At this point, it appears it’s a matter of “when,” not “if” Uganda’s Kill The Gays bill will pass. And it will do so under a very American strategy: Threaten to oust lawmakers who vote against the bill.
American certainly didn’t invent the “threaten lawmakers with ultimatums” approach. But as we’ve seen in New York, that’s exactly what’s happening with gay marriage supporters — and in New Jersey, that’s exactly what’s happening with gay marriage opponents. In Uganda, meanwhile, religious leaders are leading the charge against any legislator who dares cast a vote for protecting civil rights. CNN:
The Rev. Esau Omara, a senior church leader, said over the weekend that any lawmaker opposing the bill will pay for it during the next election, according to local newspaper reports.
How lovely. And you can see where they’re taking their cues from.
But at least in the United States, when religious leaders and their PAC affiliates threaten to end the careers of pro-gay lawmakers, there’s a news media there to call them out on their bullshit.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
In Uganda, though, the newspapers aren’t just carrying the anti-gay message; they’re participating in it.
Several media outlets also have inflamed sentiments in recent months by publicly pointing out gays and lesbians.
In April, the Observer newspaper published tips to help readers spot homosexuals. And over the summer, the Red Pepper tabloid outed 45 gays and lesbians.
Ugandan
This is a Ugandan Bill , supported by 95% of Ugandans. It completely has nothing to do with American Christians or Senators.
The law is meant to protect the cultural values, virtues and norms of Ugandans. Stop blaming Christians….(Muslims, Hindus, African traditionalists, and atheists in Uganda support this law.
Ugandans are ready to ignore criminal colonialists and Imperialists who are keen to berate and undermine African societies with their homosexual neo-colonialism.
Yes_I_Am
But not ready to ignore the $246 million in aid from the US.
DaveO
God forbid we hold Ugandans responsible for their own bigotry.
Cam
Typical, the country is in the shithole, so try to distract people from the aweful state that their govt. has gotten them in by putting up a group of people to attack.
Cam
No. 1 · Ugandan
This is a Ugandan Bill , supported by 95% of Ugandans. It completely has nothing to do with American Christians or Senators.
The law is meant to protect the cultural values, virtues and norms of Ugandans. Stop blaming Christians….(Muslims, Hindus, African traditionalists, and atheists in Uganda support this law.
Ugandans are ready to ignore criminal colonialists and Imperialists who are keen to berate and undermine African societies with their homosexual neo-colonialism.
_____________________________________
This is actually the same ignorant uneducated crap that the govt. of Uganda is trying to spout. Saying that homosexuality is a “Western Import” LOL!!! Yeah, give me a break. Your govt. has already been attacked for exerting control over the media and other outlets of free speech, so don’t try to sit here and say that 95% of Ugandan’s support this bill. If that were true they wouldn’t have to threaten lawmakers to get it to pass. Oh, and as for tolorance being a “Western Import”? Stop acting so proud, your country can’t even function without taking our charity money. So until you are able to hold your head up high and support yourself without aid handouts your little speech about ignoring “Criminal Colonialists” sounds like a childish tantrum.
B
No. 1 · Ugandan wrote “This is a Ugandan Bill , supported by 95% of Ugandans. It completely has nothing to do with American Christians or Senators.”
It is singularly stupid for Ugandans to support a “kill [insert group of your choice]” bill – very bad advertising for your country given its history, particularly under your former “president” Idi Amin. Nearly 100% of your population “supported” Idi Amin, upon penalty of death if anyone stepped out of line: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idi_Amin (for those who need a history refresher):
“In July 1971, Lango and Acholi soldiers were massacred in the Jinja and Mbarara Barracks,[27] and by early 1972, some 5,000 Acholi and Lango soldiers, and at least twice as many civilians, had disappeared.[28] The victims soon came to include members of other ethnic groups, religious leaders, journalists, senior bureaucrats, judges, lawyers, students and intellectuals, criminal suspects, and foreign nationals. In this atmosphere of violence, many other people were killed for criminal motives or simply at will.[29] Bodies floated on the River Nile in quantities sufficient to clog the Owen Falls Hydro-Electric Dam in Jinja on at least one occasion.”
Shawna
Where’s the Observer article on tips for identifying gays? Do you have a link to it or a title? I’d like to see it.
Jim
I have no respect for religious tyrants: people are too sexy for their hate, too sexy for their lies, and too sexy for their self-righteous genocide. We must expose the religious tyrants for the evil control freaks that they are.
hyhybt
I think that even worse than the death penalty are the provisions for imprisoning anyone who so much as says that gay might not be quite so horribly evil after all. Because that makes it almost impossible to get the law changed in the future.
Pariah
Ugandans are like children on christmas, unwrapping their totalitarian homo-hating gifts from the west. FUCK THEM. Cut ’em off, the sooner the better.
Leni
@Shawna:
http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2773:how-to-tell-that-someone-is-gay&catid=40:street-talk&Itemid=73