Where is the outrage? Where is the public outcry of anger and indignation at a proposed bill that would make it illegal for one human being for loving another human being? The punishment for that love: incarceration and possible execution. Yes, you read that right. There are people in this world who want to kill a person for loving. Right now in the nation of Uganda, a bill is being put forth in their Parliament that would make being gay or lesbian illegal.
The anti-homosexuality bill not only punishes those who practice same-sex relations, but also those who interact with known homosexuals and do not turn them in to the police. Another provision in the bill would require extradition of Ugandans committing acts of homosexuality outside the country.
The dangers of this bill include not only the imprisonment and possible execution of gays and lesbians in the country, but the bill also harms efforts to combat the HIV and AIDS epidemic in Uganda and all over the continent of Africa.
This bill comes on the heals of recent visits by U.S. Evangelical Christian leaders with lawmakers and church leaders in Uganda. These Evangelical leaders have used their religious beliefs to support their anti-gay message and to convince those in power in Uganda of the same.
Some of the conservative Christian leaders who have had an influence on the bill believe that through counseling and prayer they can turn a gay person straight. That movement, known as the "ex-gay" movement, has been disproven by credible psychological organizations such as the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the National Association of Social Workers, among many other organizations. Both APA's have also stated over and over again that being gay is not a mental disorder and cannot be cured.
The ex-gay movement is laughable at best and completely terrifying at worst. The idea that one can be "cured" of their innate sexual orientation is absurd. In order to follow their logic, a person can also be cured of their skin color or their height. The followers of the ex gay movement believe that being gay is an illness, is a sin, goes against nature, and, most importantly, is a choice.
Being gay is not a choice, nor is it an illness. I do not wake up in the morning and look at myself in the mirror while I'm brushing my teeth and think, "Gee… I think I'll be attracted to women today." I am also not sick, and I can't call in gay to work. As for being sinful, that may be some people's interpretation, but it's not their job to correct me of this sin.
As a gay woman myself, I can laugh at the idea of the ex-gay movement if I don't think about it too much. Once I begin to really think and analyze this movement, I get scared. Seriously terrified. Homophobia exists in this world, and it makes living a full and healthy life a scary and sometimes dangerous job. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people face harassment, both physical and psychological, because of who they are. This harassment can and often does force LGBT people to have low self-esteem, depression, and sometimes leads to suicide.
The Ugandan bill only makes this embedded societal homophobia even worse. By labeling gays as criminals, as sick and wrong, society reduces the LGBT community to a sub-human status, and thus is able to defend such cruel treatment of human beings.
Rachel Maddow has been covering the developments in this story, and recently interviewed a leader in the ex-gay movement, Richard Cohen, author of the book, "Coming Out Straight". In the interview, linked below, Rachel rips apart Cohen and his book for claiming that homosexuals will abuse and try to recruit young children into the lifestyle. The data that she cites from Cohen's book is completely false and only furthers homophobia and arguments against LGBT rights.
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Rachel Maddow's interview with Richard Cohen, author of "Coming Out Straight". His book is being cited by Ugandan politicians as inspiration for their anti-homosexuality bill.
Comments
Am a Ugandan and am surprised at the amount of furor generated by the bill. Yes, it's a BILL. A private Member's Bill to be exact. To the uninitiated, it means that the views therein are an individual's views and that parliament will first debate it and remove the extreme elements in it before it is passed. Yeah, you read that right. It will be passed.
Such is the level of our 'ignorance' and tolerance for the 'persecution of minorities'
Seriously though, if you care so much about men who have anal sex with other men, why not invite them over and give them asylum. That way your headache will be cured and you will have helped remove an abomination from our midst.
Why don't you also recognise paedophiles and rapists. It's one human being loving another, remember.
Stand warned and stay away. We are Ugandans.
your a idiot patrick.
Patrick--once upon a time, black people (which most ugandans are, correct?) were hanged, murderer, beat, and burned for the color of their skin. Why do force upon your beliefs? What about "Thou Shall Not Kill??"
There's a difference between homosexuality and pedophilia or rape. The difference is the issue of consent. In rape and pedophilia, the victim is not able to consent to the act. Homosexuality and relations between two adult men and two adult women is consensual.
If I could rescue any LGBT person who was being harassed, I would. But it's not up to me to save them. It's up to the world to step up and say NO MORE to the systematic oppression of the LGBT community.
Patrick, people like you are the dudes that make America look like a piece of crap country to other global citizens. Your prejudice and racism belongs in the Medieval ages, not the enlightened era. If there is a God and Jesus was his son, I'm pretty sure when he were to judge you, you would be seen as a cruel and terrible person. Yes you're going to hell. People like you are the ones ruining any chance of anything good ever happening to our country.
What about this ST? "Leviticus 20:13 (NIV)
13 "'If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads. " its from the same book as thou shalt not murder. But hey we Americans always know whats best for other countries, we have the right to force them to live by our belief system.
Saturn, there are plenty of other verses in the Bible that refer to things we shouldn't do, such as not eating crayfish and not wearing certain fabrics and having more than one wife or having slaves. In fact, have you read most of the book of Leviticus? Leviticus 5:2 "Or if a person touches anything ceremonially unclean—whether the carcasses of unclean wild animals or of unclean livestock or of unclean creatures that move along the ground—even though he is unaware of it, he has become unclean and is guilty."
In order to make your argument valid, you would have to follow every teaching in the Bible to the letter. Good luck.
"Stand warned and stay away. We are Ugandans."
-No, you're an ignorant fool. It's completely absurd to think that two adults of legal standing, in a relationship of mutual consent should be punished is completely absurd.
Is this surprising? Their people have actually said that state sponsored murder of gay people should happen HERE. (Quoted by Mel White, Stranger at the Gate). There is no negotiation with them. There is no peace that can be had with someone who wants to kill you. What is there to compromise with these people on? "We'll have you murdered as humanely as possible so that we can sleep at night?" This is the exact hypocrisy that Jesus railed against. Remember, the only recorded anger he ever expressed was with the priests, not the sinners.
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