, and out reason yourself. I don’t think you are so deficient intellectually to see some of the glaring holes in your reasoning.

See, the problem is yours. I don’t seek to be understood. I don’t want pity from you. I seek, and demand, that you stop your hate mongering. Very different from pity search, that.

I don’t seek to ‘Overhaul Straight Uganda’. Damn, Uganda was bent before, and it is still bent. If you don’t believe it is, take a look at the Red pepper expose. We are here, and we are gay Ugandans. But making our country gay is the least of our worries. We seek to have less Christian churches paint us as demons and child abusers. We seek to teach people like you that despite being homosexuals, we are human beings. That we are not paedophiles, we are not evil, we are not animals, or any of those things you accuse us of. We seek to be treated as fellow Ugandans. Not better. No extra, or better things than other Ugandans. Just that you stop heaping all the countries myriad problems on us.

That is all we seek anon. To be treated, and accepted, as fellow human beings.

Is that too much to ask of a person who claims to be a Christian?

 

gug 

Top Homos in Uganda Named

Last time it was the hilarious 'Homo Terror'

For some reason, when the Red rug exposes us, they do not put us on their website. Dont know why.

But a scan of the article can do wonders. For the sake of 'immortality', I will put it here...

AfriGay, here is your claim to Fame and Immortality!!!! Ha! Yeah, I agree with your comments, but it is kind of tough to those exposed. Hopefully, it is short term pain. But it is real pain.

gug

The Red Rug; Another expose

Well,

The red rug was at it again. A list of the ‘Uganda’s most important homos’ in the Sunday version of the pepper. With a promise to have something ‘more’ next week. And, a nasty confession. Porn, 3 1 1, of dear Georgina Oundo, (George now), of his sexscapades with a ‘Popular Priest’. I think that is a not so opaque reference to Father Musaala… But I might be mistaken!

Was I there? Why should I say?

Want to know one guy who doesn’t mind saying he featured in Sunday’s Red pepper? He is here… Afrogay! Me, I would rather have you guessing. Why? Why not!

The main story is nothing more than a recycling of the old story. Yeah, when we were outed about a year ago. But there are a few changes. In the grammar!

I didn’t like it.

Granted, with the popularity of ‘homo exposes’ in the Ugandan press, it is not the first time, nor will it be the last time. And of course there are attendant problems to all this ‘publicity’. Deniability is paramount, but at the same time, our employers and significant others are very concerned when it comes to exposes by dear Christians of us homosexual sinners. (They don’t want to eat with us. So, they expose us so that no one eats with us sinners…)

It is Saturday evening. I debated whether or not to show my face in public. My lover convinced me it was no big deal. Just go, and show my mug. And anyone have a problem, well, to hell with them.

So, I went to my favourite pub. And, found that most other kuchus had also gravitated there. Showing there faces.

Oh, the red rug was pretty explicit. Many of us are recognizable. Enough, and this is a small community. And of course, homosexuals are a favourite topic for gossip. But, many of the guys and gals were at the pub. Many more than I expected.

Gallows humour, that was the staple.

Those who featured in the expose are the ‘Top 40’, the Famous Ones.

It is a mark of accomplishment. So, the greeting was, ‘Congratulations, you made it into the Top 40’!

But nothing could hide the anger, and the sense of community. We were together to take strength from one another. We have been exposed to the merciless gaze of hate of a homophobic society. We were, and are, hurting. There is little that we can do, but we can brave it out, and give strength to one another. We don’t know what the actual fall out will be, individually, on a person to person basis. Or, to the community. There were some photos, this time, too. As if the need was that it was necessary to sheer up the believability of the red rug. Just a few photos. But enough.

I left the bar feeling high. On liquor and knowledge that we kuchus are resilient enough to come through even this…

Oh, we shall come through.

And, for our enemies. Just remember that the fires which you are lighting to burn us will temper us. We shall come through it, face the demons that we fear, and still be what we are. Stronger. Funny that because we are backed into a corner, we are made more capable just because our avowed enemies are so ignorant and illogical in their uptake of what life is!

To all those who were exposed, more power to you.

 

GayUganda

Loving the Sinner

This is the kind of love that this sinner would rather do without. The love of Ssempa, Buturo, Langa, Orombi, and various others. Christians, who hate the sin of homosexuality, but love us homosexuals.

Matter of fact, I have been set off by some anonymous commentor on the blog. He or she was supporting Buturo, that he is against the ‘spread of homosexuality’ but not homosexuals. Poor Christian, needing to disguise hate for love.

I think it is the bare faced hypocrisy that touches me. I don’t mind a person saying he hates me. Me, as in a homosexual. I am what I am. Someone may say that he hates me because I am black or a nigger. I will shrug it off. I don’t love everybody. Hell, I am also prone to prejudice!

But when someone puts a knife in me, and starts splitting hairs on how the hate that he or she shows is in truth love, I see red.

Ok, fact is, I see it as a chance to turn that knife into his or her face and twist it, a little, and more than a little! Ssempa, the anti-gay Ssempa who loves us so much that he believes we should get HIV…! Why? Because, if, God forbid, we were allowed to have the knowledge to stop ourselves from getting HIV we would just be ‘promoting homosexuality’. And you know what, the sin of promoting homosexuality is so heinious that it is important for all Christians to prevent others from commiting it. It is worse than making sure that fellow human beings get HIV because they are homosexuals. Poor Christians indeed! I thought he had stopped reasoning like that, but apparently he is continuing... The 'representative' of some American Right activists...!

I can quote the number of times, the vitriol that has poured out of the mouth of Minister for Ethics and Integrity in Uganda, Nsaba Buturo. He wants us out of the country, we are worse than animals, immoral, etc, etc. The words that pour out of the gentleman’s mouth, the hate speech is so un-Christian that many people are shocked that he says all ‘in the name of Jesus’! But he does, all in the name of Jesus.

See, in Uganda, nothing is too bad for homosexuals.

Listening to Stephen Langa and his friends from America, I was stuck by how hate filled this can all be. They have one premise. Homosexuality and homosexuals must be evil. Starting from they manufacture lies, half truths, conspiracy theories, and others. All of these are ‘proof’ that homosexuals are evil. I am galled by the people who go ahead and believe it all. Why do they believe? Because homosexuals are evil. So, what is there not to believe?

Someone stated in a comment that although in the US, homosexuals are 5% of the population, they commit 30% of the child abuse. Is it true?

I don’t know the figures on child abuse in the US, but when I see that kind of assertion, I immediately suspect that it is not true. But, someone does believe it. And why do they? Why do they believe that kind of thing? Because they have to. They have this image of me the homosexual as so evil that anything that is bad is easily blamed on me. Their hate has to be justified. They cannot believe that a homosexual cannot be good. No. Never. Why not? Because he or she is a homosexual!

Sad, isn’t it?

George Oundo, and his ex-gay friends, have been going around 'outing' people on radio and television in Uganda. They did it under the good Christian help of Ssempa, and Langa, and the 'Family Life Network'. Listening to Oundo, you would be struck by how much venom and hate he was spitting, frothing against his gay friends. Was that love? No. It was poison. Hate. But this was a 'young christian' who was being encouraged in his new expression of love to 'out' gay people. Listening to him, I wondered how Ssempa and Langa could even associate with this naked hate. It does mean something to trumpet that someone is Christian, doesnt it? Well, maybe it does.

But why do Christians hate us so much?

See, I told you that I am also subject to prejudices. But, forgive me. It is Christians who are persecuting me. I ask to be left in peace, they throw stones and hammers, and bibles and other things. The hate speech that is coming out of their mouth is in the name of their being Christians. Am I wrong to paint all Christians with the same tar brush?

There are Christians who are gay. (Course, Orombi does not believe that Gene Robinson is a Christian. But that is an internal matter for them, and I don’t belong to that club… What I know is that both are Christians…!) And there are others who take it upon themselves to attack the hate speech that the Ssempa’s preach. Like Desmond Tutu.

Sadly, it is a human failing, choosing out a small, minority group that can be bullied and hated and thrown to the lions. We always forget, that they are also humans. It is by an active act of thought that we root out this kind of prejudice. That we make it irrelevant. Or, like I do, we start wondering why others don’t see what we see!

 

GayUganda 

Buturo is right: homos must pay taxes, rot in hell

Some satire, from the Observer.....!

Written by Wang w'Angamba             

Wednesday, 15 April 2009 17:49

Integrity and Ethics minister, Nsaba Buturo, was at it again last week, accusing the United Nations of promoting homosexuality.

I would have dismissed the claim as his latest attempt to grab the headlines, were it not for a related incident a few days earlier.

While hanging around the United Nations in New York, where I happen to have a few friends, I was approached by a white American woman, perhaps in her 40s.

She introduced herself and a young African boy, whom she described as her Mozambican son. She asked whether I was a government representative. I told her that I am small fish who was just checking on some friends.

“And would those friends be government representatives?” she asked.

“Sure. I have a couple of friends who work for the Ugandan mission to the United Nations,” I told her.

“You are from Uganda?” she said excitedly. “I know your First Lady Janet Museveni. She gave a keynote speech at our conference. Do you know Martin Ssempa? He is our regional coordinator [in Africa],” she said.

Having thus established her Ugandan credentials, she asked me to introduce her to my friends, as she had a burning issue to discuss with them.

“Some countries are trying to smuggle provisions on homosexuality into an important UN resolution,” she explained. “Many government representatives don’t have the time to read all the documents and they may pass it without realising the gravity of their actions.”

She was, therefore, looking for government representatives, especially from Africa, to block the resolution. She passed me some documents containing the offending provisions.

When she left, I looked at the document, wondering what it was the United Nations was trying to do about homosexuals. Surely it couldn’t be that the United Nations was trying to get homosexuals around the world locked up?

It turns out that the said provisions were about HIV/AIDS. They were calling upon countries to ensure access to reproductive and HIV/AIDS health services to all their citizens, including homosexuals.

So Nsaba Butoro is right after all. Some nasty people at the United Nations are trying to protect homosexuals from HIV/AIDS! How reprehensible!

How can our Godly nation, with a matching motto to boot (For God and My Country), be part of such an evil plot? Homosexuals must die of HIV/AIDS, unlike heterosexuals who must surely have drunk HIV/AIDS in their coffee.

Our country did not become a model in the fight against HIV/AIDS by pandering to the “abnormal” and “unnatural” practices of homosexuality (Buturo’s words, not mine). On the contrary, a senior United Nations official who tried to have the protection of homosexuals from HIV/AIDS integrated into the national AIDS programme was kicked out of town, reportedly on the orders of the First Lady.

In this God-loving country, homosexuals must pay their taxes, die of AIDS, and rot in hell. All power to our holy trinity of ministers - Nsaba Buturo, Janet Museveni and, in a religious sense, Martin Ssempa. God must be very pleased with them.

 

Unicef, Amnesty promote homos

Wednesday, 15th April, 2009          

By Milton Olupot and Cyprian Musoke

 

The UN children’s agency, Unicef, and human rights watchdog Amnesty International are among the organisations promoting homosexuality in Uganda, the Government said yesterday.

Ethics and integrity minister Dr. James Nsaba Buturo, in a hard-hitting statement to Parliament, also implicated Human Rights Watch, Frontline Human Rights Defenders and East Horn of Africa Human Rights in the “racket”.

The organisations, Buturo said, were working with local groups which depend on them for funding, to spread homosexuality in the local population.

“Those behind this abnormal, unhealthy, unnatural as well as illegal lifestyle have argued that legalising homosexuality would be a human right and in defence of freedom,” he said.

“Ten years ago, Unicef helped in funding and distributing books to schools, which books were unknown to the Ministry of Education and were popularising homosexuality,” he added.

The minister warned that many schools had been infiltrated. “Promoters of the practice work discreetly and they include people in positions of responsibility,” he argued.

Buturo said he had written to the education minister to protest Unicef’s action and called for a tough response to curb the intrusion.

After Buturo’s statement, several MPs condemned homosexuality and called for stern action. They also criticised the Government for not blocking the press conference convened by self-confessed homosexuals in Kampala recently.

Most Ugandans, Buturo argued, strive to be guided by God’s standards.

“Those standards do not include promotion of anal sex at the expense of heterosexual sex as a means to maintain human reproduction,” he said. “If the Government were to legalise marriages between men and men and women and women, we would be talking about a threat to human civilisation.”

He said the Government was unequivocally against homosexuality, which is why it does not give homosexuals rights conferred to married persons.

The offence carries a life sentence on conviction. Uganda is among about 70 countries that have outlawed homosexuality.

Both promoters and apologists of homosexuality, the minister said, are using all tricks to have it legalised in Uganda. “The latest is their attempt to use the United Nations to pass a resolution they hope would be binding on all countries.”

“It is important that we do not compromise on the values that we stand for,” he said as the MPs cheered

He said the Government would enact a more comprehensive law that will treat as illegal the promotion of homosexuality and membership to homosexual groups.

Another Christian group vows to fight homosexuality in Uganda

First published: 20090414 9:48:46 AM EST

 

Christian Peace Youth Ministries International (CPYM), a Uganda based youth pressure group has joined other organizations and pressure groups against homosexuality.

According to the Director of CPYM, Ev. A.K Johnson Aggrey, the group is planning numerous workshops in schools to counter the vice that is said to be eating away the morals of children in schools.

This comes at the time when the pro and anti-gay activists are raising against each other in both the local and international media.

The pro-gay activists recently attacked the anti-gay workshop organizers headed by Stephen Langa, the Executive Director of Family Life Network.

In recent years, gay activists have attempted to force change and strive for a more tolerant society. As the activists have become more vocal, the opposition has intensified.

In August 2007, the activist group Sexual Minorities of Uganda launched a campaign entitled Let us Live in Peace.

Anti-gay groups responded a week later by holding a rally in a sports stadium. Three months later in November 2007, gay activists and bishops engaged in a heated impromptu debate before an international audience at a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kampala.

Persecuting Christians?

Well, tongue in cheek.

Same vein as this other post. Just want to give some more 'backing' to what that writer was talking about. Holy persecution over Easter...!

Church raps gay groups

- Kampala

Religious leaders have condemned homosexual groups over increased sexual abuse. The leaders, under the Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC), also condemned increased cases of abortion, prostitution and human sacrifice. “Homosexuality is a destructive disease. We are not just bodies, but spiritual beings attacked by such evils in our society,” said Metropolitan Jonah Lwanga, the leader of the Orthodox Church and the UJCC chairperson. Lwanga compared homosexuality to the HIV/AIDS scourge that has no treatment, yet it steadily contributes to moral degeneration in society.

The religious leaders made the remarks at the commemoration of the Passover and death of Jesus Christ on Good Friday.

Victim, Stigmatized

A story that broke in Monitor Sunday.

A child, sexually abused. A boy abused by a man. The mother seeks justice- and the child is thrown out of school.

The stigma of the offence is noted. But the child is more or less identified, with a photo, name of the village, and the school where the child comes from. The mother is identified.

The medics are worried about him turning out to be a homosexual. (Has he been recruited?) So, he needs ‘intense counselling’ ‘to minimise the trauma and restrain him from inadvertently embracing homosexuality’.

Poor little boy. He is a victim, and his world has turned on him and will persecute him. Why? Because the crime is what our world deems ‘homosexuality’.

Here is the sad story.

 

11-year-old sodomised, expelled from school

MARTIN SSEBUYIRA

Entebbe

An 11-year-old boy allegedly sodomised by a Local Council official in Entebbe has been expelled from school in a move administrators say is aimed at “protecting” the reputation of Kennedy Primary school.

The sexual attack, now a subject of discussion at homes in Lunyo village, has somewhat eluded the attention of key government officials – 32 days on - as the victim’s mother (names withheld), struggles to secure conviction of the suspect.

 

PS. Don’t miss the fact that we, as in gay activists, are somehow being blamed for the whole saga. That is my country.

 

 

GayUganda

From Ethiopia

Ethiopian gays vow to have their voices heard

Last Updated: April 9, 2009

By Mongezi Mhlongo (BTM Reporter)

ETHIOPIA – 09 April 2009: For the first time in Ethiopia, gay people are meeting and making concrete connections despite religious leaders in that country calling on government to, in addition to the penal code, ban homosexuality on the constitution as well.

Members of Ethioglbt are meeting and working to effect positive change, something that they admit, will take time.

Sonic Casuist, a member of Ethioglbt says the gay community in Ethiopia has been living in shadows.

“And now for the first time they are meeting together and making real tangible connections with each other. Our main initiative is to form a real community; we are doing that and rigorously working towards it.”

In a move to cast out homosexuality, in December 2006 clerics of various denominations urged law makers in Ethiopia to ban homosexuality, arguing that it was a foreign practice.

Abune Paolos of Ethopia’s Orthodox Church, the second most influential church in Ethiopia with 40 percent of the population being its devoted followers, had told reporters that homosexuals are “stupid” and should not be tolerated.

“For people to act in this manner they have to be dumb, stupid like animals. We strongly condemn this behavior, they have to be disciplined and their acts discriminated, they have to be taught a lesson.”

In spite of these oppressive suggestions, the LGBTI community has implemented an initiative that aims to document violations geared towards the LGBTI community in that country.

“I have a group of people with whom I work with in order to advance LGBTI lives here. Right now we are beginning to document any attacks or incidents of abuse against LGBTI people”, Casuist said.

Homosexuality in Ethiopia still remains taboo and considered, by many, to be a punishable sin because of the predominantly religious society.

While homosexuality is illegal under that country’s penal code, punishable by three years imprisonment, the constitution makes no reference to homosexuality.

In spite of, Persecution

Have just been to a bar.

Easter Saturday. It was crowded. Sunday and Monday are public holidays. And, this is party time.

Many other guys out there. And gals. Seems as if my ‘circle’ has been decimated, by the outings. Kind of tough, going out, and most of those that you know are not there. Gay, I just make new friends. But not very politic with my husband looking over my shoulders. He is the jealousy kind. Legendarily jealousy, if I am to be accurate!

‘You guys ok?’

A friend had appeared out of the blue, and the rain. Was overcast, most of the evening. With a cool breeze touching my now shaven head. I had hid out of the breeze, with the guys and gals inside, where it was warm, the music was high, and we were grounding and gropping one another. That is, until I felt like getting some air. And found that it was drizzling outside.

I was leaning on my lover’s shoulder, high, bit tipsy, oblivious of any interested eyes.

Yeah, we are fine.

‘Despite the persecution?’ he was concerned, looking into our eyes.

‘Yeah, despite the persecution’ we replied, after some hesitation.

He nodded, and left us to our devices.

I watched him go, trying to figure out what he meant. Then I understood. Remember the guys who were arrested in Mbale? Brian and Fred. They are still in prison, far as I know. Apparently, they are a couple. Have been, for 5 good years. That is why the neighbors were able to know what would be happening in their house. That is why they were arrested, but apparently, it was not in a compromising position. Now, most of the kuchu community believes that me and my partner are at higher risk, of outing, and arrest than most others. We have got that question a lot, the last couple of days.

Is it true? Are we at increased risk?

Probably. Cant believe that most of our neighbours have not got that suspicion. Eight years living together in same house is not a short time. But, we do have some ‘guardian angel’, so probably we are not as much at risk as others may think. Or, at least that is what I hope!

Today, was talking to one guy. He has appeared on TV as gay, sometime before. A bit involuntarily. He was worried. Seems the Local Council Chairman at his place wants a personal word with him.

Good Christian easter spirit, with the anti-gay hysteria ongoing, seems to be that the community ‘demands’ that evil ‘homosexuals’ leave the community. He was asking for advice. He fears going home. He fears that the Local Council chairman wants to serve him an eviction notice.

I was upset. That should not happen. He is a Ugandan. He has a right to live wheresoever he lives. That right is enshrined within the constitution. I know! No other Ugandan has the right to ‘chase’ him from his home for any reason.

I told the poor guy off, and sent him to other people. What I said was fact. That is the law, far as I know, but reality tends to twist it in another way. Fact is we have been branded child abusers and a risk to the community, by dear Pastor Ssempa and Steven Langa’s anti-gay campaign. And, for most of our country mates, with the law a parody of useless justice, mob justice, which knows no law, is a quicker, surer way of achieving ‘justice’.

A long digression.

Didn’t stop me thinking that, with Christians in church for the Midnight masses and other holy functions, we gays were quite safe in the bars, where the anonymity of each and everyone else saved us from being ‘outed’. Ok, I did feel safe, leaning against my lover, in a bar in the middle of Kampala, more than a little drunk, at that particular moment.

Times are tough.

Yes, for the time being, we are safe.

A good Easter holiday. Despite the persecution. Irrespective of your Sexual Orientation

 

 

GayUganda

Easter Message, from Kenya with Love

Sexual orientation not a sin to be repented - reverend
Last Updated: April 2, 2009


By Lesego Tlhwale (BTM intern)

KENYA – 02 April 2009: Reverend Michael Nzuki Kimindu of Other sheep East Africa, a worldwide Christian ministry working for inclusion of homosexual people of faith, has questioned claims by nine Ugandan men that they have been cured off homosexuality, some within a space of two weeks, through being born again Christians.

Kimindu said prayer can change self hate, God hate and staying in the closet by homosexual people, but cannot change a person’s sexual orientation.

“Prayer can play a part in these changes, but not sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is not an ethical failure to be prayed for, nor is it a sin to be repented”, he said.

The Reverend further criticized the approach by this “ex-gay” group to fight homosexuality in Uganda.

“If they are healed, why do they talk of fighting those who are yet to find cure? Why not take the message of cure to them in a Christian manner?

He further advised “If they used to recruit people, whatever that means, let them go and apologise to those they recruited. They may as well offer themselves to the police for arrest and subsequent charges and imprisonment.”

On the fact that the nine men claimed that homosexuality is Western, un-Christian and that it never existed in Africa before colonization, Kimindu said “This group is ignoring, or may not even be aware of, much scientific, psychological, psychiatric and theological research in this area.”

“Archaeology as at now confirms that humans had their origin in Africa, in the region of the great lakes. Did they leave their sexuality as they travelled to the rest of the world?", he questioned.

Kimindu revealed that on 28 March two gay men contacted him looking for spiritual advice. One was from Unganda but living in Kenya and another one from Kenya,” They have never been to Europe or USA, What do you make of that?”

“May this message be communicated to these brothers and sisters [nine Ugandan men] that we LGBTI activists have suffered through discrimination, stigma and even physical violence. We seek justice, acceptance and inclusion for all. This we believe is central to the ministry of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is also what any civilized community should offer to it community”, Kimindu concluded

When Christians condemn God’s children during the Easter season

For the whole of March, (except for actually publishing my letter, the Monitor Newspaper has been silent. They let the government owned New Vision lead and continue the anti-gay crusade.

But now, they have published this article.

I am amazed. Because I didn’t think they could. I am thrilled, because some other Ugandans do see through the hypocrisy of most of these ‘Poor Christians’ of Uganda. I must salute the writer Bernard Tabaire, who, of course, is soon going to be accused of being gay…, and of course the Monitor editors, for allowing the article through.

How the hell did this  slip through? What is happening over there at the Monitor? Good heavens, indeed! Read the article. It restores some credulity in the ideals of Christianity. A little, I must confess (or does it?). But read this article.

It is Holy Saturday, today, the final day of Holy Week and of Lent – “a period of spiritual preparation for Easter which typically involves fasting, penance and prayer”.

Besides fasting, penance and prayer, the Lent period in Uganda this year has been characterised by something else: virulent gay-bashing.

This is a project that has been, and is still being, championed by “serious” Christians such as Mr Stephen “Heterosexual” Langa of the Family Life Network and Pastor Martin “Heterosexual” Ssempa of Makerere Community Church. And yet we are all, in our ‘sinning’ difference, God’s children! What happened to tolerance and understanding as cherished values in Christ’s church and civilised society in general?

Well, homosexuality is illegal in Uganda. That much, even if nonsensical, is clear. What is not clear is Mr Langa’s bigoted behaviour and how he goes about displaying it. He seems to have unilaterally declared 2009 the Year of Homophobia in Uganda. He spent much of March parading several men (and why no women?) who claimed they are reformed homosexuals. Good for them.

But here are some questions. Where did Mr Langa find these eight-plus men, led by George “Georgina” Oundo? What attracted these men to Mr Langa and not Archbishop Luke Orombi, for example? Had he all along known them to be gay? Or had he planted them in the local gay community in the first place as part of a plan to undermine gays and lesbians in Uganda? Do the police have any reason to not look closely into the activities of the Family Life Network?

 

More disturbing are the allegations that the men, especially Georgina Oundo and Emma Matovu, are making. They say they were engaged in “recruiting” school children into homosexuality using money from the immoral Western world. Fine.

 

But enticing minors into sexual activity, any sexual activity, is illegal as well. So why are the Georginas not reporting this matter to the police? Why do they report to Mr Langa’s little outfit? If they do not know about the rights of children, surely, Mr Langa knows. Why does he then not encourage them to report these things to the police?

 

In fact, the police should swing into action and arrest anyone, straight or gay, who has lured children to sexual activity. Otherwise they will stand accused of going along with Mr Langa’s posturing as the guarantor of morality in Uganda.

Indeed, the main point that has come out of Mr Langa’s shrill anti-gay crusade is that adults are messing with our children. This, though, begs the question: what has recruitment of children into homosexuality got to do with two consenting adults having a sexual relationship? In his zeal, Mr Langa appears over his head here. He needs to straighten his priorities not gays and lesbians.

Another significant aspect out of the confessions is that money is pouring in from the West to promote homosexuality. The real message is that if there was no money from outside, no Ugandan would be lesbian or gay or bisexual or transgender.

How fanciful! Let us grant for a moment, however, that the argument is correct. How then to explain “former homosexual” Charles Asiimwe’s statement that “many business moguls are involved” in homosexuality? If being gay is about making money, why would business moguls be gay? How much more money can a mogul possibly make from Western handouts by being gay? Or did these moguls become wealthy because they are gay?

“We shall expose those who refuse to abandon the practice and we shall not be intimidated because we are protected by Jesus,” Georgina thundered at one of many recent Langa-organised public spectacles.

There is something potentially dangerous in what Mr Langa is doing in inveighing against fellow Ugandans just because they are not heterosexual. It will come as no surprise if individuals falsely name others as gay or lesbian to settle personal scores.

A Catholic priest, Fr Anthony Musaala, has already been named. He has strongly denied that he is gay saying he ministers to all irrespective of sexual preference – as it should be – and his parish of St. Matia Mulumba in Old Kampala has defended him. Kampala Archbishop Cyprian Lwanga, however, appears unimpressed and is going ahead with an investigation.

Worse could happen. On Tuesday, The New York Times published a story out of Iraq. The first two paragraphs read thus: “The relative freedom of a newly democratic Iraq and the recent improvement in security have allowed a gay subculture to flourish ... The response has been swift and deadly.

“In the past two months, the bodies of as many as 25 boys and men suspected of being gay have turned up in the huge Shiite enclave of Sadr City, the police and friends of the dead say. Most have been shot, some multiple times. Several have been found with the word “pervert” in Arabic on notes attached to their bodies, the police said.”

I hope fasting, penance and prayer truly mean something to Mr Langa, Pastor Ssempa and Ethics Minister Nsaba Buturo. Happy Easter to you all. Irrespective of sexual orientation.

 

 

Two Arrested

I was out, with my man, Thursday evening. Nearly missed the news of the day, but happened to glance up at a public TV.

Dreaded headlines. Apparently, two guys in Mbale were arrested for being gay.

For some reason, I couldn’t concentrate on the news. Asked my lover later, he confirmed it.

We went past KPC. A celebration of the Easter holiday ongoing. A huge mass of kids overflowing from the auditorium, dancing, happy, a cheerful mood. Elsewhere the streets of Kampala were not too full, despite the fact that Friday is a public holiday.

We went to our favourite bar. Not as well attended as usual in the middle of the week. But guys and girls were there. And there was beautiful music. Local, and African. And I was with my lover.

I love the guy. Simply cant keep my hands off him when we are together. A graze of the hand, face, nape, now and then. I stare, till he asks me, what..! Conforting, now and again, to reach out, touch him.

It is a small thing, yet a big thing.

What happened in Mbale? I got this cautionary e-mail from one of our friends.

 

Two men Brian Padde and Fred Wasukira suspected to be gay have been arrested and held at Mbale Police station on allegations of public immorality and homosexuality.

The two were witnessed kissing and cuddling in a bar at Namakweki in Mbale. From the bar they moved to their house where they were followed by residents, who alerted area local councils and Police.  They were caught kissing and cuddling at their house. Police and area local councils picked them up and took them to Mbale Police station.

On phone with the district police officer, he said this is not a big case because they were not caught in the act having sex. However, the fear remains the area residents, are so hostile at this moment and if these people are realized they may be attacked by the mob.

Caution, watch your back this Easter season. Celebrate wisely.

 

I could not help wondering, what did Brian and Paddy do wrong? I could see me and my lover in them. Our love overflowing, noticeable enough for some good patriotic friends to follow us home, to break into our house, hoping they will find us making love. This is what Stephen Langa has been advocating on fm radios. Arrests. Convictions. Because our love is corrupt, and an afront to the community.

They found them ‘cuddling and kissing’, in their own house. And they will spend the Easter holiday in a cell, because of that. Detained-, the police in the Victor case used the same argument. That they were detained to save them from the mob. But then, why did the police allow TV cameras, and the guys to be filmed? Didn’t they make it more likely that when the guys are released, they will be unsafe? National TV?

Will it be like that for me and my partner, one of these days? Followed home, because someone notices we were too close? The door broken down in the hope that we are caught making love?

 

gug

Words, Poetry

Reading through poetry I realize the vast greatness of our world.

My mind, like others is obsessed by a few things. My sexuality. Attempts, as I see them, for others to control what I am. But that is a very narrow world. It cuts short my sight, blackens and tightens all perception. It makes me feel constrained and held in. A prisoner of my own wrath.

But, there is so much more to my world, than the passion of my commitments. So much more than the validity of my beliefs, the blessings of my faith.

I am no big writer. Nor am I supremely gifted, as I would love to be. I love reading- trash it was at first. But now, I read poetry.

My mind is a kernel of thought that is tempted to expand. My heart swells with pride, and joy and the beauty of words. In poetry, a journey I take- of beauty, of love, of hurt. Of pain and gain, weird old meanings, and brassy shiny new meanings. With poetry, the dross in the world drops off, and, even when I pain, my mind is free. Even when I am bathed in mud, my mind soars.

I love reading. And I read a lot.

I have discovered, with a kind of amazement, that reading is like going on wondrous journeys, through landscapes of beauty.

There are soaring mountains. Few and far apart. There are humongous pits, and valleys, and bogs. Treacherous vistas. Beauty in a word, or words. Poor old ugliness, and that which would be ugly, but is so beautiful it must be sin. Words soar, and swoop, and glide; words are the medium of expression of small tender emotions, and soaring cruel reality. But they are. They in truth are.
For some, they are held in contempt. For some, in awe. For many, they are held scripture, to be revered, and crammed. For me, the living shard of soul of the poet lives even when my mind glides amongst them, touching the verse, commas, periods, like reeds in a swamp as I run through it. They whip back into my face, or slide away, swaying in the wind. They have a life all their own, that can never be denied.

Sometimes, they shrine ideas, and ideals. Sometimes, they are simple holy nonsense. All times they stand like water to my soul’s thirst, food for the hunger in my heart.

Sometimes, I forget all about them, only to turn back, to pick that which I had dropped.

Doesn’t matter, that I may drop off in the middle, or the end seek to touch. I come back.
Words indeed. They are the nectar of the gods. Poetry.



GayUganda

Untitled

Closeted-
I am careful
walls to erect between
that which I think;


fragile, artificial
barriers,
disguising my left
from my right hand;
to shock not with
revulsion
my imagined from
my real world.


©gayuganda 09 Apr. 09

Not yet over

News from the Catholic Church in Uganda

 

Catholic Church probes gay priests

By Conan Businge

 

THE Catholic Church in Uganda is investigating allegations that some of its priests are involved in homosexuality.

 

“There have been allegations that some of our spiritual leaders are involved in acts of homosexuality. This is regrettable, but we are investigating and if it is true they will have to be punished at all costs,” warned the Archbishop, Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga.

 

He added: “The word of God is clear. Homosexuality is a sin. It cannot be allowed to thrive in our society. A man should never have sex with a fellow man!”

 

“We are trying to establish the truth about allegations of homosexuality in the church. It has to be stopped quickly, if it is true,” Lwanga said.

Quoting the Bible, he said God created a woman for Adam, to be his helper.

 

“Sex was not created for amusement, but for multiplication.”

Referring to Romans 1:26-27, he said, God will rush his anger on all those that have turned against him and are having sex with people of the same sex.

Letter from America…

No, sorry. Letter of an American living in Uganda

Uganda must not budge!

Tuesday, 7th April, 2009      

As a pastor of a Bible-believing Baptist Church in Masaka, I want to applaud Mr. Steven Langa of FLN for his outrage at the UNICEF book being distributed which promotes homosexuality as a lifestyle that is “acceptable and okay to live with”. He has a right to be outraged and so does every God-fearing family in this country. I have seen homosexuality literally bring my country (USA) to spiritual ruin and shame to the point that now their ‘marriage’ is an acceptable practice. Let not America think that she is so great that she is not above the judgment of God. God help my country to come to her senses and get back to the principles on which it was founded, the biblical definition of marriage—Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. Sodomy is an abomination in the sight of God and was punished by death in the Word of God, it is not an acceptable lifestyle. I have lived in Uganda for 13 years and one testimony that I have given to my friends in the US, over and over, is the strong stand that Uganda takes against sodomy. Uganda must not budge an inch. All these UNICEF booklets should be recalled and burned. If we do not stand for something, we will fall for anything!

 

Keith L. Stensaas

Masaka Independent Baptist Church

A Well Organised Campaign

Not ours. We are not organised. It is the anti-gay campaign in Uganda I am talking about.

Seated, shirtless, at home. It is warm, the warm of the rainy season, the sun very bright, the skies very blue, and rain a threat of the afternoon.

I am relaxed,

and it is with the lifting of some of the tension that I have realized how stressed I have been. For the second day of the week, I have not seen any adverse headlines in the New Vision. Government paper- it seems to have taken up the anti-gay cause, these last few days.

No adverse headlines.

Seems like a dream. Nobody outed over the weekend. Seems as if the press is moving on. It was yesterdays news? The outings. The accusals of ‘recruitment’, the speculations on who is and who is not a homosexual.

By the way, the Observer had a very interesting article. In this day and time of Gay Witch hunts, how to recognize a gay or lesbian Ugandan. It was in the public interest. It is very important that you recognize those who are gay and lesbians. Don’t let them near your children. Chase them from jobs, etc, etc. It is here.

And today in the morning, I heard, on Beat fm, one guy protecting Father Musaala. Seems the only way we will get some airing is when we admit fawningly that we are ‘ex-gay’, so the guy didn’t disappoint. He is ex-gay (like it is a new fashion shirt that he is putting on), and he was counseled by Father Musaala until he became ex-gay. So, he is making the rounds of the fm stations, shoring up the good Father’s name. Unfortunately, the presenter was not very respectful of the guys 'ex-gay' credentials. Poor guy, he 'looked gay'!

AfroGay has an analysis of the politics behind the ‘outing’ of Father Musaala. I continue to be leery of that particular outing. Too convenient, too much that the ‘outers’, Pastor Ssempa will gain from the demise of their pastoral rival. But, again, I have to admit to being extremely biased against the Ssempas of Uganda; professional anti-gay activists as they are, and very politically adept. I just have to be careful about what I say, just don’t want my own prejudices to cloud my judgement.

I wanted to comment about the anti-gay campaign in Uganda.

It has been very well organized. (I do wish we gay people had the money and the ability to organize like these guys have accused us of being. I mean, it would just be fair, you know!)

Past years, there were so many homophobic, and frankly un-Christian statements from the likes of Ssempa, Nsaba-Buturo, and others. Many of them are on this blog.

But, during that time, there was a hint of disorganization. They prepared the ground, but were too hate filled, too extreme. I mean, why reject an HIV prevention programme? I remember Ssempa's statement to that effect… But I digress.

Come this year, entered Stephen Langa onto the scene. He has been working a lot, but underground, or so he seems to have. Good connections to the American right, in particular those who are obsessed with homosexuality as a problem.

A coup, he landed them an invitation to a 3 day conference.

Jan, and Feb, he advertised.

I was very amused when one of his e-mails landed into my e-box. He was using the mobilizing power of the churches here, and why not the mega one, Kampala Pentecostal Church? He did a few press conferences and statements. Seems as if only UG Pulse was biting most of the time. Why? I can only speculate.

Then came the conference itself. I have catalogued some of that, err, (shit) here.

Apart from me writing about it, and a small article in the Monitor newspaper, (the second largest circulating daily), the press didn’t bite, for some reason.

Post conference, he was not deterred. He has been continuing with organization. Formed an anti-gay task force. Meetings every Sunday at Hotel Triangle. Setting up objectives, aims, and what to do.

And fundraising…

While he accuses us of all this shit (the same that he is doing.) Why not? We are homosexuals. Bad, by definition. Very bad. For him, of course he does it in the name of God and Country.

George Oundo lit on the scene. And the New Vision took up the campaign. Sensational headlines. ‘Recruiting’. Outing, as sensationally as possible. Front page. With commentary from Ssempas and Langa. And, last Saturday, the triumphant nailing of UNICEF for ‘promoting homosexuality’. The enemy is defined, both inside and outside the country.

Inside the country, gays are reeling from the juggernaut. Had not foreseen the sundering of our closets. We have turned, and presented another cheek for the mighty Christian moral anger. (Maybe if we act more Christian than the Christians, they will let us off the hook. Maybe.) Oh, we shall survive. Despite the ongoing crusade. That is a given.

What next?

They tied the new ‘Pornographic bill’ to recruitment of gays. Apparently, we didn’t exist in the days when there was no ‘pornography’ in Uganda. A severe, punishing bill has been introduced in parliament. It targets pornography. For a doubter, it also aims to curb homosexuality. The things Ugandans believe!

And, a new bill to outlaw homosexuality and being gay in Uganda has been in the offing for a long, long time. Minister Nsaba Buturo has been taking his time, don’t know why. So, with the excitement of the population, and the fact that there is going to be a mass rally, and ongoing are anti-gay seminars and the gathering of signatures, this will be introduced.

Stephen Langa plans to speak to the president. As a concerned parent of course. About the ‘international organisations’ spreading homosexuality in Uganda. Nsaba Buturo has already talked to Uganda’s UN ambassador (remember, we are on the Security Council this year, and the next. Clout, huh!)

Soon, very soon, will be the bill. And it will sail through parliament. Who dares oppose this will of the people?

A well organized campaign indeed.

 

gug

How to spot a Gay Ugandan

With all the hysteria and hullabaloo ongoing in Uganda about homosexuality, one of the newspapers has gone ahead and published a 'How To' manual. In the interest of public morality of course.

Uganda is a homophobic country. But, as with all prejudice and ignorance, people just dont know who they are 'fighting'.

But before you take this step to believe in the Observer's observations, I beg you to read this comment from their website. From a gentleman called Kasozi, who has gone through it-

Above (err, below) are some of the most ill informed attitudes I have seen ever!

I am not gay but for many years I have been "accused" to be gay just because when I was younger I looked a bit effeminate. Due to the streotipical attitudes expressed, I suspect most of the people above would call me gay too. Where as it bothered me once, these days when I get such ignorant "attacks" I answer with "so what?"

I would say everyone should mind their own business; what others do privately is their business you don't see gay people peeking into your sexlife telling you what and what you shouldn't do.

The ill informed attitudes are here. Read, to your amusement- and pray for anyone who looks like this in Uganda today.

How to tell that someone is gay                   

Street Talk

Written by John Vianney Nsimbe       

Wednesday, 01 April 2009 17:21

 

John Mayanja, 26, Businessman

If I see a man acting like a woman and a woman taking up an appearance of a man, I would imagine they are gay.

If a man applies make-up and is so serious about the way they look, then they must be up to something unusual. In most cases you will find that such a man hates women and is never interested in talking about them. Even gay women rarely have time for men. Children should be educated against this act from home and society should emphasize our culture because it does not allow homosexuality.

 

Amer Jingo, 21, Sales and Marketing

The best way to identify a homosexual is if they do not have interest in women whatsoever. Instead of seeing him date a woman, he is mostly with men for all the time you know him. Gays are so fussy about fashion and always want to be on top as far as good looks are concerned. In the case of lesbians, you will find women who are overly jealous about fellow women and they even restrain them from interacting with fellow women. This subject of homosexuality and lesbianism is taking root and can only be controlled if a strong law is passed by government.

 

Carol Nyaika, Sales

It is not possible to say precisely what features one can consider in identifying who is gay or not. I know men who have feminine demeanours but are not gay, so it would not be wise to stereotype. And besides, I think we should let people be; why should what goes into one’s behind be my business? It is one’s choice to be gay or not; just like I have chosen to be straight. As a people, let us focus on fighting disease, poverty and ending wars especially for the good of people in IDP camps.

 

Sarah Nakiwolo, 22, Student

What I know is that men who are gay tend to like all the fancy things that are normally appreciated by women. For example they will want to always treat their hair, apply make-up and act like women by pulling at their blouses (shirts) and jeans, which are normally tight. They also tend to gesture around like women by folding their hands, you know. Then for women, they will behave like men. They wear men’s clothes a lot and would rather cut their hair to appear like men and do not fuss about make up. God made sex for man and woman, period. It will be hard to stop gay acts unless government comes out with a strict law.

 

Suzan Idimu, Sales Marketer

You can tell that someone is gay through the way they dress. They always want to want to stand out from the crowd; be noticed and get all the compliments. Such people also behave very nicely to people especially in public. They do not want to be rude. I believe sensitising and letting people know that such acts do not conform to our African cultures and values is important. They can also be exposed in a bid to scare off those who have not started the habit.

 

Grace Sebuliba, 20, Musician

A gay’s behaviour will always change from his usual self in order to make a different impression of themselves to others. You will find a homosexual applying powder on their face like a woman; they walk like women and enjoy wearing lots of make-up. A homosexual will be so jealous about his fellow man and so will a lesbian be about another woman. So do not wonder why. In order to stop the spread of gay acts, a strict law from Parliament must be passed, counselling of gay activists should be encouraged and single-sex schools stopped.

 

Labartin Mwima, 21, Designer

It is quite easy to identify someone who is gay. The thing about a homosexual or a lesbian is that in the case of a man, he will be acting like a woman and vice-versa. A gay man may try to change his character traits and voice in order to be a woman. One other thing is that people with the gay orientation are shy and tend to avoid eye-contact. About controlling the spread of homosexuality and lesbianism in Uganda, the financial welfare of people must be improved first.

 

Nuru Nakalanzi, 23, Law Student

I know what gay people are like. Girls who are gay are very jealous. They can fight another girl or a boy trying to befriend their partner. They rarely talk about boys in their circles and if she is the man in that funny relationship, she will behave like a man with short hair and enjoy male dominated games. Controlling the issue of gays is hard because there are no stringent laws against it. So many high profile people including Pastors have been suspected but government never investigates.

 

Janet Namugga, 24, Artiste

Gay women are not only jealous and over protective of fellow women but they tend to touch each other a lot even in public. It is not uncommon that they share gifts a lot and you will find that they are not interested in men, so they are normally in the company of fellow women. Gay men normally wear those feminine things like strong perfumes, make-up, heavy jewellery and very bright colours. I think the best way to control the spread of homosexuality and lesbianism in our society is by educating the public about the negatives.

 

Of Senegal, from IGLHRC

Senegal: Nine Men Contest Homophobic Judgment

 

 

Nine men who were sentenced to 8 years in jail last January, appeared at the Dakar Court of Appeal this morning, represented by five attorneys, to contest their judgment.

 

In their plea to overturn the ruling, the men's attorneys argued that the procedure presented technical irregularities contradicting the prescriptions of Article 45 of the Senegalese Code of Criminal Procedure, which determines that in a case of flagrante delicto like this one, there should be material proof of the accusations. However, the prosecution lacked such evidence in this case.

 

Lawyers for the nine men also argued that the procedure contravened Article 407 of the Senegalese Code of Criminal Procedure, since no specific complainant had filed criminal charges against the men, and there were irregularities regarding the time at which the men were arrested (after 10 p.m. at night – arrests can only take place between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.), the conditions in which they were arrested (at a residence therefore violating the victims' privacy, and without a warrant) and the absence of witnesses/informants.

 

The prosecution did not contest the defence's plea. The appeal took place after the court rejected the men's application for bail on Monday March 30, 2009.

 

Background

 

On December 19, 2008, police officers raided the apartment of Mr. Diadji Diouf, an important leader in the Senegalese lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, and arrested him and eight other men. Mr Diouf, who heads AIDES Senegal, an organization providing HIV prevention services to men who have sex with men (MSM), and his guests were taken to the SICAP Mbao police station where they were detained until December 24 before being transferred to the Maison D'arrêt et de détention de Rebeuss.

 

On January 8, 2009, the nine men appeared in court to respond to charges of criminal conspiracy and engaging in acts against the order of nature. The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) was informed that lawyers for the defence had had limited access to case files and little time to prepare for the court hearing. The men were condemned to a sentence of 8 years in jail although the prosecutor had asked for a sentence of 5 years, which is the maximum penalty provided by Senegalese law in sodomy cases.

 

Under Article 3.913 of the Senegalese Penal Code, homosexual acts are punishable by imprisonment of between one and five years and a fine of 100,000 ($200) to 1,500,000 ($3,000) CFA francs.

News from Morocco

PRESS, MOROCCO ANNOUNCES END TO GAY TOLERANCE

MADRID, MARCH 24 –

Morocco announces the end of tolerance with regard to homosexuality, is the title of the full page article in today's El Pais, referring to the initiative which the Ministry for the interior in Morocco is using to 'confront all actions which go against religious and moral values, within the framework of the law''. An article with the headline in red on the front page of magazine Al Michaal triggered the reaction by the  government in Rabat; in it a gay Moroccan couple tell the story of their wedding, reciting a prayer which comes before the reading from the Koran. The formula is very common in Morocco, between heterosexual couples as well, but it does not mean that the union is legal. In a message quoted by El Pais, the Ministry for the interior registered "voices in the media which are trying to make a case for ignoble behaviour which is a provocation to national public opinion and which are against the moral values and teachings of our society". The government will act against these people "within the framework of current laws". Homosexuality is punishable in Morocco from six months to three years imprisonment, even though courts do not usually pass sentences for this kind of crime. Nevertheless arrests of gays are commonly made as a 'deterrent''. El Pais notes that "while several publications are indulgent towards Moroccan gays, the main body of the press is asking for a strong hand against perverts". Spain's ambassador in Rabat, Luis Planas, recently became involved in the controversy, when he was photographed with the secretary of Colegas, a Spanish association which defends the rights of gays and lesbians, and with Bargachi, the coordinator of Kifkif (from equal to equal), an association which supports gays in Morocco. (ANSAmed).

It is kind of amazing how threatening institutionalised authority and heterosexuals find any expression of gay love. Why would that be?

gug

Uganda accuses UN of spreading homosexuality

By Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk • April 3, 2009 - 17:39

Ugandan ethics minister James Nsaba Buturo has accused United Nations member countries of being involved in a covert mission to 'impose' homosexuality' on other nations.

Speaking at a press conference today, he also said that Uganda will not bow to international pressure to adopt gay rights.

According to DPA, Mr Buturo told reporters: "At the United Nations there are attempts by some nations to impose homosexuality on the rest of us.

"We have learned that they want to smuggle in provisions on homosexuality."

He added: "Yesterday I spoke to [Uganda's UN] ambassador Ruhakana Rugunda and reminded him of Uganda's position, which opposes legalisation of homosexuality.

"It is the duty of Ugandans to be vigilant because agents of immorality are busy using all lies and deceptions to hurt our society."

The minister claimed that people were being recruited to become gay, saying: "Many lies are being peddled. Such lies include foolish claims that some people are born as homosexuals. They are busy enticing Ugandans to join them. This is causing great concern among Ugandans."

Ugandan LGBT groups have hit back at claims they are "recruiting" school children into homosexuality.

In a statement this week, they said: "We know that sexual orientation is not changeable. We are homosexuals and cannot change.

"In the same way, we cannot change heterosexuals into homosexuals. We cannot recruit. We cannot, do not, have never and never will ‘recruit'.

"We can only deduce that those levelling these claims aim to inflame the public against us, a minority group."

A number of speakers have appeared at events in recent weeks claiming to have "quit" homosexuality and confessing to previous bribery of children to "turn gay".

At a press conference earlier this week, Victor Mukasa, the coordinator of the Uganda Minority Sexual Rights group, attacked Stephen Langa of Family Life Network for spreading the allegations of gay recruitment.

He claimed the 'former' homosexuals presented by Christian groups have been paid to fuel hate against gays.

Activists say Uganda, with a population of 31 million, has some 500,000 gays and lesbians.

 

Sexuality Education in Uganda

Uganda is a knowledge backwater.

The conclusion is too easy, and too well supported to be ignored. With regards to homosexuality, that is something that is too easy to conclude. Check this; in the same week that Sweden legalizes marriage between same sex couples, and the American state of Iowa becomes the third to strike down a ban on marriage between same sex couples- Ugandans wake up to screaming headlines, in the government paper; ‘UNICEF book supports teen homosexuality’

Most other citizens of our world will not turn a hair. I mean, what is in the UNICEF book is so old as news that it is impossible to actually characterize as that. What? Saying that homosexuality is normal? Saying that it is not disease? Saying that it is not something for a teen to be so worried about and go kill oneself because one happens to have same sex attraction? It is old news. Unless you happen to be in Uganda, where such a revelation is a horror that happens to sell newspapers- and drive the anti-gay hysteria.

But, unfortunately, all this is new and newsworth in Uganda.

Read through the article and you are thrown at least 30-50 years back, when it was impossible to discuss sexuality at all. The book is a guide on teenage sexuality. After 85 pages of good information for teens, the 86th is a disaster. How dare it mention that homosexuality is normal!!!!!

And, the question that Ugandans are forced to ask is not whether UNICEF is actually stating facts. No, that is glossed over. (Of course, the subject is homosexuality, so the only facts that are true are that Homosexuality is bad, and abnormal, and immoral. Any deviation from that dogma is contrary to the truth and the lying liers who promote homosexuality like so must and should be exposed.)
UNICEF cannot be correct. That is a clear cut fact.

Talk about gay rights in Uganda and you are inflaming the situation. According to the populace, gay Ugandans have no rights to fight for. Their act of love is subject to life time imprisonment, according to the current law. But that law is too easy. We should have a law that mandates, the death punishment????! UNICEF of course is wrong there, clearly!

What I love most about the article is when facts are held up to ridicule. We are in the age of internet- though in Uganda, till not so long ago, books and paper were the ultimate source of knowledge. (Oh, I have remembered. I am one of the 4% of the population that have internet access. Maybe, maybe I am holding my countrymates to too severe a standard.) The exclamation marks in the tone of the article... Homosexuality is normal!!!!!! It is natural...! We are born with these feelings....!

Stephen Langa is the current sexuality expert of Uganda. Forget the fact that he promotes HIV prevention without condoms. His anti-gay efforts have made him a star on the fm stations. "“They are teaching sex education without morals. What messages are being passed on to our children? It is poison and for poison to kill, it doesn’t have to be given in large amounts.” "
Curiously, he started off blaming us, Ugandan homosexuals for the book. That was during the early days of the anti-gay campaign. We were horrified, and went in search of the book. But his tone has changed. An international organisation is teaching homosexuality...!

Buturo is in shock (of course), and of course there follows the litany of things that they are all going to do to save Uganda's morality...!

Hypocrites.

But, for my poor country, what depth of ignorance you are actually wallowing in!

Look here, we ignore all the knowledge that there is in the world, and import American Right activists to 'teach us the truth' and then we go ahead and decry the invasion of our morals with immorallity. I mean, Kabaka Mwanga was a homosexual, for Christs sake! Christianity came and found good homosexual practices in Uganda... And they were accepted. But now, we want to prove that homosexuality was not part of our culture!

Realy!

The book does not seem to have been a hit. And, the vilified chapter, errr, page, was not even known by many. If it was on sale, it would be flying off the shelves now.
But the anti-gay agenda has found 'proof' of collusion from a major international organisation on the 'spread of homosexuality' and more 'homosexual recruitment in schools'

Christ on a bicycle...!

God help poor Uganda....!!!!!

And the loser in all this? The gay Ugandan. Truth and facts are turned upside down. We are currently being demanded exhorbitant fees to give our side of the story, or being denied outright access to the media. Many of us are in hiding, and not ready to say anything about homosexuality.

It is a case of the anti-gay people on a roll, able to say anything, in the name of crushing the 'Homosexual agenda'. Truth is the homosexual agenda, so truth and facts and research have to be thrown under the juggernaut of the anti-gay agenda.

Wow!

We, indeed, are a knowledge backwater...!



gug

Anti-gay hysteria flames fanned

UNICEF book supports teen homosexuality
Friday, 3rd April, 2009

* 15,000 copies distributed in over 30 districts
* Ethics minister Nsaba Buturo calls it a disaster

BY SUSAN MUYIYI

The United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF has come under sharp criticism for distributing in Uganda a teenagers’ guide book that says homosexuality is normal.

Parents complain that the book misguides the youth; ethics minister Nsaba Buturo calls it a disaster, and education ministry officials say they know nothing about it.

Fifteen thousand copies of The Teenagers Toolkit, were printed in 2002 and distributed in over 30 districts, according to UNICEF. The book, produced in collaboration with the UK-based Health Link World wide, aims at educating 15-19 year olds about their sexual and reproductive health.

Whereas the book generally talks about adolescent sexual health and gives useful life skills, the section on same sex relationships on page 86 has drawn outrage from a section of parents.

It reads: “Many people are sexually attracted to people of the same sex or attracted to both males and females. We are born with these feelings about who we like sexually, and who we do not like sexually – it is natural.”

The section adds, “It is quite normal when you are growing up to fall in love with someone of your own sex. This can happen even though you may grow up to have sexual feelings for the opposite sex, marry, and have children.”

It goes ahead to say, a peer educator can support someone who is not sure about their sexual feelings. The peer educators, says the book, can also support gay or lesbian teenagers who fear to tell others about their status. “The important thing is to be open minded and to show love and respect to all your friends.”

It is also mentioned that the only way anal sex is safe is for stopping pregnancy.

Michel Sidibe, the UNICEF representative in Uganda at the time, in the foreword, noted that the book would assist adolescent peer educators in their work of educating and influencing other young people on matters related to their health and development.

The book is also aimed at developing their skills and building their self-confidence in facilitating sensitive topics on sex and sexuality.

Alarmed by the contents of page 86, the Executive Director of the family life network (FLN), Steven Langa, is mobilising parents to petition the President against the book and homosexuality in general. He says the book is not only against Ugandan cultural norms, but also offends family values.

“We parents are disgusted by these events. We feel terrible. How can our children be exposed to the gruesome mechanics of sex as expressed in this book?” asks Langa.

Langa said as a parents’ network they want to have a say in the sex education curriculum for children. “They are teaching sex education without morals. What messages are being passed on to our children? It is poison and for poison to kill, it doesn’t have to be given in large amounts.”

Likewise Buturo expressed shock on being shown page 86. “This is disturbing and disastrous. I am going to investigate. Who are the authors of the book?” he asked.

Aggrey Kibenge, the education ministry’s publicist, says he has not seen the book. He, however, said the ministry does not approve of homosexuality. “As a ministry, we wouldn’t promote such material. It is not something that we would associate with. I have not seen the book.”

Kibenge says whereas UNICEF has often partnered with the ministry to develop life skills education for young people, they are very careful about the messages passed on to the children.

“We don’t encourage masturbation, drug use and homosexuality.”

Yusuf Nsubuga, the acting director of basic secondary education (HIV/AIDS) programme under the ministry, says he hasn’t heard about the book.

Araali Kusemererwa, the in charge of the school health education programme, also said he had never seen or even heard of the book.

Education Minister Namirembe Bitamazire says she only learnt about the book this week and she has not yet read it. She promises to take up the matter with relevant authorities. “I can’t comment about the contents because I haven’t yet read it,” says Bitamazire.

While acknowledging the right of adolescents without discrimination, UNICEF says they do not advocate for any sexual orientation. Rather, UNICEF says the book is intended to help adolescents make decisions. The agency adds that International Covenants on Human Rights prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

“The information the book contains is based on international best practice on adolescent development issues (including adolescent sexuality), and aims at helping young persons to make informed decisions about their lives as responsible members of their community,” says Chulho Hyun, the Chief Communication Officer, UNICEF Uganda.

According to Hyun, the book is not given to adolescents directly neither did it target schools. “The publication was designed as one of a range of tools to assist peer educators and other professionals, trained in age and culturally-sensitive delivery of information, to address issues that adolescents confront -- not for adolescents themselves.”

Hyun says they distributed the book through district local governments. It was part of the Adolescent Rights to Self-Protection and Friendly Services sub-programme of the HIV/AIDS and Rights to Self-Protection Programme. Under the programme, the book was to be given to selected teenagers who were carefully trained to educate their peers.

“It would also be important to note that peer education is not limited only to HIV-prevention efforts, as has been shown as a best practice internationally, but is one strategy in a community-wide effort,” Hyun explains.

Kibaale, Adjumani and Mbarara are some of the districts where the books were distributed.

“I cannot confirm the number of districts in which the books were distributed because I was not working in the country at the time. However, UNICEF strictly distributed the books through the local governments and not to schools.”

Whatever the method of distribution, the teenagers’ toolkit has offered a battle ground for a clash between local cultural norms and Western values promoted by an international agency.

Uganda not to bow to foreign pressure on legalizing homosexuality

UPDATE

Well, just have to remember that this is the Langa campaign.

Uganda People News: Homosexuality blamed on international rights organizations

First published: 20090410 5:28:45 AM EST

 

Ultimate Media

 

George Oundo, a former homosexual and now a born-again Christian has blamed the spread of homosexuality on international human rights organizations.

Addressing parents at Hotel Triangle Kampala, George Oundo said he had been recruited by the Gay and Lesbian Coalition and given training on promoting homosexuality.

Another man, Paul Kagaba, said he had previously been gay for eight years. Kagaba reiterated claims of being asked to publicise homosexuality.

----

    KAMPALA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Uganda will maintain its stance against homosexuality despite increased calls by foreign governments to legalize it, an official said here on Friday.

    Nsaba Buturo, minister of state for ethics and integrity, said some nations at the United Nations are advocating "sexual rights" which Uganda believes will be used to promote homosexuality.

    "Uganda will not be forced to legalize practices that are illegal, unnatural and abnormal," he told a press briefing.

    He said he had communicated the position to Uganda's representative to the UN.

    "They have no right to call us names, to call us extremists, we shall talk to countries that we share the same belief on not legalizing homosexuality," he stated.

    Buturo said the government has also started a crackdown on certain humanitarian relief organizations that recruit youths into the vice under the guise of giving them education.

    The government is making preparations to enact a comprehensive law that will make it a criminal offense to promote homosexuality, said the official.

    Buturo appealed to parents to remain vigilant because a number of schools in the country have been penetrated by the vice.

    Gay and anti-gay activists have hit headlines in local media this week with each calling for their rights.

    Uganda has been condemned by international human rights activists for criminalizing homosexuality.

 

Pretty clear, isnt it?

What about this one...

Ugandan gays and lesbians demand equal rights, criticize religious leaders

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) - Ugandan gay rights activists say they've received harassment from religious leaders and ordinary Ugandans.

About 20 activists staged a rare public protest yesterday to call for equal rights and the decriminalization of homosexuality in the socially conservative east African country. The demonstration followed several days of anti-gay protests last week in Kampala in which protesters accused gays of attempting to convert schoolchildren to homosexuality.

One woman said she was publicly stripped naked and taunted by a pastor and his congregation as they attempted to exorcise her.

Homosexuality is illegal in Uganda and carries a penalty of up to seven years' imprisonment. However, there are no known cases of gays or lesbians being convicted.

Ugandan officials staunchly rejected the activists' call. The minister of state ethics (Nsaba Buturo) says, "Uganda is a Christian country" that loves gays and homosexuals but in his words, hates their activities. In recent years, Ugandan church officials have distanced their church from the Anglican Communion after a U.S. church ordained a gay bishop.

Burundi: Interesting take on what is happening there

For the past month or so, this tiny country long forgotten by most of the world has been in the spotlight for the one thing people may have never suspected ” a mirage-legislature rising up against both the president and the allies ” the missionary churches dotted throughout the country.

There are few things as unpopular in Africa as homosexuality. It is seen as a particularly virulent and sinister strain of the West’s unwelcome foray around here. To be gay is to be evil, criminal, and un-African. You can lose your family, livelihood, and sometimes your life.

There just happens to be no law against it in Burundi. It hadn’t made much of a difference until one was proposed by the president and defeated by his senate. It was a blow to the president, and a temporary confidence-booster for people who live in secrecy and fear.

An article in an amendment to the national penal code that would have made homosexual acts punishable by up to two years in prison was pulled out by the Senate on February 24. It was a shock to the system in Burundi, where legislatures more often than not are rubber stamps of the head of state. President Pierre Nkurunziza took it as a slap in the face.

The president’s power is weakening, said Pancrace Cimpaye, chairman of the opposition party and member of senate. We must take advantage.

 

Burundians are deeply religious. The church and the Word of God are transcendent. That includes President Nkurunziza, who attends the local Church on the Rock in Bujumbura. Though founded in Texas, much of the Church on the Rock operates abroad, in places like Burundi, Third World states where fates and livelihood still hinge on the mercies of nature. From Rwanda to Brazil to the Philippines, these modern-day missionaries have found converts and a powerful voice.

So, in the past weeks, the government, together with this and other churches, has gone on an all-out campaign to reverse the Senate’s decision.

Just the other day, roughly 15,000 people marched in protests led by factions of the government against the senate’s decision.

If we love our country, if we love our culture, we must ban this practice that will draw only misfortune, said the chairman of Burundi’s ruling party, Jeremie Ngendakumana. The protests were organised using radio advertisements and cellphone text messaging.

This was a huge manipulation of the people, said Mr Cimpaye. It was demagogic.

The albinos wanted a protest last week because they are being killed. They wanted to have a demonstration, but the government refused, saying it would take away from the working day, said an anonymous NGO worker in Bujumbura. But when 15,000 march against gays on a working day, it’s okay.

Being albino may be one of the unluckiest things in this part of the world, where people are hunted for their skins, sought for magical protection by bush-doctors. To be one of Burundi’s approximately 400 gays isn’t much better.

 

We have so many children who have been rejected by their family because of being gay or lesbian, and many of them are forced to work as sex slaves to make money, says George Kanuma, co-ordinator for ARDHO, Burundi’s only gay advocacy group. This law would make it all the worse for them.

But a fighting spirit remains. Use my name, says Kanuma. To see it in the newspapers is protection for us. That’s exactly where those names have been. Since the protests, homosexuality has been on the tip of tongues of the country.

Parliament, which received the amended legislation from the senate, swiftly put the article criminalising homosexuality back into place.

Churches and non-governmental organisation have held press conferences, radio shows, and television programmes on the issue.

It is political propaganda ahead of the 2010 elections, says Christian Rumu, vice-president of Burundi’s gay association.

In the National Assembly, a heated debated rages on, with opposition leaders calling for a national referendum on the issue. According to the constitution, if the two sides cannot come to agreement, it will be parliament that makes the decision. Few here believe the president will allow the law to pass without criminalising homosexuality.

As the story makes larger waves around both the region and world, the government’s forces are clamping down on journalists. Although one newspaper editor was released recently, two more journalists were arrested.

We are in danger, and must work in secret, says a stringer in Burundi for the international press. The government does not want reporting on the homosexuality. We are supposed to write only good things.

An Afternoon

Been blogging sad things. But, even the deep, heavy rainclouds sometimes lift, even if it is momentarily...

I would like to share a poem about this lovely land of mine.

 

sprinkling of

hot, golden bright sunshine on

the deep, emerald jewel

green of leaves;

 

It covers all,

does the sun-

even the buildings

rust red and browns;

the crumbling slum

rooftops that like

mud of an overflowing

river touch valley bottoms.

 

The roads,

deeply holed asphalt

arteries peopled by an

abundance of men and

women, children, an overflow

like real blood cells do,

 

In the richer

suburbs trees tall and green

leaf the air-

mature compounds mimic

the solid, long gone green

cover of natural rainforest

and huge houses peep

jewels of colour in

green cloth of nature.

 

Kampala the

beautiful, indeed.

 

 

 

(c) gayuganda 02 April 09

Ugandan Homosexuals cry out over Victimisation

Ugandan Homosexuals cry over victimization

First published: 20090331 10:26:44 AM EST

Gay rights activists in Uganda have cried foul over a campaign by some Christians and government leaders to project homosexuals in Uganda as rogues who are sponsored by foreign interests to spoil the morals of children in Uganda.

A group of Gay activists today addressed a press conference in Kampala and said the campaign led by Stephen Langa of Family Life Network is misinforming the public in order to make Ugandans hate homosexuals.

 

Victor Mukasa, the coordinator of the Uganda Minority Sexual Rights group says the campaign against homosexuals in the country is based on wrong information that homosexuality is an acquired behavior which can be taught to people.

 

Mukasa says homosexuals are naturally born attracted to people of the same sex and do not “change like weather”. Mukasa says it is wrong for Langa and his group to accuse homosexuals of being in a campaign to recruit and change school children into homosexuality. He says these allegations are aimed at making Ugandans to hate homosexuals and force the government to become punish homosexuals.

Homosexuality is illegal in Uganda but the High Court last December ruled in a landmark case that homosexuals should be accorded the same rights as other Ugandans.

But the Family Life Network recently presented a group of former homosexuals who claimed they used to recruit students through offering them money and friendship.

Mukasa says the people claiming to have been working to promote homosexuality in schools have been paid to talk bad about homosexuals in order to make Ugandans hate homosexuals, instead of appreciating their differences.

Stephen Langa recently told parents in a seminar that homosexuals are on a campaign to recruit students into homosexuality a practice he says is immoral.

Mukasa however says homosexuals are normal people born like any child but develop a natural attraction to the same sex.

Gay Rights, and the Father Musaala Saga

UPDATE: 1900hrs

This is interesting.

The government is homophobic. Very. Now, gay groups are coming out to fight for their rights, and here is the response of the government.

MPs want gay group's activities regulated

MPs want government to regulate the activities of homosexuals who have come out publicly to defend their rights.

Kawempe North MP Latif Sebaggala says Government should not allow homosexuals to hold press conferences to iron out their issues because the vice is illegal.

However, Government Chief Whip Daudi Migereko says there are No laws that prohibit homosexuals from holding press conferences.

Migereko says that the ministry of Internal affairs will track homosexuals and take action against them.

A little bit of interpretation. Gay Ugandans are so dangerous that it is important to have their activities monitored. Whatever that means, by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Ok, understood?
And the regulators? The very people who are talking of lynching, marooning, outing and wiping out homosexuality from Uganda. We do have a lot to thank our dear Christian brothers, don’t we?

--------

I found the latter part of this article interesting, so you will bear with me if I put it first.

For a full week lies have been getting out of hand. People have held press conferences, mass rallies, and have got multiple front pages in the government owned news paper. We try to write to the papers, we try to present our point of view. Not a whiff of truth dares come out.

So, we do what we fear most. Come out, expose ourselves, and read a small press release. The country is amazed, and infuriated. How dare we!

So, the government will soon show its teeth.

At Parliament, MPs criticised the Government for allowing self-confessed homosexuals to address a press conference and promote their activities. The conference took place at the Metropole Hotel in Kampala on Tuesday.

Latif Sebaggala (DP) said the Government was tolerant because donors had threatened to cut funding if homosexuals were stopped. “We are worried about our children. If the Government is silent, it means it is silent approval,” he said.

Henry Banyenzaki (NRM) blamed poor enforcement of laws which he said had escalated homosexuality, rape, defilement and child sacrifice. In reply, Daudi Migereko, the Government chief whip, argued that anybody was free to hold a press conference without permission from the Government.

However, he said, by doing so, the gays had exposed themselves and the Government would go after them.“Homosexuality is illegal. The Minister of Ethics, Dr. Nsaba Buturo, has been clear on the matter. Those involved will face the long arm of the law,” he said.

Henry Kajura, the second deputy Prime Minister, said the Government would not compromise on moral and cultural values because of donor pressure.

“The Government will soon show its teeth,” he warned. “Our society abhors homosexuality.”

---------------------

On the Musaala saga some people below would like me to confirm that Musaala is gay. They will not accept me denying or saying I don’t know. They want me to confirm. Funny world this is…!

Musaala has gone ahead and issued lots of information. Do they believe him? Well, you do have all rights to believe, or not believe, don’t you think so?

But of his defence I do take some exception. To the patronizing, church attitude. the church was clear about aberrant sexual practices and how to guide offenders get out of “the abnormal behaviour”.

Musaala argued that as a church minister, he had given spiritual guidance to homosexuals, lesbians and prostitutes since 1999, but he was not gay himself. “But ethically, I cannot name them,” he said.

Explaining why people take to homosexuality, the dancing priest, as he is sometimes called, blamed the desire for money and “inherent feelings that drive them”.

His involvement, he said, was limited to helping the gay abandon the practice some of whom “want to commit suicide”.

“I want to show them the true path to salvation,” he said. “This is a journey that requires someone to walk with as a guide.”

“These people are stigmatised and I am totally against this because they need our help,” said Musaala.

Quoting the Catholic Church rules, Musaala described homosexuality as a “disorder” and “a trial” for those involved. “They must be accepted with respect, compassion and responsibility,” he quoted the rules. “Every sign of their discrimination should be avoided.”

He said he was simply implementing the text “but the problem is that in doing so, the public understands me differently”.

I feel like some bit of shit that has been allowed to share the family dog’s plate. Truly. Or is it just me being super sensitive in my role as a proud gay man? But, he is speaking to the Ugandan audience. So, putting the gay Ugandan down has to be part of the deal, maybe.

-----

Buturo’s point

The ethics and integrity minister is indeed up to his job. Dr Nsaba Buturo has kept the fight against the evil of homosexuality by speaking out against it at whatever opportunity he gets at any forum. Speaking at a democratisation workshop on Tuesday, Buturo grabbed the opportunity to lash out at the advocates of the vice. “Homosexuality is totally unacceptable, how can a man marry a man and a woman marry a woman? Even he-goats can distinguish between he-goats and she-goats, who are we human beings, not to observe the rules of nature?” he asked.

Yes, gay bashing, is now realy, realy popular

gug

Poor Christians

Once upon a time I was a Christian. Then I saw the light…

Yes, it is Christian bashing time, for me. I am not going to rail against all Christians. But against some. (Let me say I do respect the likes of Bolton…! and his lesson to me still holds, at least for now).

Why Christians? Because they wrap themselves in so called love. Love is the reason that they hunt, and hurt and persecute me. Because I am, you guessed, a homosexual.

There is that excellent chapter of Jesus railing against the Pharisees. He was pissed, and it was a major rant, in Mark’s Gospel. Funny that of all things I remember reading in the bible, that is the one that comes to mind, when I think about the Christians in Uganda.

Christians?

Oh, yes. There is Orombi of the Church of Uganda. To him I am filth unspeakable. For that reason, he has broken with Canterbury, in a way, and broken the Anglican Communion. Of course it is his right, who he associates with, etc. What I don’t like him using my sexuality as the ‘stumbling block.’ He says he is a Christian. And my sexuality is a sin.

Then there is Ssempa. Pastor, and the other pastors in Uganda. Again they say they love me. (At least Orombi does not dissemble so!) They love me so much that they would like to convert me to Christianity. And they ‘hate’ my sin, the sin above all sins. My sexuality.

So, as good Christians, they have gone ahead and got some converts from homosexuality. They have convinced the country on how bad us homosexuals are. And they are going out, outing us. All in the name of Jesus.

They hold press conferences. They hold rallies. They hold church meetings where we are held up to ridicule in the name of love. They are now outing us, all in the great name of Jesus. ((Bet that gentleman is turning in his grave somewhere.)

Because we are gay, homosexual, these pure angels on earth believe it is okay for us to be accused of everything under the earth. From rape, defiling children, ‘recruitment’ etc. They are stirring up the populace in their crusade. And Crusade it is indeed. They have formed the ‘homosexual agenda’ and intimate that we homosexuals are out to turn the world upside down. Demanding our rights.

Whatever it is, we seem to have done it. Nothing is too low for them to do in the name of pulling us down. We, of course, must be against them. We, of course, must be evil, and bad. All in the name of Jesus. (Sorry, Christians who are gay!)

A witch hunt is not a witch hunt, because it is happening in the name of Jesus. A witch hunt is a Crusade, when it happens in Jesus’ name. Lies can be told, flimsy evidence used to ‘out’ those doctors, lawyers, priests etc who are gay. All in the name of Jesus.

Sigh….!

Any wonder I feel like a rant?

What is it to them if I lose my job, are thrown out of my clan, my tribe, my family, if it all happens in the name of Jesus? What is it to them if I cannot feed my dependants? It is in the name of Jesus.

Funny, I can no longer feel the same rippling anger that I used to.

Yes, they call themselves Christians. They can never be ‘Christ-like’. To them it is a garment that they pull around themselves. It is the white clothes on Sunday covering the filth of heart on most other days of the week.

Poor Christians, Indeed!

How Christ is served, without witness!



gug

The Press Release- It kind of was overwhelmed...

Press Release

 

For immediate Press release: Tuesday 31 March 2009

 

OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM LGBTI UGANDANS

 

To: Fellow Citizens of Uganda

 

Over the past few week, very serious allegations of child sexual abuse and ‘recruitment’ have been leveled against Homosexual Citizens of Uganda by various people and institutions.

 

We have been accused of accepting huge amounts of money for our ‘recruitment’ drives,

 by the Family Life Network (FLN).

 

 We affirm that we are homosexual. That means that we are different in sexual orientation from most of our fellow Ugandans. That does not mean that we are criminals.

 

We, like all other Ugandans, are responsible and law abiding citizens. Homosexual Ugandans do not condone or support recruitment of people into homosexuality at any level . We strongly and fiercely condemn it.

 

We know that our sexual orientation is not changeable. We are homosexuals and cannot change. In the same way, we cannot change heterosexuals into homosexuals. We cannot recruit. WE CANNOT, DO NOT, HAVE NEVER, AND WILL NEVER ‘recruit’.

We can only deduce that those leveling these claims aim to inflame the population against us, a minority group.

 

The allegation that we receive huge amounts of money for so called ‘recruitment’ services are simply ridiculous. We do not receive any money for ‘recruitment’. It is absurd that some assume we would be paid to do something impossible.

 

We strongly affirm that these allegations are not only false and ridiculous; they are also far from the truth.

 

Our campaign for gay rights is rooted in the fact that, as Ugandans, we deserve the respect and protection of the law, just like all other Ugandans. We do not deserve to be discriminated. We do not deserve to be criminalized. We do not deserve to be treated as criminals simply

because we are lesbians, gay, bisexual, transgender, inter-sex.

 

We call upon all Ugandans to reject this campaign of falsehoods, inflammatory statements and hatred. Ours is a peaceful plea to inform fellow Ugandans about us, so that fellow citizens do not think that we are, as we have been accused of being; ie insane, pigs, sick, inhuman, un-natural, un-Ugandan and un-African.

 

We are fellow Ugandans. We deserve equal rights and protection under the Law and Constitution. We do not deserve hatred, false statements, and the spread of inflammatory ideas against us. We don’t deserve to be demonized and falsely accused in the name of ignorance of who and what we are.

 

For and on behalf of all the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Inter-sex, and Queer People of Uganda.

 

For God and Our Country.

Is he, or Isnt He?

Hysteria. Outing hysteria. Gay or Not? Proof not necessary. Just, well, any hint of impropriety- or someone to accuse you.

So, is he or isn’t he? A catholic priest accused. (More to come…!)

Father Musaala named homosexual

Self-confessed former homosexuals yesterday accused a renown Catholic priest, Fr. Anthony Musaala, of being a homosexual.

Paul Kagaba, who says he was a homosexual for eight years, told a press conference in Kampala that Musaala, a gospel music award-winner, regularly holds parties for gays at his residence in Gayaza near Kampala.

He was speaking at the press conference which was held at the anti-gay crusader, Pastor Martin Ssempa’s Redeemed Church at Makerere. In attendance was another self-confessed reformed homosexual, George ‘Georgina’ Oundo, and Pastor Solomon Male, an anti-gay activist.

Musaala, however, said the reports were intended to damage his image because he was a public figure. “Whatever they say, I am not gay and I will never be gay. I am only a minister of the Roman Catholic Church,” he said.

And the more…

In his remarks, Kagaba also named an employee of a Kampala city hospital and a European residing on Entebbe road among the prominent gay promoters in the country.

I am gay, and, well, though I have a problem with being identified (falsely or not!) as so, I kind of wonder what it is like for a person who is not gay to be so accused? How the hell does one 'proove' that you are not gay?

Unfortunately politics might be another factor playing out here.  Amongst the Pastor preachers, there is a lot of in-fighting. Remember this. One pastor fighting others etc. An accusation of homosexuality is very, very damaging. And Ssempa is in one particular camp. Will be funny if Msaala is not in the opposite camp. Oh, but he is Catholic- so, maybe I don’t know what I am talking about!

A delegation of gay activists was expected in the country this month, Kagaba said, to hammer out a programme to finance their colleagues to get elected to Parliament in 2011.

Imagine, homosexuals in parliament…! We are planning on that, aren’t we? Ugandans, be very, very scared!

But that is as maybe, this is what we thought we had done, the news we had made. It was on some of the Television stations last night, but seems it was not as juicy as some people accused of being gay…!

As they spoke, a group of self-confessed gays and lesbians, Jackline Kasha, Victor Mukasa and David Kisuule, addressed a press conference at the Metropole Hotel in Kampala.

They disowned Oundo and denied that their umbrella group, Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), was recruiting school children into the vice.

“We are responsible and law-abiding citizens. Homosexual Ugandans do not condone recruitment of people into homosexuality. We strongly and fiercely condemn it,” Jackline Kasha said reading a statement issued by a group called Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex. (Ha ha ha ha ha! LGBTI a group, like an NGO?)

“Sexual orientation is not changeable. We are homosexuals and cannot change. In the same way, we cannot change heterosexuals into homosexuals,” Kasha argued.

Mukasa said the Government should investigate Oundo’s claims and prosecute him since he had confessed to conscripting youngsters into the vice.

Although she admitted receiving funding from various organisations, Mukasa denied the money was for recruitment.

So, necessarily, fear within the community.

So, who else is gay?

 

gug