Monday, June 30, 2008

To WildeY

Straight



another man’s sweat scent


hot, livid, raunchy


to my heightened gay senses;-


a close proximity


that bothers the hell out of me,


but apparently leaves him untouched


by the sumptuous erotic feast he oozes.




(c)GayUganda 30 Jun. 2008

Impatient; Is this Schism or not?

Oh,I am sorry. Just getting fed up with this continual talk. Would like the sheep separated from the wolves. Want the enemy clearly defined.

When they talk of Church within a church, it is kind of not clear. Want to know who and where the enemy is. So, is this schism or not? See below.

Conservative Anglicans form breakaway church in revolution led from the south

· New Hampshire's gay bishop was turning point
· Move marks power shift to developing countries

Oh, after they have made up their minds, we will know who are friends and who are the enemies.

I liked this quote from the article. Very enlightening, by the way. "There has been no response from Williams or Lambeth Palace, in spite of the abuse hurled at him, his office and supporters."

The battle lines are drawn, arent they?


GayUganda


Sunday, June 29, 2008

The Venom from the Church.


Yes, Bolton. Already I feel the rebuke on your mind. But how can I put this? Softer words do nothing but hide the bitter truth. And it is bitter. The church, or sections of it (official sections) spew venom at every turn of day.


I woke up very late.


Sleeping late Friday, and Saturday, had a lot to do with that.

Was out last night just having fun with lots of other kuchus. Went into a bar, in Kabalagala. Was boring, not many people there. Moved to another, nearby. Kabalagala is the suburb of Kampala that never sleeps. Or, more accurately, it sleeps in the early afternoon, and wakes in the evening for the night long party. Every day.


In the second bar, I immediately felt home. Why? A couple of familiar faces. Guys that I knew as Kuchu. After a couple of beers, we relocated to another place. More central, more gay people, and fun.


I sat in a corner and reveled in the familiarity of the usual. I am confortable amongst people who accept me for what I am, who have no problem understanding me. And, when I stand in the middle of them, just one of all the other, the fact that I am in a huge closet matters that much less.


First forward to the morning.


He was in my arms, my lover. A nice feeling waking up to that. His warm body curled into mine, his breath and mine bathing our faces. Yesterday I had some insight. We do not talk much, but we communicate. And there is no better communication of love and appreciation than waking up in ones arms. Feeling cocooned in the embrace of love.


We made love, and I drifted off into sleep.


Much later, the windows of the house are open, and as we pass in the corridor, I feel the need to grab him and hug him. He is my lover, he is my partner. He is my companion, and I felt a fierce joy just holding him in my arms, crushing his slight body against mine, nuzzling into his neck.


Careful, he cautioned. The windows are open.


That is when I knew the title of this post. I had just read in the Sunday Vision the article of Orombi, Archbishop and Primate of the Church of Uganda, Anglican, assailing Barack Obama for not following ‘African’ traditions. The traditions of denying gay Africans rights, he meant.


The church, the official sections at least, do spout venom.


At the beginning of Gafcon, Orombi was pressed on the violence that is meted out in Africa against gay Africans. He failed to condemn it. Oh yes, this Prince of the Church failed to condemn violence against homosexuals, because they are homosexuals. Another person, the primate of Sydney, I think, saw the trap. Or at least understood the logical meaning of the venom from Orombi. He was espousing a position of hate to the homosexual Ugandan. Simply because he is homosexual.


Now, Orombi is assailing Obama for equating the rights of homosexuals to Civil Rights.


Look, is the underlying statement. Homosexuals do not deserve rights. They should be treated just as they are treated in Africa. Closeted. When they are known to be so, prosecuted. As Akinola, another African Prince of the Church put it in the press conference at Gafcon, they should not think they can avoid the consequences of going against culture.


So, I rejected the teaching of the church. I will not lie to myself that it was not partly in reaction to their rabid madness against my sexuality. They simply do not know what I am. They do not want to know me. They condemn me, want prison for me, HIV for my lover, the continuation of my demonisation. And they justify this piously by pointing to their holy book.


It is true that I was very relieved to understand on my part, that I did not need to believe.


Yet, with my lover struggling with his spirituality by my side, and others of my friends failing to reconcile their spirituality and their sexuality, I become mad again.


The church is pouring out venom, and my people are hurting.


To me it matters, because, though I may not believe, I do not see any reason why we are all denied the right to believe, because we are what we are.


I have a friend whose struggle has led him to near suicide. He cannot reconcile being gay and being a Christian. Another, an Anglican, was forced to get married, and now he runs away from home, because he cannot continue to live the lie.


And on the other side stand the hypocritical Archbishops, condemnation and venom pouring out of their mouths. Nothing but condemnation. And other Christians have to remind them of their duty to love.


And, even when they remember to give lip service to that duty, they do it outside the country. They do not do it in the country. In country, they continue convincing the homosexual Christian that he or she is the very devil. And he has no recourse, except to rejecting himself or herself.


They define themselves my enemies. Yes, enemies.


Because they are not friends who would have me die in my ignorance.


It is an uphill struggle. I have to first understand myself. Then I have to weigh in on my self confidence against the weight of church and society’s homophobia. The perpetual condemnation of what I am.


I may survive.


Or I may fall. Fact is, it is my life on line.


So, they define themselves my enemies, and I have to be serious and understand them. Ironic it is that the most potent weapon I have is the truth. Ironic indeed, and very fitting.


They have all in their favour, except the truth. And I have nothing in my favor, except the truth as I see it. And in this assymetrical war, I predict victory for me. At a cost.


GayUganda

Orombi attacks Obama over homosexuals


By Henry Mukasa
and Moses Mulondo


THE Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, His Grace Henry Luke Orombi, is angered by reports that US presidential hopeful Barack Obama will tolerate gay rights just as racial civil rights.

Orombi, currently in Israel, attending the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) and pilgrimage to the holy land said “moral racial civil rights” are not comparable to “immoral homosexuality.” Orombi’s remarks follow recent statements by Obama’s wife, Michelle, who said her husband would fight for gay rights just as he fought to help working-class families overcome poverty.

In a statement by his Media Adviser to GAFCON, David Sseppuuya, the archbishop urged Obama, who he described as a fellow African, not to disappoint the continent.

“It is distressing that Barack Obama a fellow African would promote racial civil rights as morally equivalent to immoral civil behaviour. We are Africans and know the difference between moral behaviour and responsibility as opposed to civil rights being compared to homosexuality. Will Barack Obama represent our interests in this matter?” Orombi asked.


Any suprises here? Orombi would rather all gay Africans pay the price for their sexuality according to the law of the country. Life in prison. Or as his colleague the Mufti says, Get an Island on Lake Victoria, and maroon them there. They will die out.

What nice 'Christian' attitudes! Christ would be suprised!

Orombi claims Obama an African. Big deal, so have I. But I wonder how some of these homophobes would take it to know how closely related they are to this homosexual. Oh well, maybe they just keep deluding themselves.

GayUganda

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Any Reason to Hope? Apparently Not

Letters | June 28, 2008


I have read the article about sodomy in schools and all that has been happening with gay people gatecrashing an HIV/Aids drugs conference. Most of the writers are not suggesting solutions to help homosexuals. They are just passing judgement on them.


We should avoid the same mistakes the West made by being homophobic and not providing solutions. Here in UK and the rest of the West when homosexuals were discovered they were shamed and sometimes killed. They decided to form groups and fight for their rights. Then the politicians used that as a weapon for their campaigns to get homosexuals to vote them into office.


Uganda can avoid ending up with a society like here in the UK and the Western World where hunting gays instead provided them with weapons to advance homosexuality.


The Churches in Uganda, especially the born-again ones like Kampala Pentecostal Churches, Baptist Churches, Deliverance Churches should train Christian counsellers who can work with homosexuals to help them understand that homosexuality is a sin and God Hates it. God does not hate a homosexual but the sin and it is only when people refuse to repent that they perish.


Homosexuality is like adultery or polygamy or any other sin for that matter. It is easy for the person living an adulterous life to justify it and make it look normal. So I petition the churches, Pastor Ssempa to quit judging gays and begin helping those lost souls, like Jesus Christ did.


There is a Catholic church in Poland which is helping homosexuals to abandon their lifestyle. The Born-Again Churches in Uganda should emulate the Polish Catholic church and put the Bible in practice.


After all, all of us who call ourselves born-again Christians were once lost in sin but through Jesus we were found. The Church is a place for healing, restoration and growth but not judgement.


But while I implore Born-Again Churches to rise up and do their job, I want to warn those who might twist my words towards claiming that they are Christians and homosexuals.


These Christian counsellors should work closely with schools to help not only homosexuals but all the students who need assistance through counselling and the whole society.


Olive Kagere

Spot the Difference?

Hot Days


the sun rises, a burning sphere bright

in a pale blue sky, devoid of cloud-

tracking a liquid fire path across the blue.


the winds of the lake, barely touching the heat,

the nights under a cloudless star speckled sky

are cold, colder than usual;

stark contrast to the burning day.



GayUganda

Friday, June 27, 2008

Hot Days

The sun rises a burning sphere bright

in a pale blue sky, devoid of cloud

to track a burning course through the day.

The winds of the lake

barely soothing the heat;

and the nights, under a cloudless, star-speckled sky;

are cold, colder than usual-

stark contrast to the burning day.




(c)GayUganda 27 Jun. 2008

GAFCON; It is all about Power


This opinion piece is biased. It is not politically correct. It is cynical and definitely not ‘Christian’.

And from my very biased view, it is so accurate that you will forgive me for not having any reservations to putting it here. In full. Sometimes we are too determined to be ‘politically correct’ to see logic when it is shoved into our faces.

Anti-gay bishops are after power, not truth

By George Pitcher

Last Updated: 12:01am BST 26/06/2008

Leadership in the West is “a mess and unable to understand the post-colonial reality”. The best thing to do would be to “dismantle” the western establishment to usher in a post-colonial world.

Who might this be speaking? The increasingly beleaguered Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe in one of his more mild-mannered moments?

Actually it is Canon Vinay Samuel, who was yesterday addressing the alternative Anglican conference in Jerusalem, Gafcon, for bishops who feel that they cannot in conscience attend the decennial Lambeth Conference at Canterbury next month, so long as they have to be in communion with openly homosexual bishops.

Not that Canon Samuel is a bishop. He is from the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies. But he reveals what Gafcon is really about. The Global South’s spiritual leader, Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria, is fond of saying that the post-colonial West demonises him and that a new order must be ushered in.

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In his launch address at Gafcon, he speaks of it being “a godly instrument appointed to reshape, reform, renew and reclaim a true Anglican Biblical orthodox Christianity.” Mark that word “reclaim”.

Meanwhile, a cheerleading website for Gafcon, Virtueonline (“The Voice For Global Orthodox Anglicanism”), declares that it is “the height of western Anglican arrogance to perpetuate the myth that the West holds sway over the communion.

That day is long gone along with the Elizabethan Settlement and the British Empire.

A new global Anglican Communion day is dawning and its strength is coming from new global quarters.”

One might say “headquarters” and there is no doubt where they are to be located – in post-colonial Africa.

So this conference of Anglican dissenters is not about homosexuality at all, or rather only in so far as it is a useful lightning rod for an alternative, authoritarian Anglican Communion.

Nor is it really about Biblical authority, which even the most conservative scholarship will acknowledge is a moveable feast.

It is simply about where the locus of Anglican authority should reside. And it is driven by a post-colonial political imperative; the West has used and abused the Global South and now it’s pay-back time.

In this worldview, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, is a “relic” (Canon Samuel’s word) of old empire, who must be replaced, presumably by the likes of Archbishop Akinola, who has come within a hair-trigger of saying that Muslim Nigerian violence against Christians will be met in kind.

This presumes that Dr Williams is a political leader to be overthrown by an official opposition. He is nothing of the sort.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is primus inter pares in the worldwide Anglican Communion, holding together (or trying to) a loose federation of global churches, often at odds with one another but on a common journey.

Nor is Gafcon an official opposition. It is an unholy alliance of Anglican interests that want to replace post-reformational dialogue and mutual tolerance with an authoritarian catechistic power that dictates from its centre what it means to be an Anglican.

And it’s an unholy alliance because African primates are at once complaining about American imperialism in their continent, while taking American protestant fundamentalists (and their money) into the Gafcon cause.

When innocently duped bishops, such as Dr Michael Nasir-Ali, Bishop of Rochester, discover the truth – that it is a straightforward power play to replace the pluralist Anglican Communion with a rigid and narrow new orthodoxy dictated from Africa – they will be disappointed.

Though not, perhaps, as disappointed as Dr Nazir-Ali will be that this proposed new regime doesn’t offer him a path to the See of Canterbury.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Marching with pride in Jerusalem

Something nice to read out of Gafcon


I am not a typical gay activist, but I am marching in Jerusalem today for the right to love, and be loved


Four weeks ago I had no plans to visit Jerusalem, let alone speak at the city's march for pride and tolerance. I am a Christian who believes in the Bible. I am also gay.


After a last minute decision, I came to Jerusalem to report from the Anglican Gafcon conference on behalf of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement. Gafcon is a grouping of Anglicans from around the world who believe that the church is straying from biblical teaching, particularly with regard to sexual morality.


The Lesbian and Gay Christian movement, like the Anglican church, contains people of a wide range of Christian theology: some are Catholic, some liberal, some evangelical. I would describe myself as an evangelical.


I am an evangelical because I believe in the supernatural power of God to change people. I believe that God revealed himself in Jesus and showed his love by even being prepared to die for us. I believe that this was more than the action of a great man, and that this is demonstrated by his rising from the dead. These are orthodox Christian views that I share with Christians all over the world. I also believe that it is not wrong to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.


I would never describe myself as a gay activist. This week is the first time I have written anything other than articles for a church magazine. I am, though, a Christian activist and I have been since I accepted Jesus at the age of 14.


I am marching in the Jerusalem pride march today because, as a Christian, I believe that Jesus came to set people free from legalism, that God loves us just as we are. Jesus said the greatest commandment was to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind". And the second was like it: "Love your neighbour as yourself."


We are marching to claim the right to love; the right to be loved by our parents and families for who we are and to share our love for them; the right to love and care for our children and others who need our help; the right to love one another, and have that love acknowledged and regarded; and for those of us who are believers, the right to know and share God's love.


We are the lucky ones, we are free to march and live our lives. In many, many, countries around the world, including many in which Anglican church leaders are powerful politically, as well as religious leaders, such as Nigeria, Uganda and Kenya, people are still harassed, arrested, tortured and killed for their failure to love the right person; their failure to be a "real man" or "real woman". We are all real people, made in the image of God. That is why it is such a privilege for me to march in Jerusalem.


Christians are called to be Jesus's witnesses "in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). It seems I have accidentally come back to the start. In marching in the March for Pride and Tolerance in Jerusalem, I will also be witnessing for the Jesus who sets us free.

Mugabe of Zimbabwe


‘s hard to blame Mugabe
nor will I dare do so,
for he’s more than twice my age,
and I still have my wits about me
before the senility of old age
makes pampers a welcome distraction,
and logic so much stupidity
beloved by the youngsters.



He lives in a never-never dreamland
where reality is my will
however absurd that is;
despite all the years gone by
and the silver crown on his head-
immortality he still seeks,
such an elusive goal!
Believing ones own desperate lies,
the madness of power, illusions of deity.


Its hard to believe the stupidity
forcing people me to love
my gun at their head, knives in the stomach;
hunger pangs, needy wails of their children in their ears
yet I believe they love mad me,
the fear in their eyes a strangely satisfying love
proving the desperate assertion of devotion
flowing from their slow lips.


That immortal thing, adulation,
regard, when I’m soon to be gone
my legacy spit on the road
my memory a nightmare of shame-
the Amins of this world;
Hitlers, Stalins- cruel mortal men;
Mugabes, dare I say the Excellency
of this more than fair land?


Indeed, is old age a curse?
[he’s frightening me, shaming silvery wisdom]
when the lessons of age are un-learnt
and, despite prayers to be a Mandela-
living saint in life-
one’s an ogre, like the Burmese generals
leaders of the dead, living Pol Pots,
a curse on all humanity, while I still live?



GayUganda 26 June 2008

Season of Winds


It’s the season of winds


blowing from, the general


direction of the lake,


whirring and whipping the


trees, branches and leaves


in all directions.




the season of winds,


nary a cloud in the skies,


horizon to horizon-


the sun a blinding burning blaze


through its long course of day;


not a cloud to shade it,


all picked up, wind whipped from the skies.




A season of winds, the skies a high pale blue,


an arid desert waste, the clouds oases,


few and far between-



a season of winds, now a caress;


a rough tumble, a rake through


the tree leaves, that no rest know


the higher they perch on the proud trees,




a season of winds, no fog, mist or smog


in Kampala’s drying hollows and valleys-


maybe the soon to be abundant red dust,


loosened by numerous feet, drying sun-



A season of winds, dry


caresses the city Kampala.




©GayUganda 26 June 2008

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

A Not so Private Conversation


It was private, that is, until I decided to put it here. I am just being cheeky.


Some background. In Uganda, we have two major English dailies. The red rug is a rug, so I will not grace toilet paper with the ‘news’ monica.


The New Vision is the government owned newspaper. Once upon a time it was fairly independent. That was till the end of 2006, when the President decided that it was not fitting that the government paper criticizes the government. So, it lost its independence. Now, it only speaks what the govt wants. And gives editorials like the totally confusing one here and here.

And there is the Monitor. An independent. I think at the moment it is owned by the Aga Khan or something like that. Has a reputation of independence.

So, last year, when we wanted to have our national outing, Monitor was a very good place. Maybe the only place we could go to! And they did us some good things. I mean, they did report very objectively. It riled Ssempa so much that he started a campaign against one of the Monitor Reporters, an intern from America. Her crime, according to Ssempa, was ‘promoting homosexuality’. No, the newspapers editors said, she did not do that. She was just doing her job, reporting what her editor had asked her to.

But Monitor staff are Ugandan. Maybe we lucked on an American intern as a total bit of serendipity! So, even when we had generated that debate, there used to be a quirky kick from some of the Monitor staff.
This past Saturday, the Monitor headlines were searing. ‘SODOMY IN BOARDING SCHOOLS’. I cringed. Did not read the article till the next day. Oh yes, I posted it here. Doesn’t mean I read it! Just the fact that, a straight person would also not like to be accused of all the 'straight' rapes that occur... And I knew that something like that was going to happen. In fact, as a letter from a reader puts it in today's Monitor, 'Research has shown a close relation between homosexuality, drug abuse and spread of AIDS!'

[Let the witch-hunt begin. Lynch the homosexuals!]

The next day, I came across another article in that Monitor. The one from the experts. I was riled. So riled that I found little relief in the post. Experts do need to be experts.

And I thought I should send it to the letters to the editor.

I was surprised to get an answer. Usually, letters to the editor are either trashed (majority) and a very few answered. I know that!
Now, I will let the correspondence do the talking…

---


gug has sent you a link to a blog: Blog: GayUganda Post: Demonised? Are these 'truths' true? Link: http://gayuganda.blogspot.com/2008/06/demonised-are-these-truths-true.html


Man [or woman?],
Just leave us alone. We are clean and ramrod straight.
H


--
Leave me alone. And just do not sell your papers on innuendos and untruths about me.
Mr H, LEAVE ME ALONE. I NEITHER SOLICITED FOR YOUR ATTENTION, NOR DID I ASK YOU TO WRITE UNTRUTHS ABOUT ME. JUST LEAVE ME ALONE.
You just have to learn that we are human beings, and we do suffer from your irrational hate. If you were to ignore us it would be ok. But you go ahead and write lies from 'experts'. Then what the hell will the red pepper do?
Leave us homosexuals alone. It should be us saying that, not you.

GUG

---


Who sent me the link in the first place?

And secondly, it does not matter to me what this or that western ‘scientific’ agency says or does to whitewash sodomy, it is very easy to see where they would be coming from, if you read my meaning. Why else are you clowns fighting tooth and nail to get yourselves accepted if sodomy was acceptable to nature in the first place?

H

--

Hi H,

thanks for the information.

I did not send you the link. I sent the link to the Letters Editor at Monitor. I thought that is what we are supposed to do, write letters to the Editor? Forgive me if I got it wrong.

Thanks for your raging hate. Thanks for accusing me of things which you have no idea that I do or not.

All that you know of me is that I am gay and Ugandan. And of course that I was riled at the monitor article, citing 'experts' which a cursory search of the web would have shown to be ill informed.

No, I expected better of the Monitor. Of the Red Pepper, I did not expect anything better. Sorry, I thought I bought a copy of the Monitor, not the Red Pepper.

Be well H,

and god bless your hate with love.

Gug

----

Ok, and there ended the correspondence! Yeah, I was not my cool suave self. A bit over the top and all that. A bad day, I admit!

A Wednesday


Low mood.


For some reason, the brilliant sunny weather is not translating into cheer in my mind. A little down this week, I must admit. Not weekend blues, nor Monday morning blues, since they are extending late in the week.


But I am not worried. Same old, same old.


We all tend to be up and high sometimes, low and difficult others. Noticed I was snapping at my partner. He gave me the look, like, hell dude, what is over you these days? Made me remember that I am off the poetry; not reading it as much. Is one of those things which have an inevitable lift for me.


And of course writing.


Gets a bit funny, when I am able to find so many things from the net, on my ‘usual’ subjects. But I also love writing, for writings sake.


There’s a friend, if I dare call him so. Put up a post which alarmed me.

I wrote asking what the problem was, daring to demand he gets attention! Presumptuous of me, but he didn’t take it bad. Told me that to him, writing is therapy. A way of relieving tension, exploring that which is in ones mind. A way of insight.


That, that I have been missing too.


The posts on gay topics on Uganda in and out do consume me, but they are not the whole of me. So, I write of poetry, just for the sake of it. I may not be good, and I do not plan to take lessons in it (sorry Eshuneutics!), but one thing I plan to do, and that is to use it to express the things that this life of mine stumbles across.

I am no genius, nor will I claim to be. But I will be happy in the few things that I can do to my total satisfaction.


The weather has changed here.


No more rain, or at least so little of it that it seems as if it is not raining.


Wind, turbulent, whipping back and forth. That seems to be the predominant theme. The grass is as green as ever, not burnt out. The trees are as leafy as ever. Beautiful Uganda. Beautiful Kampala. It still has the ability to make my soul sing.


Sometimes I forget that this country is not just Kampala. Seems to be such a focus of everything happening here!

But it is not. The north of the country is vastly different. I have taken time without returning there, but I cannot forget the expanse of sky, and land, and the undulating almost flat surface. And I, born and raised in Kampala, the change in the seasons was marked. Striking. It is green during the wet, and brown during the dry seasons. Not like Kampala. Green and green, with the red brown dust a blip in the year’s seasons.


It seems I was mistaken. Gafcon has not resulted into a schism. Nor will it result in a schism. Maybe, or in part, because the Australians seem to have emerged the power brokers, instead of the Africans. I have liked this analysis from the Independent.


Bolton was surprised that I continue posting about it. Simple. The religions in Uganda are too influential. Especially in Uganda. Despite what the Archbishop Orombi says, they can, and do influence what the government does. And if they were to come out and embrace us homosexuals in Uganda, the homophobia would be muted. But at the moment, they are the leaders of the homophobia campaign. They seem to have more at stake in our demonisation than in loving us. So, of course they will say they cannot improve the homo-hate and homo bash situation.


But know what is good?


If they don’t split, and that seems to be what is going to occur, then the westerners will continue influencing them. And calling them out on the frank homophobia, which is hate, after all! So, maybe something good is coming out of Gafcon.


Yet, something strikes me. I do not know Akinola. But something tells me the guy wants a schism. And he wants to be the head, the leader. Wonder what more is going to happen? What has held him back? The rhetoric at the beginning was too schismatic.



GayUganda

Monday, June 23, 2008

An Unheavenly Silence


An unheavenly silence on homophobia


Clerics at the Global Anglican Futures Conference have been slow to condemn violence against gay people. It's incredible, and unchristian

Barely 24 hours into the Global Anglican Futures conference (Gafcon) in Jerusalem and the assembled leaders have already exhausted every synonym for schism, without uttering the word itself, to describe the impact of actions taken by the US Episcopal church and the Anglican church of Canada. The meeting, lasting eight days and costing £2.5m, is the climax of ultimatums and summits, spanning a decade, about the ordination and consecration of gay clergy and the blessing of same-sex unions.

Last night, the Archbishop of Nigeria, Peter Akinola, said the Gafcon movement would liberate people from religious bondage and would offer a spiritual haven for those who could not live under a "revisionist leadership". It sounds appealing to the millions of Anglicans disillusioned with western churches. But a press conference revealed acute differences of opinion between the bishops, especially, and most worryingly, on the subject of raping and torturing homosexuals.

A question from Iain Baxter, a media representative from the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, aroused expressions of disbelief and outright denial from the primates. The name of his organisation raised a discomfiting titter. Homosexuality is illegal in Nigeria, Uganda and Kenya and is punishable by a fine, imprisonment or death.

Archbishops from these countries were on the panel. They said they could not influence government policy on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) legislation, nor could they condone homosexual behaviour because their churches would be shut down. They added one could not break the taboos of African society without suffering the consequences.

Presumably, these cultural constraints justify the punishment meted out to Prossy Kakooza, Baxter's example of someone tortured because of her sexual orientation. She was arrested, marched naked for two miles to a police station, raped and beaten.

Akinola did not condemn these acts. Neither did the other African archbishops. Orombi said he had never heard of people being tortured because of their homosexuality, that when he learned about incidents – from the western media – he was at a loss to understand why he had not heard of them. He refused to accept that persecuting and torturing gay people was done openly in Uganda.

It was clear they failed to grasp how homophobic rhetoric from the pulpit led to violence and intimidation, as described by Colin Coward from Changing Attitudes. Still no condemnation was forthcoming. As a follow-up I asked whether the lack of condemnation meant they condoned torture of homosexuals. It took the Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, to articulate opposition to all acts of violence towards all people. The Africans didn't even nod in agreement.

Their muteness – either because they did not understand the question or did not understand why they had to issue a condemnation – is a harrowing glimpse of a dogmatic and draconian narrative that has not been explored thoroughly; least of all, it seems, by those who have allied themselves with the populous Anglican churches in Africa.

Failure to condemn acts of torture is inhumane, incredible and unchristian. Three characteristics that no Anglican movement should be proud of.

Should i add in my shillings worth? We have been talking about the Ssempa's and Orombi's of this world. Kimbowa, one of Ssempa's flock was only the latest to come and piously show how much he hated me. Because i am a homosexual. Nothing new here. yet everything is new, isnt it?

Ahem, I had not seen this analysis of the thoughts of their excellencies from Nigeria and Uganda. The Nigerian Archbishop actually lied. (disingenious, political correctness for lies). He lied, and here is some interesting proofs of his lies.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Demonised? Are these 'truths' true?

I was not happy about the last post. Course I picked it from the Monitor newspaper. But this article which was in the same sheet infuriated me. Because, as a gay youth, one of the things that will usually happen is that you will seek to understand yourself. And these are the people we go to for help, and this is how they mess us up.

If you are gay, and Ugandan, please, know that you are ok. This bullshit from 'experts' is not the truth. In fact these are far from the reality as it is. In 1973, the American Psychiatrists Association removed Homosexuality from the Diagnostic Statistical Manual. In their view, homosexuality was not a disease. And it has not been a disease. In 1994, the World Health Organisation removed homosexuality from the International Classification of Disease (ICD-10) The Royal College of Psychiatrists viewpoint is the same.
Kimbowa, and typically Ssempa, rubbish these facts by claiming that the people so involved are 'closeted homosexuals' themselves. But, take it or leave it, these are experts. And if the hell you want any unbiased discussion of these things, check out the Wikipedia article on Homosexuality.

Hell, that is a rant, and I am glad I am giving it. These 'experts' gave their opinion in the Monitor on 21 June 2008. It is not expert opinion. I am just a plain homosexual, a Ugandan, who has lived my life as a homosexual, and dared to search for the truth about my sexuality, wading through the mud of this kind of mis-information and untruths. It is that. Mis-information, untruths, failure to understand the difference between me as a homosexual, my sexuality, and the problems that I may have because of this kind of persecution.

I am gay. A homosexual. I am not sick because I am gay. I am just what I was made, a gay man.

And here is the article from the 'experts' that I am ranting about.

Uganda: Sodomy, the Untold Story in Boarding Schools

The Monitor (Kampala)

21 June 2008

Posted to the web 20 June 2008

Rodney Muhumuza

Kampala

A child counsellor has claimed that sodomy in boarding primary schools is "the untold story". Mr Denis Odoi, of World Vision Uganda, said on Thursday that his interactions with several sodomised children have led him to believe that "boarding primary schools are very, very dangerous".

"I would not advise any parent to take his or her child to boarding primary schools that are single sex," Mr Odoi said on Thursday, reacting to reports that sodomy is thriving in secondary schools.

"I don't have the figures, but what I can say is that there are so many cases that if the actual research is done, the results would be staggering."

According to Mr Odoi, "some primary schools have come to me" to counsel the abused children in their care. Although Mr Odoi said older pupils may have been responsible for sexually assaulting the children he counselled, his stunning revelation did not explain whether the alleged acts of sodomy were actually performed by people other than the older pupils. Mr Odoi declined to mention his clients or the specific cases he has dealt with.

Experts say the health risks involved in sodomy, especially where the victims are pre-teenage children, are immense.

"Physical damage is more common in young people because of the size involved," said Dr Vincent Karuhanga, a private medical practitioner in Kampala.

"It is easier that way to catch sexually-transmitted diseases, including HIV/Aids," he said. "The anal sphincter becomes loose. Once the anal sphincter is damaged, it is irreversible."

Still, according to Dr Karuhanga, who says he has dealt with sodomy cases, "guilt and loss of self esteem" are most prominent traits exhibited by victims. Habit formation takes place during puberty, leaving sodomised children highly likely to become homosexuals for life, experts say.

A child develops a "sexual value system" around the age of 13, when most children are joining secondary school, said Mr Paul Nyende, a Makerere community psychologist. Sodomised children, he said, are likely to "revenge" on the next generation so as to pass on the guilt.



Saturday, June 21, 2008

Uganda: Sodomy in Boarding Schools

It would be unfair if I insisted on putting only the 'good articles' about gay life in Uganda on this blog, wouldnt it? So, I have to put this one.

And qualify with this statement. I went to one of these boarding schools. Yeah. And was never 'forced'. But I am biasing you already. Bad reading...

Uganda: Sodomy in Boarding Schools

The Monitor (Kampala)

The Monitor (Kampala)

21 June 2008

Posted to the web 20 June 2008

Rodney Muhumuza & Richard Wanambwa

In accounts that indict school administrators and illustrate the darker side of life in boarding schools, some parents have spoken out to reveal the depth of sexual abuse in single-sex schools.

At least three parents have told Saturday Monitor that they were forced to move their children to other schools after learning of the risks at the schools they went to.

And another parent, who has suggested that she may soon have to find a new school for her child, has already complained to the Ministry of Education that her teenage son may have been sodomised at the prestigious school he attends.

The risks involved, according to the accounts, range from sodomy to indulgence in other forms of crass sexual behaviour.

Their courageous testimonies spoke of students being forced to indulge in unnatural sexual practices at schools where administrators do not encourage students to report cases of sexual abuse.

The parents we spoke to, even though they did so on condition of anonymity because they did not want to bring stigma to themselves or their children, admitted that even transferring their children to new schools provided no immediate guarantees that they were now in safe hands.

One parent transferred her son from Busoga College Mwiri to Kisubi High School; another moved her son from Kiira College Butiki to Kyambogo College School; and the third, if it were not for concerns over hefty fees elsewhere, wanted to move her daughter from Wanyange Girls' School.

Another parent told Saturday Monitor that her "brilliant daughter" has vowed not to return for her A'levels at one of the leading girls' schools in Kampala due to the growing problem of lesbianism at the school.

Mr Aggrey Kibenge, the Ministry of Education publicist, said that one case had been brought to their attention.

A woman, responding to complaints from her child who attends St Mary's College Kisubi (Smack), complained to the ministry that her son is sleep-deprived at school because he has to worry about the possibility of being sodomised at night.

The boy, the woman alleged in a separate email to the Saturday Monitor, may have already been sexually abused.

Mr Kibenge confirmed that the ministry was investigating alleged homosexual behaviour at Smack, but he also said that it may be difficult to establish the truth because of the absence of willing complainants.

"They investigated [the case] and said there was no evidence. The headmaster [of Smack] said it cannot be possible that sodomy happens at the school," Mr Kibenge said on Thursday.

"It's a matter that one needs to follow through and get testimonies. But the investigators have to fight with the administrators."

Mr Fagil Mandy, an education consultant who once worked as the Ministry of Education's top inspector of schools, said that homosexual behaviour, while it has long been reported in some Ugandan schools, is now driven by a global culture that is increasingly less hostile towards homosexuals.

"We now have lobbyists who are campaigning and winning over people," Mr Mandy said on Thursday. "First of all it is curiosity [among students], and then there is the element of money [provided by foreigners who wish to popularise gay culture in Uganda]."

Homosexuality is a crime in Uganda, and the Penal Code Act prescribes life imprisonment for a convict. But while there have been some arrests of openly gay people, nobody has ever been successfully prosecuted.

And because most Ugandan homosexuals are decidedly secretive, there are no reliable estimates of their numbers in a country where, like in most of Africa, all cultural orientations condemn gay behaviour. "The people don't report the cases.

If there is no complainant, then who will testify against the accused?" asked Ms Judith Nabakoooba, the police publicist. In recent times, homosexuals and their sympathisers have been campaigning for public acceptance; three of them were yesterday in court to face tresspass charges resulting from a public event called by the pressure group Sexual Minorities Uganda.

According to the accounts of the parents who spoke to us, gay life is thriving in single-sex boarding schools because most administrators do not have the guts to punish the offenders.

What has happened is that while administrators may have every reason to suspect some students of engaging in inappropriate sexual behaviour, they are unlikely to take the firm step to punish or dismiss them.

"The feeling I was given was that the administrators did not encourage reports of that nature," Mr Kibenge said of the investigation into sodomy at Smack. "It's something we need to keep a watchful eye on."

The question of whether sodomy happens at Smack has been the subject of an online debate started by old boys and parents who say they are concerned about the safety of the new generation of students at the prominent school, founded by Catholic missionaries.

In an email to one of the old boys, a copy of which we have seen, Mr Edward Bukenya, the Smack headmaster, was adamant that his school was beyond suspicion.

"I am in receipt of your email against our school Smack. First of all, I thank you for your concern for your alma mater, and as an old boy you are enjoined to always promote the good image of Smack," Mr Bukenya said in the April 26 email to Mr Timothy Gaburungi. "It's quite unfortunate that the enemies of the school tend to discredit the school in such a negative image.

Smack, being always on the top of other schools in the country, especially in academic performance, attracts a lot of envy and jealousy from some people..."

Mr Bukenya was reluctant to speak to Saturday Monitor on alleged sodomy in his school. The authorities at Butiki and Mwiri said the allegations were unfair. It was not possible to reach the Wanyange headmistress for a comment.

Mr James Kubeketerya, the Bunya East MP who is the outgoing chairman of Parliament's Social Services Committee, said he was aware that poor students attending different schools were being lured with money to promote gay culture at single-sex schools.

Without providing details, Mr Kubeketerya, a former teacher at Mwiri, said older students are promised financial rewards for "luring the small ones" into homosexuality.

"The important thing is [to say] that sodomy goes on in some schools," Mr Kubeketerya said. "The administrators should openly speak out."

According to the parents who spoke to us, their children asked to be taken to new schools. But they may have been sexually abused by the time they asked for change, the parents said.

"He told me that it was an attempt, three attempts actually, to sodomise him," said the mother of the boy who left Mwiri for Kyambogo. "He changed behaviour and I got concerned. He told me that he did not want to go back to that school."

Mr Martin Sempa, a Kampala pastor who is interested in youth affairs, said in an interview on Thursday that he had interacted with at least 20 students who were sodomised at the schools they attended.

"I think that this is the biggest tragedy in our education system. I swear that will never take my child to a boarding school," Mr Sempa said, naming at least three people known to him who have witnessed sodomy "from close quarters". One of the witnesses he named, a former Smack student who left the school in 2004, said homosexuality there was engendered by "the big boys" in the school's rugby team.

"I was not a victim, but I know that sodomy used to happen during night time, when we were watching movies," he said, requesting anonymity because he did not want to bring attention to himself. "It was done by the big boys in the rugby team, the big, big guys. They are the ones who were sodomising the young ones."

The accounts of two other witnesses (whose identities we have withheld in order to respect of their privacy), even though they attended different schools, were tragically similar to the story told by the Smack old boy. They all spoke of older students leading their younger counterparts in relationships that started innocently, sometimes with just a simple request to "lay my bed today".

In some cases, according to the accounts, sodomy was perpetrated by prefects and other seemingly responsible students, making it even more difficult for the victims to consider speaking out against their tormentors.

"You saw kids walking in all sorts of ways. They were in pain--it was very, very bad," the Smack old boy said.




This is terrible. Which right thinking person would dare believe that being gay is a good thing after this sort of article. I am realy terrible because I am gay, arent I?

Am I really guilty as charged above?