Divergent views, in Uganda

The Observer is continuing airing  views on the gay debate. For them it is a debate, which is interesting. I have pulled out two letters, from the letters page.


Just to show you the 'mood' in the country. Matter of fact, it is still a thing on the periphery of national conscious.

Death for gays is an overkill                      

Sunday, 08 November 2009 19:02

While I abhor homosexuality, I believe it is not only irresponsible but extremely stupid to hand down a death sentence on actively gay people. Our African leaders will place a treason charge on a person who fairly competes for state power against them in an election!

Remember that the punishment for a treason sentence is death! You want to give these would be killers in government another tool to attempt to kill their opponents with? You are not killing rapists or murderers who kill their political opponents in broad daylight, like what happened at Bulange, but you want to kill people who have voluntarily agreed to disgrace themselves in the privacy of their rooms?! What about the politicians who are publicly disgracing themselves everyday? I believe it’s more shameful and deserving of death to take five million shillings to sell out your country than to voluntarily engage in homosexuality.

Paget Kintu.

kin2pag@gmail.com

Let's stand up to homosexuality

Two recent stories concerning the campaign against homosexuality serve as an encouraging reminder that while much of the world appears to have lost its moral compass, we Ugandans are willing to stand firm in defence of our time-honoured cultural heritage.

At a time when homosexuality and other unnatural forms of sexual behaviour are being re-packaged as “normal”, it’s refreshing to see pastors like Martin Sempa, Steven Langa, and Michael Kyazze, as well as MPs like David Bahati and Benson Obua, reject the pretence that deviant conduct can be socially acceptable. As Dr. Nsaba Buturo, the Minister of Ethics put it, let those who claim that homosexuality is normal start by showing us a single biological being (human or otherwise) that is the product of a homosexual union.

Fellow Ugandans, moral compromise is a very slippery slope and if we allow ourselves to be swayed by a pro-gay media campaign which brands anyone who rejects homosexuality as a “homophobe”, then very soon those who reject rape, paedophilia, and other perversions will also be branded outcasts.

The ongoing debate on the Anti-homosexuality Bill is therefore a momentous occasion to chart our collective moral future and it’s important that our MPs be reminded just how far-reaching the implications of their votes will be. Their decision will shape the social environment that their children and grand-children will inherit.

Waiswa Magoola,

wmagoola@yahoo.com