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Africa: A Hotbed of Homophobia

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

The announcement by the U.S. Department of Defense that it will consider lifting a military policy that discriminates against gays and lesbians is a laudable move. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said this week that it was time to repeal the military’s 17-year-old “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

Yet in most countries of Africa, homosexuals have become even more endangered after several governments recently created laws to criminalize their sexual orientation. Political leaders in many African countries have made a deliberate attempt to ostracize people who engaged in same-sex relationships.

In West Africa, the Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh has threatened to behead any gay person found in his country. A report published in the BBC’s Focus on Africa Web site quotes Jammeh issuing a 24-hour ultimatum to all gays to get out of the Gambia or he would cut off their heads. The Gambia had become a safe haven for gay refugees fleeing persecution from the country’s neighbor, Senegal. Jammeh embarked on a countrywide anti-gay campaign, and the BBC reported that he told a political rally, “The Gambia is a country of believers where sinful and immoral practices such as homosexuality will not be tolerated.”

Full Story from KansasCity.com
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Posted in africa, gambia, homophobia, legislation, malawai, rwanda, uganda | No Responses »

Uganda: Obama Issues Condemnation of Anti Gay Bill

Friday, February 5th, 2010

U.S President Barack Obama has criticized the controversial anti-gay law which has been proposed to Uganda’s legislature. Speaking at a national prayer breakfast in Washington, DC, on Thursday, Obama described the proposed law as “odious,” according to a text posted to the White House website.

“We may disagree about gay marriage,” he said, “but surely we can agree that it is unconscionable to target gays and lesbians for who they are.”

A bill before the Ugandan parliament proposes that penalties for homosexuality should be increased, raising the sentence for “same gender sexual activity” to life imprisonment.

Full Story from AllAfrica.com
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Posted in anti gay bill, condemns, president obama, uganda | No Responses »

Uganda: Citizens Speak Out Against Anti Gay Bill

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

A bill before the Ugandan Parliament that would increase the penalties for having gay sex enjoys wide public support in the African nation, but a few brave Ugandans are speaking out against the proposal. Bob Kabaziguruka from Kampala, the nation’s largest city and its seat of government, is one of those people.

In a letter published last week by the Kampala-based Observer, Kabaziguruka, who is not gay, urged lawmakers to reject the bill that would outlaw gay sex and includes a death provision for repeat offenders and people who are HIV-positive.

“Personally, I believe Parliament is better off concentrating on issues such as the sorry state of our hospitals and other decaying institutions in the country rather than focusing on homosexuality and spreading homophobia,” he wrote.

Full Story from On Top Magazine: http://www.ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=5114&MediaType=1&Category=24

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Posted in anti gay bill, uganda | No Responses »

Uganda: President Urges Removal of Death Penalty Provision from Anti Gay Bill

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

Gay Ugandans likely won’t face the death penalty after the president said he opposed the provision in proposed legislation, but an international gay rights group said Thursday even a watered-down bill would be repressive. President Yoweri Museveni has told colleagues he believes the bill is too harsh and has encouraged his ruling National Resistance Movement Party to overturn the death sentence provision, which would apply to sexually active gays living with HIV or in cases of same-sex rape according to a copy of the draft law.

The proposed bill, though, says anyone convicted of a homosexual act – which includes touching someone of the same sex with the intent of committing a homosexual act – would face life imprisonment. It is unclear whether Museveni supports that provision or not.

Gay rights activists say the bill, introduced in the fall of 2009, promotes hatred and could set back efforts to combat HIV/AIDS in the conservative East African country. Protests already have been held in London, New York and Washington.

Full Story from WRAL.com: http://www.wral.com/news/national_world/world/story/6757695/

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Posted in bill, death penalty, gay rights, president, uganda | No Responses »

Uganda: Role of US Evangelicals in Gay Marriage Death Penalty Law

Monday, January 4th, 2010

Last March, three American evangelical Christians, whose teachings about “curing” homosexuals have been widely discredited in the United States, arrived here in Uganda’s capital to give a series of talks. The theme of the event, according to Stephen Langa, its Ugandan organizer, was “the gay agenda — that whole hidden and dark agenda” — and the threat homosexuals posed to Bible-based values and the traditional African family.

For three days, according to participants and audio recordings, thousands of Ugandans, including police officers, teachers and national politicians, listened raptly to the Americans, who were presented as experts on homosexuality. The visitors discussed how to make gay people straight, how gay men often sodomized teenage boys and how “the gay movement is an evil institution” whose goal is “to defeat the marriage-based society and replace it with a culture of sexual promiscuity.”

Now the three Americans are finding themselves on the defensive, saying they had no intention of helping stoke the kind of anger that could lead to what came next: a bill to impose a death sentence for homosexual behavior.

Full Story from New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/04/world/africa/04uganda.html?hp

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Posted in conference, death penalty, Gay Marriage, gay rights, proposed bill, uganda, us evangelicals | No Responses »

GOP: It's OK to be Manhattan Declaration Anti Gay, Just Not Ugandan Death Bill Anti Gay

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

As reports emerge that Uganda’s president has promised to veto the “kill the gays” bill, five GOP Congressman have spoken out against the legistlation:

“Five Republican representatives – Chris Smith, Frank Wolf, Joe Pitts, Trent Franks and Anh ‘Joseph’ Cao – have written a letter to Ugandan President Yoweri Mouseveni pressing him to stop pending legislation that would severely criminalize homosexuality and sometimes impose the death penalty for homosexual acts. In the letter, which you can read in full here, the men say their religious faith requires them to oppose the legislation because it contradicts the ‘foundational Christian belief in the inherent dignity and worth of all men and women.’”

The letter invokes the anti-gay Manhattan Declaration: “As Members of Congress and as men of faith, we support the principles set forth in the declaration and are thankful for the principled position of these faith leaders on a host of issues, from the sanctity of life for the unborn and others, to religious freedom, to human dignity, to the belief that marriage is an institution between one man and one woman.”

Full Story from Towleroad.com: http://www.towleroad.com/2009/12/gop-reps-invoke-antigay-manhattan-declaration-in-condemnation-of-ugandan-kill-the-gays-bill.html

Click here for gay marriage resources.

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Posted in bill, death penalty, gay rights, gop, manhattan declaration, republicans, uganda | No Responses »

Hilary Clinton on the Persecution of Gays

Sunday, December 20th, 2009

“Once rights are established, governments should be expected to resist the temptation to restrict freedom of expression when criticism arises, and to be vigilant in preventing law from becoming an instrument of oppression as bills like the one under consideration in Uganda would do to criminalize homosexuality….

Over this past year, we have elevated into our human rights dialogs and our public statements a very clear message about protecting the rights of the LGBT community worldwide. And we are particularly concerned about some of the specific cases that have come to our attention around the world.

There have been organized efforts to kill and maim gays and lesbians in some countries that we have spoken out about, and also conveyed our very strong concerns about to their governments — not that they were governmentally implemented, or that the government was even aware of them. But that the governments need to pay much more attention to the kinds of abuses that we’ve seen in Iraq, for example.

Full Story from Metro Weekly: http://www.metroweekly.com/news/last_word/2009/12/hillary-clinton-says-concerns.html

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Posted in gay rights, hillary clinton, iraq, lesbian, uganda, us secretary of state | No Responses »

Uganda: Despite Reports, Death Penalty Still Part of Anti Gay Bill

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

“Learned behaviour can be unlearned,” said David Bahati. “You can’t tell me that people are born gays. It is foreign influence that is at work.” Bahati has just presented his anti-homosexuality bill 2009 to Uganda’s parliament. The bill, which will be debated within a fortnight and is expected to become law by February, will allow homosexuality to be punishable by death.

“Most people have misunderstood the bill,” Bahati told the Observer. “The section of the death penalty relates to defilement by an adult who is homosexual and this is consistent with the law on defilement which was passed in 2007. The whole intention is to prevent the recruitment of under-age children, which is going on in single-sex schools. We must stop the recruitment and secure the future of our children.”

There is wide support for Bahati’s law which, while being an extreme piece of anti-gay legislation, is not unique. As far as gay rights are concerned, it would appear that much of Africa is going backwards. Nigeria has a similar bill waiting to reach its statute books and already allows the death penalty for homosexuality in northern states, as does Sudan. Burundi criminalised homosexuality in April this year, joining 37 other African nations where gay sex is already illegal. Egypt and Mali are creeping towards criminalisation, using morality laws against same-sex couples.

Full Story from the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/13/death-penalty-uganda-homosexuals

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Posted in bill, death penalty, gay, homosexual, uganda | No Responses »

Uganda: Canadian PM Tells Uganda to Nix Anti Gay Bill

Monday, November 30th, 2009

Uganda’s president got an earful from Prime Minister Stephen Harper over the African nation’s proposed law targeting gays. The Ugandan “anti-homosexuality bill” would imprison and even execute homosexuals.

But the proposed law barely drew a mention at this weekend’s Commonwealth summit in Trinidad and Tobago — despite calls before the conference for the country’s suspension from the organization.

Harper said leaders generally don’t talk about specific laws during the Commonwealth meetings.

Full Story from The Winnipeg Sun: http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/world/2009/11/30/11976801-sun.html

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Posted in anti gay, bill, canadian prime minister, gay rights, proposed law, stephen harper, uganda | No Responses »

Uganda: "The Family" Involved in Effort to Criminalize Gays, Push Death Penalty for Homosexual Behavior

Friday, November 27th, 2009

The C Street home housing the Christian power broker group The Family, where Nevada Sen. John Ensign and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford sought refuge and advice — is also notable for its involvement in another realm of anti-gay legislation: Uganda’s bill criminalizing homosexuality.

We already noted the religious right-wing’s support of making Uganda a home base for homophobia, but now comes word that America’s own Christian politicos are backing President Yoweri Museveni’s campaign to make gay sex punishable by death.

As Jeff Sharlot, author of the expose The Family, tells it, the bill’s biggest supporter is a member of The Family. David Bahati, the lawmaker pushing for aggravated homosexuality crimes, “appears to be a core member of The Family. He works, he organizes their Ugandan National Prayer Breakfast and oversees a African sort of student leadership program designed to create future leaders for Africa, into which The Family has poured millions of dollars working through a very convoluted chain of linkages passing the money over to Uganda.”

Full Story from Queerty: http://www.queerty.com/shock-john-ensign-mark-sanfords-religious-family-is-backing-ugandas-gay-hate-20091127/

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To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Posted in anti gay bill, c street house, death penalty, homosexuality, the family, uganda | No Responses »

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