In most totalitarian regimes, the head of the morality police would just send henchmen to shut down a gathering he deemed unsavory. In Uganda, the State Minister for Ethics and Integrity showed up at a LGBT rights conference and personally closed it down, reports the Daily Monitor.
Organized by pro-gay-rights organization Freedom and Roam Uganda, the two-week gathering was called, in part, to discuss methods of fighting recent anti-gay legislation which, after being tabled due to international outrage, was recently brought back into discussion by the Ugandan legislature—though with the death penalty removed.
Yesterday, Ethics Minister Simon Lokodo (above), an ordained priest, barged in on the peaceful roundtable accompanied by police, and said, “I have closed this conference because it’s illegal. We do not accept homosexuality in Uganda. So go back home.”
Lokodo also tried to arrest the group’s leader Kasha Jacqueline Nabagasera (left), who then fled the scene.
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Amnesty International has spoken out against this abusive exercise of government power over peaceful activists.
Photos: Box Turtle Bulletin, Amnesty International
blitz
I don’t care
Kenny
Bring on the anti-African comments!
MEJ
He’s not a priest anymore; he was kicked out by the church for disobeying their orders and running for public office. That said, I wonder how many children he has raped.
the crustybastard
The civilized world will wait until these assholes start the roundups before they issue another sternly worded letter. Meanwhile they’ll continue to lavish this gaggle of corrupt nincompoops and terrorists who call themselves a “government” with the no-strings-attached donations they could not operate without.
As for you, Kenny, and your insipid attempt to foreclose criticism of the anti-gay fascism rampant in Africa, it is a matter of fact that of the 47 mainland nations of Africa, homosexuality is a criminal offense in 33 of those states (70.21%).
SEVENTY percent! Wow. That seems high. Let’s compare Africa to other regions, shall we?
Europe — 50 independent nations, only Turkey still criminalizes (2%)
South America — 14 independent nations, only Guyana still criminalizes (7.14%)
North & Central America — 10 independent nations, only Belize still criminalizes (10%)
East and Southeast Asia — 19 independent nations, 4 still criminalize (21.05%)
Caribbean Islands — 18 independent nations, 9 still criminalize (50%)
South Asia — 9 independent nations, 5 still criminalize (55.56%)
Middle East — 14 independent nations, 9 still criminalize (64.29%)
Africa is statistically more homophobic than the Middle East, which has at least has the pathetic excuse that nearly every government is some form of a Muslim theocracy.
Well, that’s quite extraordinary, isn’t it?
Expat - Queer Supremacist
For a great article that exposes the idiocy of Lokodo :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/15/ugandan-minister-gay-rights-conference?INTCMP=SRCH
Jean
Maybe he was upset that he wasn’t invited.
A jokes aside, this is a serious problem that western nations need to address, since they were the ones that created it (colonisation plus religion). Any nation the violates human rights deserves some form of military intervention, just my opinion.
Expat - Queer Supremacist
@No.6
That’s a rather patronizing attitude – many African countries have been independent long enough to reform and/or adapt pre-existing colonial structures (think South Africa and Senegal). A bigger problem is the incredible corruption of the ruling elite and close collaboration with foreign industries; keeping the proletariat poor and uneducated is a great way of mobilizing huge swathes of angry people in times of need (i.e. elections).
The EU and US should stop all funding to countries like Uganda that systematically ignore and abuse LGBT minorities.
Shannon1981
The words “ethics” and “minister” should never be used in the same sentence,ever.
And since Hillary just vowed that countries that violate the human rights of LGBT people would have their funding cut, I vote Uganda to be first on the list.
the crustybastard
@Jean:
Please refer to my previous post and explain the correlation between homophobia and colonialism.
If memory serves, almost the entire Western hemisphere was someone or other’s colony.
And yet…
Jean
@the crustybastard
And yet look were the western world is now. The religion that came with colonialism in the western world is pretty much gone. Some countries are leaders in all human rights forms while others pander to certain voting blocks. If religious extremism wasn’t an issue, certain Middle East/North African countries would be on par with their European counterparts (Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia, possibly Morocco).
@Expat – Queer Supremacist
I’m proud of the progress South Africa has made, but there are a few problem that need to be dealt with; corruption, harassment. I don’t know why Senegal came to your mind, human rights violations of all kinds are rampant there along with corruption. I know this because I was a foreign correspondent in the west African region. They can’t be a part of the international community and violate laws without some form of consequence.
the crustybastard
@Jean:
Oh yeah, because atheism is utterly pervasive in the Western Hemisphere.
Derp.
Dan
So why don’t we collectively ask the Uganda military to punish politicians who violate human rights?