Uganda proposing a "death to gay people" legislation

Kizzume · #1 (**permalink**) 12-03-2009, 03:27 AM

Uganda proposes death penalty for HIV positive gays - Times Online

Quote:

Britain and Canada protested yesterday over a proposed law that would result in gays in Uganda being imprisoned for life or even executed.

Gordon Brown followed Stephen Harper, the Canadian Prime Minister, in telling Uganda that the legislation was unacceptable.

Mr Brown made his views plain in a breakfast conversation with President Museveni of Uganda on the margins of the Commonwealth summit.

Homosexuality remains criminalised in many Commonwealth countries, but the more liberal countries have been horrified by the new legislation.

The Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009 is going through Uganda’s Parliament after receiving its first reading last month.

According to Clause 2 of the Bill, a person who is convicted of gay sex is liable to life imprisonment. But if that person is also HIV positive the penalty — under the heading “aggravated homosexuality” — is death.

The Bill has not been endorsed by the Ugandan government but it has allowed it to proceed, and some top officials are said to have praised it.

A Canadian government spokesman said: “If adopted, a Bill further criminalising homosexuality would constitute a significant step backwards for the protection of human rights in Uganda.”

The Bill proposes a three-year prison sentence for anyone who is aware of evidence of homosexuality and fails to report it to the police within 24 hours. And it would impose a sentence of up to seven years for anyone who defends the rights of gays and lesbians.

And guess what? Rick Warren Refuses To Condemn Proposed Ugandan Law To Execute Gays:

Rick Warren Refuses To Condemn Proposed Ugandan Law To Execute Gays

Quote:

Rick Warren, the pastor who delivered the invocation at President Obama's inauguration, is once again on the defensive -- this time for his work with a Ugandan pastor who would like homosexuality to be punishable by death.

Newsweek tried to get Warren's reaction to the anti-gay work of Martin Ssempa, a Ugandan pastor who has come to his Saddleback Church multiple times. (Warren has distanced himself from Ssempa in general terms, saying the Ugandan minister does not represent him or his church.) Warren wouldn't reject the idea:

But Warren won't go so far as to condemn the legislation itself. A request for a broader reaction to the proposed Ugandan anti-homosexual laws generated this response: "The fundamental dignity of every person, our right to be free, and the freedom to make moral choices are gifts endowed by God, our creator. However, it is not my personal calling as a pastor in America to comment or interfere in the political process of other nations." On Meet the Press this morning, he reiterated this neutral stance in a different context: "As a pastor, my job is to encourage, to support. I never take sides." Warren did say he believed that abortion was "a holocaust." He knows as well as anyone that in a case of great wrong, taking sides is an important thing to do.

And someone could be sent to jail for 3 years if they knew someone that was gay and didn't turn them in.

And it's "The Family" that's doing all this. Kind-of similar to how here in the states, the most anti-gay groups of people have names like "Focus On The Family" and other "wholesome" sounding names. Hate with a smiling face.

And to slightly derail this, just a little bit: Meanwhile, here in the United States, we have the lovely Manhattan Declaration, in the name of "family", denouncing gay people as well, with over 200,000 signatures. It's like the Oregon Citizens Alliance all over again, I wonder when they'll craft a new Measure 9?

This is not a good time to be gay.

YouTube- Rachel Maddow U.S. ties to Ugandan anti-gay bill.flv

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2009/11/25/132255/09

saltwn · #2 (**permalink**) 12-03-2009, 03:44 AM

Quote:

Warren: "The fundamental dignity of every person, our right to be free, and the freedom to make moral choices are gifts endowed by God, our creator. However, it is not my personal calling as a pastor in America to comment or interfere in the political process of other nations."

Mankind is your business, Mr Scrooge!

On a positive note: It has been my experience that success generates stumbling blocks. They come out of nowhere and everywhere seemingly making the task at hand impossible.
At these times in my life I had a choice: give up or go forward.
That's how Edison invented the light bulb
that's how old what's his name invented the wheel (George Burns?

)
Nobody ever accepted it until it was accepted
Nobody ever did it till it was done
Simple words but much promise in them
and much fear
choose wisely

signed
the yenta from hell

faithful_servant · #3 (**permalink**) 12-03-2009, 09:36 AM

What a dumb law. Uganda's AIDS problem does not stem from homosexuality, it stems from prostitutes, mostly truck stop hookers. This is a politically motivated decision designed to provide people with a scapegoat for the AIDS epidemic and nothing else. If it weren't, the legislation would include anyone who had sex with another person knowing they had HIV virus in the death penalty clause.

As far as Warren's comments/lack of comments, he's always been a populist preacher, telling people what they want to hear without really challenging them. I've read a couple of his books and he's got some solid ideas, but he falls far short when it comes to truly preaching the Word.

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