Update on the death bill for LGBT people in Uganda

Apparently, the most inhumane pieces of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill  being discussed in Uganda have been dropped.   Writes Bloommberg: The draft bill, which is under consideration by a parliamentary committee, will drop the two punishments to attract the support of religious leaders who are opposed to these penalties... The Ugandan government supports the bill because homosexuality and lesbianism are 'repugnant to the Ugandan culture,' Buturo said. Still, it favors a more refined set of punishments, he said.

Of course I'm pleased that if this bill passes homosexuality and HIV status would not be punishable by death.  But my fear in focusing on this aspect of the bill has been that the lack of discussion around the entire bill.  What's left of the bill is horrible enough: seven years in prison for being gay and three years in prison for knowing someone gay and not reporting that person to the authorities.  If the bill passes with these penalties in tact, I don't think there's a great deal to celebrate.  The bottom line, in my book, is that there is no compromise here.  None of us should be satisfied doing business and supplying aid to a country that imprisons its citizens because of who they are.

Rachel Maddow has over the past few nights done a superb job uncovering the frightening connections between the originators of the Anti-Homosexual Bill and members of the United States Congress.  And these connections are even deeper than she originally believed.  Time also reports a connection between the bill and some US politicians and religious figures:

The bill has an American genesis of sorts, inspired to a large extent by the visits of U.S. evangelicals who are involved with a movement that promotes Christianity's role in getting homosexuals to become "ex-gays" through prayer and faith. Ugandan supporters of the bill appear to be particularly impressed by the ideas of Scott Lively, a California conservative preacher who has written a book, The Pink Swastika, about what he calls the links between Nazism and a gay agenda for world domination, which, by itself, would have raised the anti-colonial sensitivities of Ugandan society.

Wow.  Gay people are  going to take over the world just as the Nazis tried to?  Take over the world?  I can't even keep my desk neat.  It's laughable if it weren't so serious.

10 Reasons why some of us call it hate....

I was watching the clip of Jon Steward's interview with Mike Huckabee about gay marriage. In the middle of the discussion, Huckabee looks to Jon Steward and says something like, "I don't hate gay people. Those of us who oppose same sex marriage are merely affirming what marriage is, not making laws to keep gays out." I'm paraphrasing, but you get the gist. Rick Warren, Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin -- they all say the same thing.

I've gone along with the notion that many opponents aren't haters. I've always known there were haters out there, but I think at some level I've bought into the line that most of those who oppose gay marriage aren't haters. But something struck me a I watched Huckabee answer Jon Stewart: there is hate in more of these people than I wanted to admit.

Here are some people who claim to respect me.  Here is also why they don't.  And here is why what the represent or say is hateful.



    1. I hear Mike Huckabee describe this wonderful institution that he calls the bedrock of society.  And it's so wonderful, in fact, that if I'm let in, I will ruin it.  That's what I'm told. "I just don't want to be in the same room with you," Huckabee seems to be saying. "I want you out of my institution all together.  Go away.  You'll destroy it." But I don't hate you.  I am not a hater.

    2. Rick Warren, another pastor who "loves" gay people, was essential in creating churches in Uganda.   He worked particularly closely with one of the key movers and shakers of the Anti-Homosexual Bill being considered.  And while he claims to have cut off ties from him two years ago, Warren -- who never hesitates to deal with issues at home and abroad -- refuses to condemn the law that will sentence gay people to death.  "Gay people will die and I won't say a word," is what he is saying.  But I don't hate you.  I am not a hater.

    3. Many bloggers (including Joemygod.blogspot.com) have reported on the religious group called "The Family," a group with connections to Uganda and the politicians backing the law to make homosexuality punishable by death.  This is not a fringe group. At least twenty members of Congress belong to this group and thus have ties to the Ugandan government.  Says Terry Gross of NPR's Fresh Air: "The family is also connected to proposed anti-gay legislation in Uganda that could sentence, quote, repeat offenders to the death penalty."  But we don't hate you.  We are not haters.
 


    4. The night of the ballot question decision in Maine, you'd expect those opposing same sex marriage to be pleased with their results.  But ecstatic? As elated as if they had won the lottery?  The passion behind their behavior went far beyond "preserving marriage" -- their lives wouldn't change one iota the next day.  It was about defeating an enemy.  An enemy consisting of gay men and lesbians who wanted to join the institution they are part of.   If this were a football game, they would have chanted we won, they lost.  But we don't hate you.  We are not haters.

    5.  Oh yes.  Sarah Palin.  She boasted in the VP debate that one of her closest friends was gay.  I wonder if her friend knew this, reported by Michelangelo Signorile: some of her closest advisors are deeply involved with anti-gay and anti-black groups.  Says Signorile of one advisor, coincidentally named McCain,  "In his Web postings McCain has stated that Harvard president Lawrence Summers should be 'persecuted and run out of town' for supporting gay rights. He also believes that the civil rights movement directly resulted in 'black criminality' because people were encouraged to break the law by getting arrested at demonstrations!  But I don't hate you.  I am not a hater.

    6. The Catholic Church has spent millions, yes millions on fighting same sex marriage.  They have chosen to spend this money over feeding the poor.  Sheltering the homeless. Healing the sick.  They have chosen to take their money away from where it might be put to use in a loving, caring way. They have claimed that the end of civilization as we know it will result if gay marriage is allowed. They have said that our mere presence as parents of children would "do violence on them." That's how evil gay people are. But we don't hate you.  We are not haters.


    7. Mitt Romney fought vehemently against same sex marriage in Massachusetts, all the while saying that we should respect gay people.  Hmmmm.  Is that why he actually made fun of us while campaigning in the south?  Is that why he said, with mock shock to a die hard right wing crowd, "Gay couples are actually having couples born to them!" But I don't hate you.  I am not a hater.

    8. The Republican Party wants an amendment to the Constitution to ban same sex marriage, thus making it nearly impossible for future generations -- who are more and more on the side of equality -- to sanction same-sex marriage.  Their "passion" is so great that they elevate the prohibition of same sex marriage to other amendments in the constitution such as  ending the evils of slavery or giving African Americans and women the right to vote.  The Republicans have put their opposition to any recognition of same sex relationships into their new "purity test" for candidates running under the Republican name.  But we don't hate you.  We are not haters.


     9. The Republican Governor of Rhode Island vetoes a bill that would have given same-sex couples the right to bury each other.  The bill was initiated after a man couldn't find his deceased partner's body for weeks because he didn't have a say in how he was to be put to rest.   The governor saw nothing heartless in this; he stated that he saw it as one more step on the road to recognizing gay couples. But I don't hate you.  I am not a hater.

    10. Over one hundred religious leaders recently signed The Manhattan Project, a call to arms to stop (among other things) same-sex marriage.  The leaders, ironically citing Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, remind Christians of the need for civil disobedience when it comes to stopping such things as same sex marriage.  But lest they be accused of hating gay people, the document states, "we respect them as human beings possessing profound, inherent, and equal dignity."  Not enough dignity to love, however. As a matter of fact, they are so hostile to gay relationships that the are encouraging disruption at the weddings of these "dignified" people in an attempt to stop them from marrying.    But we don't hate you.  We are not haters.

Let me be clear.  I do believe we can disagree without hate.  But I'm becoming increasingly weary of the those who try to have it both ways: to participate in hatred behind the veneer of Mr. Rogers.  And I'm going to demand something else before I believe any of those those folks who say they don't hate us: prove it.
  

When fury is needed

The government of Uganda is soon to consider a bill that would make homosexuality punishable by death.  Anyone who supports gay rights (either straight or gay) will be sent to prison.  Anyone who speaks out favorably for same sex marriage can receive life in prison.  Anyone who even knows anyone who is gay and does not report this to the authorities will be sent to prison.  That's right: if a mother knows her child is gay and does not report this, both she and her child can both be sent to prison.

And yes, this is the 21st Century.

But before we start self-righteously ranting against Uganda -- and rant we should, at the top of our lungs and with fury -- we need to face the awful truth of American involvement in this heinous situation:

1.  Some members of the United States Congress belong to a secretive group called The Family.  Probably the most infamous members of this organization are Representative Joe "you lie" Pitts and Bart Stupak, the writer of the Stupak amendment that forbids the government from using insurance agencies that provide abortion coverage to women -- even if it is stipulated that women on this plan through the government cannot take advantage of this coverage.  Members of The Family have been very active in Uganda.  One of their point people is David Bahati, Ugandan member of The Family and one of the originators of Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill.  Even worse, The Family has long had close ties to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who has been notoriously anti-gay.

2.  The United States may actually end up funding the execution (double entendre intended) of this law. According to Mike Signorile, "the Anti-Homosexuality Bill would criminalize key aspects of comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention education and imprison health-care workers who refuse to report sexually active gay patients to the police." In fact, our federal funds are already used to help punish HIV/AIDS education and health care workers.  And this ironic twist: the main transmission of HIV in Uganda is through heterosexual contact.  Under this new bill, health care workers who don't report LGBT patients would be subject to prison time.  Despite all this, US officials in charge of AIDS money in Uganda have actually defended their policy of remaining silent, saying that it is not their job to be monitors of how the money is spent, no matter how corruptly.

3.  We need the voice of the United States government to be louder and clearer.  Either the press or our government is dropping the ball.  The British newspaper The Guardian recently carried a story entitled, Fury at Uganda proposal for gay executions.  The story describes how UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper -- member of the conservative party -- expressed their deep concern for the pending legislation.  Where are the stories in our newspapers about United States fury over the situation?


Thanks to the following sites for their reporting on this issue: The Gist, Americablog.