Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Frothing.

I am guilty too of not being able to understand my enemies, and friends.

And, I am not ruthless enough to try not to understand them. An enemy should be an enemy, so, you should not understand him. You should just, err, do the necessary enemy things. Not so?

But, it is true that knowing an enemy can help you outmaneuvre him. Or her.

But, not being able to have a chat with a potential friend can sort of hold you in anger land. Eh, what am I talking about?
I am trying to figure out the geeky connections in a potential friend's brain circuits 27th Comrade. Hey, I know it is a love hate relationship. Those are the most valuable. He is not gay (hey, I have teased him about that, sometime ago. I was kind of trying to hit on him, and, suprisingly for a Ugandan, he was not too unfazed!) And, the friendship has been cyber, mostly.
What infuriates me is the bloody idealism...  He tells me that he is defending his right to kill me, and also my right to life. Go figure....! I do think it is a developing conversation. He is that persistent. Just follow the comment thread to this post.

So, big brother South Africa appoints a homophobe as ambassador to Uganda. At this day and at this time. Someone asks me what I think about that....!
Maybe the answer is too clear. Maybe I just need to follow the line. Africa has 52 countries. Most of them have Ambassadors or reps from SA. For the govt of SA to come out and decide to appoint a known homophobe to Uganda at this time as an Ambassador to Uganda is a very clear message. So, I will not parse words by trying to explain it.
Check out the Truth Wins Out article here. Fact is, it is expressed better than I ever could. Me, I would just be frothing with the need to pour out the words. And, they would be incomprehensible.

Some Ugandan muslims will form Anti-gay vigilante squads to help Ssempa to wipe out homosexuality from Uganda. Oh, it is nothing new. They have stated that intention before. Now, the good Christian Pastor Ssempa is getting extra-legal muscle to his anti-gay efforts in Uganda. Just in case the bill does not become law. Have you read the bill? Text is here. The aim is to wipe out homosexuality from Uganda. And, it goes a fair way, in a legal way.
Oh, before you ask, Ssempa did hear the statement. Far as I know, he has not talked to a crucial member of his Coalition to wipe out Homosexuality from Uganda. Most likely those activities will be necessary. See, Ssempa's Christian credentials go only as far as the need to achieve that grand objective goes. Anything goes, according to Ssempa. Oh yes, just read the bill that he supports. Killing, jailing, anything goes for Christian Pastor Ssempa, as long as the human being it is done to is a Homosexual.

Frothing can only go so far. Of course there are plenty of people who dont share my point of view about my sexuality. But, since it is my sexuality, I would rather that they leave me alone instead of threatening me with prison and death.
But, there are others who plain dont see the sense of killing me because I am homosexual. And, they are standing up and voicing their point of view, to hell with the sovereign arguments of Uganda. UK lawmakers did so. Which I thank them for. I dont know whether their Ugandan counter parts will listen to them. You see, if any advice is to do with giving Uganda money, the politicians will say, thanks, with a very wide smile. Give some advice on corruption, the smile will go, but, they will listen. Give any advice on not killing or jailing homosexuals. The smile is replaced by a snarl, and you are infringing on the sovereignty of Uganda. Donor, shut up. (27th, read, understand that, do you?)

Hey, the British parliamentarians are not going to be duped by Ssempa's lies. They have read the bill. They cite it. Pretty accurately. Why Ssempa and Bahati lie when the bill text is public is something I do not understand. But, they do. I am aware that Bahati is no longer lying about the text as strongly as Ssempa. But,....! Here is what the UK MPs say.

The EDM, drafted by east London Labour MP Harry Cohen, urges the Ugandan government  to “uphold international humanitarian law by abandoning the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, decriminalizing same-sex acts between consenting adults in private, and outlawing discrimination against gay people.”
British MPs are especially appalled that the Bill proposes the death penalty for “serial offenders” --people who commit homosexual acts more than once-- and life imprisonment for merely touching another person with homosexual intent.

Pretty interesting document that, the bill that Bahati drafted. One needs to read it to really understand how heinous, how terrible it is. Because it is. No hyperbole, no shading of it. You do need to read it.

And, another thing which the 'sovereignty' argument doesnt wash with, Uganda is part of the international community, and does have to live by the International agreements it has signed. (the bill wants to nullify all of them. In the interests of keeping Uganda as a Homosexuality Free Zone.)

Pretty Hitlerish. All those things of a Master Race and a Master people. Cleansing. Problem is, even Bahati is shocked when he is compared to Hitler. No, he says, that is not the aim of the bill. It is not a death, or hate bill.

The UNAIDS chief says legislation like this just makes closets more cosy for us homosexuals. So, despite Bahati and Ssempa believing that the bill is an HIV prevention measure (I am NOT joking), it will help the virus spread. Here is the article.

[They] are going underground; they are hiding themselves and continuing to fuel the epidemic," UNAIDS executive director Michél Sidibé told IRIN/PlusNews recently. "We need to make sure these vulnerable groups have the same rights everyone enjoys: access to information, care and prevention for them and their families."
Some group called amFar, the Foundation for AIDS Research weighs in on that here.
 “This bill is a violation of human rights.  If enacted, it would force LGBT Ugandans further underground, undermining the efforts of local organizations to provide essential HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment education and services,” said Kent Klindera, manager of amfAR’s MSM Initiative, which provides support to grassroots MSM organizations around the world—including a group in Uganda whose work would be outlawed under the terms of the proposed legislation and whose members would be imprisoned.

Sigh, I dont need to go searching over the web for the number of times that Ssempa, and Bahati, have asserted that the Bill is an HIV prevention measure. Actually, Ssempa on Premier (?) Christian Radio of the UK actually blamed South Africa's epidemic on SA's advancement of gay marriage. We dont want another source of infection, he claimed.
So, will they listen to the experts? I doubt it!

Frothing is a word. It does mean something. Frothing at the mouth does mean something too.

I was commenting on my state of anger which seems to be kind of perpetual. I cannot imagine that I am fighting for my right to be alive, because my countrymates believe they have a right to kill me.
No, it is no abstract thing for me.
Which is why I will never take 27th theorising and jokes lightly. They are not jokes.

Have a great day.


gug

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