Ugandan Anti-Gay Bill

MagicMarker

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/110510/uganda-anti-gay-bill-hearings-death-penalty

Ugandan lawmakers have indicated that an anti-gay bill that would punish homosexuality with harsh penalties could be voted on as early as this week.

A parliamentary committee yesterday held a second day of hearings on the bill, which was originally proposed in 2009 and faced a storm of criticism over a death penalty provision, the Associated Press reports. A committee meeting last Friday was the first public discussion of the bill since it was put forward 18 months ago.

The bill is undergoing debate, and a final version is expected to be made public before a vote in parliament is held. It is not yet clear which provisions will be included in the final bill, which could be ready as early as today and presented for a vote at the end of the week, the AP reports.

The original bill included capital punishment for “serial offenders” of homosexuality and for active homosexuals who were in HIV-positive, or for cases of same-sex rape. Anyone convicted of a homosexual act would face life in prison, and anyone who "aids, abets, counsels or procures another to engage of acts of homosexuality" would face seven years in prison, including landlords who rent rooms to homosexuals.

David Bahati, the bill’s author, told the AP last month that the death penalty provision was "something we have moved away from.”

One of the bill’s main supporters, an anti-gay pastor named Martin Ssempa, told the committee that he doesn’t support the death penalty provision and instead thinks that gays should face up to seven years in prison.

"The parliament should be given the opportunity to discuss and pass the bill, because homosexuality is killing our society," Ssempa told the committee, the AP reports.

Pastors in Uganda, a mainly Christian country, are highly vocal about their opposition to homosexuality. Gay activists say that anti-gay sentiment in Uganda, including harassment and violence against homosexuals, has increased since the bill’s introduction.
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The New York-based International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission said in a statement that it was “shocked” that this "heinous piece of legislation” could become law.

Cary Alan Johnson, executive director, said that the renewed focus on the anti-gay bill is intended to deflect attention from an ongoing crackdown by Ugandan security forces on opposition protesters.

"There can be no reason to pass this bill other than to take the attention of Ugandans — and the rest of the world — away from the fact that Uganda is slipping into political chaos," Johnson said in a statement.

Will be interesting to see how this develops... One thing's for sure, Uganda will not be one of my holiday destinations for the foreseeable future.

Turtwig

It'll probably pass.

oldrnwisr

Malty_T wrote: »

It'll probably pass.

Yeah, especially when the Vatican stick their oar in.

Dave!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjnrLt3VuSM

Beruthiel

The country is in rag order and this is what they take up parliamentary time with.
Disgusting.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/uganda_stop_homophobia_petition/97.php?cl_tta_sign=ba715345eb9d69a09e57481675c2cbb3

MrPudding

I was at an event for an organisation called “Amicus” recently and they are following this quite closely. It is bad enough executing people for actual crimes… Crazy.

MrP

amacachi

It's ok, about 10% of my friends on Facebook have put up a link to a petition, that'll sort it out.

Cavehill Red

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LGBT forum.

Dave!

Is there anything that can be done internationally to condemn/oppose this? Are there sanctions that can be imposed? Probably wouldn't exactly win hearts and minds though, given that Uganda is probably in a jock already...

sponsoredwalk

"The parliament should be given the opportunity to discuss and pass the bill, because homosexuality is killing our society," Ssempa told the committee, the AP reports.

What scum :mad:

Some background:

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.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/04/world/africa/04uganda.html

sensibleken

Anti-gay Bill is such a character

Pace2008

It may seem harsh but such measures are sometimes necessary for the nation's protection when you have prolific bum-drillers roaming the streets:

Pace2008

Cavehill Red wrote: »

<

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LGBT forum.

Eh? Maybe Uganda's homophobia goes back further than I'm aware, but I would imagine it's largely as a result of the country's relatively recent move towards Christianity, and the anti-gay tendencies that come with it.

Knasher

sponsoredwalk wrote: »

What scum :mad:

Some background:

Read that article. Seriously I think that the evangelicals who stirred this **** up should face some sort of criminal proceedings for what they have done. I don't know American law, or if it would even be applicable seeing as it was done on foreign soil, but there really needs to be some sort of accountability.

Additionally America should do everything it can to oppose this bill and issue some sort of apology to the LGBT community. I know the evangelicals weren't acting on the US governments behalf, but they were capitalizing on being American in order to spread their message.

Turtwig

Knasher wrote: »

Additionally America should do everything it can to oppose this bill and issue some sort of apology to the LGBT community. I know the evangelicals weren't acting on the US governments behalf, but they were capitalizing on being American in order to spread their message.

What can they do though?

MagicMarker

Malty_T wrote: »

What can they do though?

Nuke 'em?

Knasher

Malty_T wrote: »

What can they do though?

Diplomatic pressure, America clearly has a lot of influence in Uganda and seems to be pretty respected and this is exactly the sort of situation they should apply some of that pressure. They should be very explicit that the evangelicals view is not Americas view and that what they are proposing is a human rights violation.

MagicMarker

Homosexuality is already illegal in a large portion of Africa and the Middle East, and there are plenty of countries where it carries the death sentence. I don't think one more country added to the list is going to persuade America to take a stand tbh.

Knasher

MagicMarker wrote: »

Homosexuality is already illegal in a large portion of Africa and the Middle East, and there are plenty of countries where it carries the death sentence. I don't think one more country added to the list is going to persuade America to take a stand tbh.

I know, it just pisses me off a little bit more to think that it might have been started by a couple of American evangelicals.

It's naive I know, but I liked to think their damage would be localised to America and primarily aimed towards evolution. At least I could say then that fact, science and reason would eventually win out.

Turtwig

Knasher wrote: »

I know, it just pisses me off a little bit more to think that it might have been started by a couple of American evangelicals.

It's naive I know, but I liked to think their damage would be localised to America and primarily aimed towards evolution. At least I could say then that fact, science and reason would eventually win out.

Aww, you're optimistic about the human race.:)

HappyTuesday

I've just returned from Uganda, and have been there many times before. It's a feckin' beautiful country with very friendly people (also some very pretty women) and I will definitely return. I don't know how Ugandans can have such hatred for homosexuality as they are quite shy and polite. But we can be sure that it was the church that helped stir it up.

In fact I've read a bit into homosexuality in Africa and in many cases it was actually the European missionaries who had to stop the locals from practicing same sex.... er... sex. So when the Ugandans call it "un-African" they're unknowingly talking bullshit.

Delirium

According to this article, the Bill has been dropped

Turtwig

koth wrote: »

According to this article, the Bill has been dropped

Postponed anyways for now, good news.:)

CiaranMT

Article taken from same paper as Bum Driller article

The Red Pepper wrote:

Undies That Eliminate The Smell Of Fart
One of the latest Japanese inventions gathers a lot of attention, mainly due to its oddness and originality. A textile company called Seiren, presented its product line dubbed Inoidore Shukan Shoshu , which includes perfumed undershorts and t-shirts that reduce the smell of anal acoustics by 80 percent.
“Our company has developed various odor-erasing products in the past. But this one can reduce odor by 80 percent in 30 seconds,” says Tadao Fujitsubo, the vice-director of Seiren’s R&D center. He outlined that the purifying power of the company’s product is really impressive, diminishing slightly only after 200 washes.
To show how effective the garment is, Fujitsubo filled 2 containers with ammonia gas. One of the containers included average cotton, while the other featured a sample of the special fabric developed by Seiren. After Fujitsubo robustly shook the containers several times he started the nose test, in which reporters did not reveal any odor from the jar that included the new fabric.

robindch