Monday, February 24, 2014

Uganda's Kill the Gays Bill Signed Into Law

Museveni signing hate and ignorance into law
The anti-gay bill in Arizona may seem extreme to rational people who believe in equality under the law for all citizens.  But it pales in comparison to the horrific law that became effective today in Uganda.  A law that in many ways is the result of the exporting of hate and anti-gay lies by American Christofascists.  Box Turle Bulletin looks at some of the provisions of the law.  Here are highlights:
Media reports are understating the horror of Uganda’s Anti-Gay Law. For instance, from the Associated Press:
It sets life imprisonment as the maximum penalty for “aggravated homosexuality,” defined as repeated gay sex between consenting adults and acts involving a minor, a disabled person or where one partner is infected with HIV.
In fact, it’s much worse than that. In fact, Uganda’s Anti-Gay Law can put you away for life just for opposing Uganda’s Anti-Gay Law.
The logic is pretty simple:
  • The law says: “A person who commits the offence of aggravated homosexuality shall be liable, on conviction, to imprisonment for life.”
  • One way of committing aggravated homosexuality is to be a “serial offender” against the law.
  • A serial offender is “a person who has previous convictions of the offence of homosexuality or related offences.”
  • Related offences include a variety of things, like counseling someone to have gay sex; getting same-sex married; or “promotion of homosexuality,” a grab bag covering any activity that:
    • “funds or sponsors homosexuality or other related activities” or
    • “offers premises and other related fixed or movable assets for purposes of homosexuality or promoting homosexuality” or
    • “uses electronic devices which include internet, films, mobile phones for purposes of homosexuality or promoting homosexuality” or
    • “acts as an accomplice or attempts to promote or in anyway abets homosexuality and related practices.”
The penalties vary for a single related-offence violation, but if you’re convicted of a combination of these offences, or convicted of one offence multiple times, then you’re a serial offender, guilty of aggravated homosexuality, and subject to life imprisonment.
It imposes a lifetime sentence on our allies, too. It doesn’t just make us into criminals and pariahs. It condemns anyone who might question this horrid law. It doesn’t just put Uganda in the dark ages. It’s built to keep the country there forever.
Equally telling are comments made by Uganda's president as he signed this Nazi regime like law. 

Can somebody be homosexual purely by nature without nurture? The answer is: “No”. No study has shown that. Since nurture is the main cause of homosexuality, then society can do something about it to discourage the trends. That is why I have agreed to sign the Bill.
Never mind that every legitimate medical and mental health organization disagrees with this conclusion.  President Museveni instead relied on faux research and faux experts put forth by American Christofascists.   Ignorance - including ignorance at the highest levels of government - goes hand in with fundamentalist Christian belief   Hence why the Christofascist agenda is flourishing in Africa. 

One can only hope that the United States and other modern, civilized nations end all aid to Uganda of every kind.  Here is the text of this horrible law:

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