Being the Change I Wish to See » Scott Lively

Ugandan kill-the-gays bill part 17: David Kato murdered

Sherri Joubert — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 16:08:55 +0000

This article is part 17 in a series about the Ugandan anti-homosexuality bill of 2009, better known as the Ugandan kill-the-gays bill. It is still alive and on the newly-elected Ugandan Parliament agenda for debate in 2012, after being kept tabled in 2011.

The first 16 articles can be accessed at the following links:

Jeff Sharlet’s book about his visits to Uganda and conversations with government officials:

There is a link at the bottom of each article that will take you to the next one in the series for easy navigation.

David Kato was the highest profile gay in Uganda, and was a strong activist for gay rights. He was brutally murdered on January 26, 2011. His name and photo were published on the cover of a Ugandan news magazine along with 99 other people suspected or known to be gay. Here is a link to the Maddow Blog coverage of Uganda.

In May 2011, Ugandan police used a water cannon to spray pink dye on anti-government and economic protesters in the capital city of Kampala and 5 other cities. Permanent President Yoweri Museveni seems to be repeatedly reelected every time the people vote, and there are questions about the validity of election results.

This is also an update on the Ugandan legislation. Death penalties have not actually been removed. David Bahati says he will take them out, but they seem to stay in the bill. To date, Mr. Bahati has not sent any evidence of recruiting Ugandan children to become gay.

David Kato burial controversy and story overview video from Feb. 4, 2011 (~ 9 min.):

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Here is a reminder of some of the provisions in the bill that will call for the death penalty if it isn’t removed as a punishment. Box Turtle Bulletin excerpts the definition of “aggravated homosexuality” from Mr. Bahati’s original legislation:

(a) person against whom the offense is committed is below the age of 18 years;
(b) offender is a person living with HIV;
(c) offender is a parent or guardian of the person against whom the offense is committed;
(d) offender is a person in authority over the person against whom the offense is committed;
(e) victim of the offense is a person with disability;
(f) offender is a serial offender, or
(g) offender applies, administers or causes to be used by any man or woman any drug, matter or thing with intent to stupefy overpower him or her so as to there by enable any person to have unlawful carnal connection with any person of the same sex,

(3) Where a person is charged with the offense under this section, that person shall undergo a medical examination to ascertain his or her HIV status.

As of March 2012, a law suit has been filed against Scott Lively, one of the Americans involved in bringing this bill to Uganda.

The Box Turtle Bulletin does extensive coverage on this story, and you can read about it at the above link.

Technorati Tags: Box Turtle Bulletin, David Bahati, David Kato, kill-the-gays bill, Maddow Blog, Scott Lively, The Rachel Maddow Show, Uganda, Yoweri Museveni

Ugandan kill-the-gays bill part 13: Now it’s the imprison-the-gays-for-life bill

Sherri Joubert — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 07:50:53 +0000

This article is part 13 in a multi-part series about the Ugandan anti-homosexuality bill of 2009, better known as the Ugandan kill-the-gays bill. The first 12 articles can be accessed at the following links:

There has been a change of opinion on the Ugandan anti-homosexuality bill of 2009. 1) Ethics minister, James Buturo, said to the media that ‘homosexuals can forget about human rights’, and 2) President Museveni has decided that the death penalty parts of the bill will be removed before passage.

There has also been a very troubling clarification from Bob Hunter of The Family concerning who decides when and where United States Senators and Congressmen travel on The Family’s business. Senator James Inhofe has bragged to his colleagues that when he goes to Uganda or anywhere in Africa, he can open doors because of his American political position. This is quite a revelation about the separation of church and state in this country. Who do our Congresspersons and Senators really work for when they are members of The Family? Who do they represent?

Please watch the video (7 min). Much of the discussion is based on its content.

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Here is the link to Box Turtle Bulletin with a lot more of Scott Lively’s videos. Lively equates gays to sociopaths, Nazis, mass murderers, serial killers, and the cause of the Rwandan genocide. He claims to know more about homosexuality than anyone else in the world? Really? Is Lively secretly gay and telling the truth? Has he participated in murder and genocide? I don’t think so. Watch the videos if you can stomach the lies and hate. After this false input into a society in a “sexual knowledge and education” vacuum, it’s no wonder Ugandans hate gays even more than they did before. (Again, Scott Lively is not associated with or a member of The Family).

I find it strange that Doug Coe uses the comparison to Nazis in a positive way about The Family and how its members are expected to behave, and Scott Lively uses a comparison to Nazis in a very negative way in that gays commit all sorts of atrocities because they are gay. Neither Doug nor Scott got their comparisons right. They must be from an alternate universe or something.

Here is the link to Jeff Sharlet’s response to the Bob Hunter interview. Jeff says he doesn’t know why Hunter said he denied his own reporting. He clearly doesn’t. It would benefit The Family considerably if the most persistent investigative reporter about them said he was wrong. It would let them all off the hook about everything Jeff has written about them. The whole article is an important read, but the most important quote from it is posted below the link. What the Family isn’t saying about the kill-the-gays bill in Uganda

Working with two documents Hunter prepared for government and Family leaders, “Re: organizing the invisible” and “A Trip to East Africa—Fall 1986,” and Family leader Doug Coe’s account of Hunter’s trip, I argued that Hunter traveled at the behest of the U.S. government. Hunter’s correction? He didn’t go at the government’s behest; American politicians went to Uganda at his behest. He didn’t work for them; they worked for him. Emphasis mine.

American politicians go on trips at Bob Hunter’s behest. That means The Family and it’s church(es) control a part of the U.S. government. It decides which members will go where, when, and on our tax dollars. So much for separation of church and state. This is the exact kind of problem the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was meant to prevent.

I (charitably) don’t think Bob Hunter fully understands the conflict with the First Amendment that he is creating when our legislators travel at his behest. It doesn’t matter if the trips are for good works or not. It conflicts with the solemn oath sworn by legislators to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution. That includes leaving religion out of trips abroad and sticking to U.S. policy. I’m not sure why Senators and Congresspersons are permitted to travel out of the country representing the U.S. without the State Department’s knowledge and blessing.

Here is Bob Hunters reply to Jeff Sharlet’s written response on the TRMS website.

Bob Hunter’s article is a bit rambling, but it is definitely worth reading. He concludes his thoughts as follows:

While Jeff and I still argue vigorously about important (to us) details, we do agree on the only critical thing: the Uganda Anti-homosexual[ity] Bill must be stopped. I commit to continue working on that with Jeff and others who seek that important outcome, including friends in high position in Uganda. This discussion demonstrates the essence of how the Fellowship works; learning to love one another while not giving up our individual positions, even on issues we feel deeply about.

NEWS FLASH

After preparing this post, I learned that President Museveni appears to be moving in the right direction. I am sure that Jeff is as pleased as I am to hear the good news!

Perhaps the kill-the-gays bill will be dropped after all. However, it’s not over yet. I’ll keep you posted.

Part 14 may be accessed here.

Technorati Tags: anti-gay religious movement, Bob Hunter, Box Turtle Bulletin, Evangelicals in Uganda, James Buturo, Jeff Sharlet, kill-the-gays bill, Museveni, Rachel Maddow, Scott Lively, separation of church and state, The Rachel Maddow Show, Uganda

Ugandan kill-the-gays bill part 7: Evangelicals were for it before they were against it

Sherri Joubert — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 09:32:59 +0000

This article is part 7 in a multi-part series about the Ugandan anti-homosexuality bill of 2009, better known as the Ugandan kill-the-gays bill. The first 6 articles can be accessed at the following links:

Uganda is severely homophobic. They see homosexuality and the “International Gay Agenda” as a major cause of disrupting traditional family values and life in their country. Americans of authority have been visiting Uganda for over 2 decades, some of them fundamentalist Christians, and have subtly or not-so-subtly fed into Ugandan homophobia.

In the past decade, anti-gay Evangelicals Rick Warren (author of The Purpose Driven Life) and Scott Lively have been going to Uganda often telling them how evil, horrible, and sick gays are (listen to some of Scott Lively’s quotes in the next video).

Cure-the-gays quacks like Richard Cohen and Don Schmierer, who are presenting themselves as scientific authorities on curing gay people, have spoken about their “cures” to Ugandan Parliament members and citizens. (The quote from Richard Cohen’s book in the following video is completely untrue. Homosexuals are far less likely to molest anyone than heterosexuals).

American anti-gay Evangelical activists and cure-the-gays quacks have given homophobic Ugandan Parliament member David Bahati and Ethics Minister James Buturo, both members of the Ugandan branch of The Family, all the ammunition they need to justify a Draconian anti-homosexuality bill.

Anglican Priest Rev. Kaoma attended the March 2009 Kampala conference where Scott Lively spoke of zero tolerance for homosexuality and recorded Mr. Lively saying so. Steven Langa, Caleb Brundidge and Don Schmierer also gave lectures about gay “cures” at that conference, where multiple copies of Richard Cohen’s book were distributed. This conference and these speakers are directly connected to the anti-homosexuality bill.

These Americans claim after they misled Ugandans that they didn’t intend for gays to be killed or imprisoned for life and are against the bill. What the hell did they think was going to happen?

Americans are neck-deep in this human rights violation disaster (videos 8 min. each):

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Jeff Sharlet interview:

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American Family members were solidly against this bill when David Bahati proposed it as early as October 2008, then again at the Kampala conference in March 2009.

All claim to be against this bill and are speaking out in America about it, but aren’t telling Ugandans. The Family in America, people like Bob Hunter, are using their leverage behind the scenes to stop the bill. Influential Evangelicals, Senators and Congressmen need to use their influence to make sure this bill is stopped, but all they have done is distance themselves from the legislation.

The American branch of The Family has the power to stop this bill but hasn’t publicly put their foot down. They have great influence and access in the Ugandan government. They need to use it for accountability as well. The Family’s American Prayer Breakfast, coming up in February, should not include David Bahati or James Buturo. Both were planning to attend, but they may be uninvited because of this bill.

Part 8 is located at this link.

Technorati Tags: Caleb Brundidge, David Bahati, Don Schmierer, Human Rights, James Buturo, Jeff Sharlet, kill-the-gays bill, Rachel Maddow, Rick Warren, Scott Lively, The Family, Uganda