Category: Religion and sexuality

Report: Bahati says Anti-gay bill back in November

Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill will likely be tabled again but the question is when? MP Otto Odonga told me recently it could come to the floor of Parliament in August. Now a source is saying that Bahati pegs the return for November of this year. Here is the story from a Ugandan blogger who writes that he recently spoke with MP Bahati:

However perhaps even matching its own record on the bizarre and grotesque was the so-called “Kill the Gays” Bill that was introduced by arguably one of the more capable Members of Parliament today, the Ndorwa West MP David Bahati. Last time I had a chat with the MP (who I had incidentally advised against the bill precisely because of the storm it may generate and because I considered it a waste of valuable time), he told me the bill would return to the house in November. “ I am winning,” he said.
These days I am sort of resigned to how disagreeable things can become what with an economic storm, a crisis of the Ugandan shilling and real hurt amongst Ugandan families that I consider this bill largely academic. But just like the bail law some people have suggested to me that the bill is intended for political purposes as well. My sources in parliament also add that because of the world wide storm it generated it will come to the House for debate in stealth not reflected in “ the order paper” of the day.

This would be possible because the Speaker there has great freedom in how the business is conducted. According to MP Odonga, the Speaker, Rebecca Kadaga, has assured MPs that the AHB will be moved ahead from the last parliament. Thus, it would be old business and could be brought forward at her discretion. Whether or not she will do that is a guessing game.
I have also heard today from sources I trust that ministers are quietly appealing to MPs to pass the bill via letters and emails. The relevance of this is that the movement to get the bill considered is not as public as during the previous parliament.

American Psychiatric Association opposes Uganda's anti-gay legislation

Over the weekend I received this from psychiatrist David Scasta:

8/14/11
Dear Warren:
I want to thank you for keeping me and the American Psychiatric Association apprised of the situation in Uganda regarding the Anti-Homosexuality Bill – which failed to make it on the agenda of the last Ugandan Parliamentary Plenary but apparently is being resurrected in a modified form for the current Plenary. As you know, the American Psychiatric Association was alarmed that there has been a credible attempt to criminalize homosexuality in Uganda with draconian punishment that includes the death penalty. While the APA likely will not comment on the religious dynamics behind the bill, the APA can comment on the psychiatric implications of the bill and the quality of the scientific pronouncements about homosexuality by Ugandan mental health organizations.
By way of context, the APA is the largest psychiatric organization in the world, numbering almost 38,000 members. On May 14, 2011 the legislative Assembly of the APA passed legislation without dissent putting the APA in opposition to criminalization of homosexuality and reiterating the APA’s longstanding positions about homosexuality that decry stigmatization and discrimination. The Assembly’s legislation made its way up to the Joint Reference Committee and the Council on Minority Mental Health and Mental Health Disparities. The Joint Reference Committee then called upon the APA Board of Trustees to direct the President of the APA to write to the President of Uganda and the Speaker of Parliament expressing the APA’s concern about the health and safety of Ugandan gay and lesbian citizens. Dr. John Oldham, the current president of the APA, sent that letter on July 26, 2011. I attach that letter for your readers’ perusal.
Thank you again for keeping all of us informed about this critical issue for the African continent.
David L. Scasta, M.D., DFAPA
Representative to the Assembly of the APA
Association of Gay & Lesbian Psychiatrists
Vice-chair, Assembly Allied Organizations Committee
Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry
Temple University Medical School

The letter from Dr. Oldham is attached and is addressed to President Museveni, Speaker of Parliament Kadaga and David Bahati, mover of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. It also is copied to Charles Tuhaise, the President of the National Association of Social Workers – Uganda. That group has endorsed the AHB which seemed to bring motivation to the APA to go on record opposing the bill and criminalization of homosexuality in general.

Willow Creek Church under the guns

On a smaller scale, I know how Willow feels.
Reminds me of that old Steelers Wheels’ song:

Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right,
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you.

So the Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz declined to speak at Willow Creek Church’s Leadership Summit because the church once affiliated with Exodus International. A petition at Change.org with just under 800 signatures provoked the CEO to change his plans. I must admit I am puzzled over this. I can understand a gay activist viewing Exodus as a gay change organization but the relationship with Willow Creek ended in 2009.
Now here is why the title of the post says that Willow is under more than one gun. At the same time the Change.org petition took Willow to task for ever being affiliated with Exodus, Peter LaBarbera is protesting, with a sign and everything, outside the church’s Leadership conference because Willow broke with Exodus.
What is odd about AFTAH’s protest is that Exodus has not been particularly high on AFTAH’s list of groups either. In 2010, AFTAH accused Exodus of capitulating to gay interests when they dropped the Day of Truth.
Through all of this, Willow Creek reacted in a pretty classy manner. Bill Hybels gave praise to Schultz, wants to meet with the Change.org people and to my knowledge has said nothing about AFTAH’s sign. He maintained his beliefs, repeated his view that all people are welcome at Willow and even said buy Starbucks coffee.
Clearly, in America, there is tension between gay rights and traditional religious views of sexuality and we are sorting all of this out in real  time.  Regarding this particular dust up, I think Willow could have handled the break with Exodus better. I think it should have been made public when it happened and clear reasons given. Also, when it did come to light, they did not comment about accusations that they had gone soft on homosexuality, nor make it clear what the issues were.
However, in the present, I like how Hybels handled Schultz’s decision. Reacting with grace is a much better reflection of what he says he believes than retaliation or defensiveness.

Ghana's administration sends mixed signals on gays

Ghana’s President has not spoken but a recent appointee seems to have taken on the role of government spokesperson. Lauretta Lamptey, a recent appointment to the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice clarified the position of her office on Tuesday.
In short, the government is leaving it up to Parliament to either decriminalize homosexuality, to make the penalties stronger or leave things as they are. Lamptey says that being homosexual is not a crime but some kinds of homosexual behavior might be.
I posted on this at Religion Dispatches – the rest is over there…
Paul Canning has more on GLB efforts to response to the recent anti-gay rhetoric.

David Barton's claims about gay indoctrination are false says American Academy of Pediatrics

Monday, I posted a rebuttal to David Barton’s claims that the “leading pediatric association in America” called on the nation’s school superintendents to stop indoctrinating kids to become gay.
Yesterday, a spokeswoman for the American Academy of Pediatrics, Deborah Linchesky, refuted Barton’s claims saying, “the American College of Pediatricians (ACP) – not the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) – sent a letter to school superintendents regarding homosexuality and gender identity.” Linchesky stated the obvious in support of the fact that the AAP is the nation’s leading group of pediatricians: “The AAP, founded in 1930, is an organization of 60,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric specialists committed to providing comprehensive health care for all children, adolescents and young adults.”
When I asked Linchesky about the substance of Barton’s claims – that schools were indoctrinating students to become gay – she pointed me to the 2010 statement from the AAP about the ACPeds letter to school superintendents on the AAP website. There the pediatricians say

On or around March 31, 2010, school superintendents may have received another letter from the American College of Pediatricians, which is in no way affiliated with the American Academy of Pediatrics. The letter promotes another campaign titled “Facts About Youth,” which professes to offer guidance to educators on “approaches to students experiencing sexual orientation and gender identity confusion.” Their campaign does not acknowledge the scientific and medical evidence regarding sexual orientation, sexual identity, sexual health, or effective health education.

David Barton should correct  his error immediately. His beliefs are not likely to change because the real leading group of pediatricians did not do what he said they did. But integrity demands that he correct the false impression he created with his followers.