More Anti-Gay Insanity in Africa

Other than South Africa which allows gay marriage, much of the rest of Africa seems obsessed with persecuting gays and/or trying to pretend that we don't exist. Uganada appears headed towards new levels of insanity with talk of forced conversion therapy for gay Ugandans. All too typically, religious nutcases are leading the charge hand in hand with government officials who apparently believe that persecuting gays is a good way to distract the populace from the horrendous state of things in their countries.

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The new proposals are so extreme that even Warren Throckmorton, the sometimes bete noire darling of reparative therapy crowd - with whom I've had severe disagreements in the past and who has lambaste me in columns at Townhall.com - is appalled. The proposal also helps show the true agenda of Exodus International which is participating in the lunacy. Throckmorton made the following comments on his blog about Exodus:

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Exodus International and the International Healing Foundation must now come out clearly and make a statement condemning this proposal. This is a chilling development and one which must be addressed. The presence of these ex-gay organizations in this environment most likely sends a message to the Ugandan people and government that such forced “therapy” is plausible and humane. Cell phones and other modern forms of communication exist. If I were Alan Chambers and Richard Cohen, I would be on the phone yesterday to insist that their representatives make public statements distancing themselves from Mr. Lively’s views. And they should come home early.

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Also at the conference is the certifiably unbalanced Scott Lively whose organization Abiding Truth Ministries has been labeled as a hate group. Here are some highlights on the gathering from Ex-Gay Watch:

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[Minister of Ethics and Integrity, Dr. James Nsaba] Buturo says the he will present the bill against pornography first before presenting that against homosexuality though he declines to mention exactly when these bills will be presented to Parliament. He says pornography is partly a cause of homosexuality since it negatively affects the morals of the victims of pornography and makes them easily susceptible to the vice of homosexuality.

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He says the provision in the penal code on homosexuality is too small to cover all concerns in homosexuality. Buturo says the government will not only end at making laws against homosexuality but will also engage in sensitizing schools and churches in the fight against this vice.

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The President of Defend the Family International, Scott Lively says it is good for the government of Uganda to criminalize homosexuality but the government should subject the criminals of homosexuality to a therapy rather than imprisoning them.

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XGW warned Exodus privately and publicly of the dangers associated with this meeting, and why one of their board members had no business being there. These warnings were met with weak responses, if any, and nothing for the record. Our own contact on the ground there has heard nothing from Don Schmierer (Exodus) to indicate his disagreement with anything so far.

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In my view, Exodus is just as extreme as the company it keeps and one can only hope that in the USA and other countries with educated populations regulations and/or legislation will be enacted barring reparative therapy or revoking the licenses of therapists who engage in its witch doctor like programs.