Category: Warren Throckmorton

Giles Muhame, the managing editor of the Uganda tabloid, Rolling Stone, announced on his Facebook page that the paper would resume publication on Friday. Sounding defiant, Muhame said

An extraordinary meeting of The Rolling Stone management last nyt resolved we hit the streets this Friday irrespective of media council’s refusal to reconsider it’s decision of blocking our publication. We registered editor’s particulars on October15 but up to now they are “still consulting!!!” Our lawyers have given us a green light. Any attempts of confiscating the Stone will land someone in jail…YOU HAVE MY WORD..

Elsewhere, Muhame has promised that this issue will have more revelations. For instance, here in an exchange with Red Pepper publisher, Arinaitwe Rugyendo, Muhame promises that the outing campaign will continue:

Arinaitwe Rugyendo Eee Giles, the homos will shaft you one of these days…i saw Rolling stone rolling all over the world Sunday at 8:26am 

Muhame Giles General…they are panicking…we have shaken their dark world…wait for this week’s issue…unveiling all the dirty secrets and faces behind a new wave of homosexuality that is spreading like wild fire….

Sunday at 8:29am

For Uganda’s LGBT community, this is an ominous development. According to Frank Mugisha, people suspected of being gay were attacked after the first issue in the Hang Them campaign hit the street.

This time the scene is Hamilton, IN and the victim is Marcus Bell, 14. The tragedy happened last week.

His father reported that he was being bullied, but there is uncertainty about the relationship to the suicide, according to this report from the Indianapolis Star.

FISHERS, Ind. — A moment of silence was held this morning at Hamilton Southeastern High School in memory of a freshman who took his own life last week.

HSE officials still aren’t releasing many details about the suicide last week of a Jamarcus “Marcus” Bell, 14, that could link the tragedy to bullying.

In a news conference this afternoon, Superintendent Brian Smith cited privacy requirements for student disciplinary records and would not say whether the district had begun an investigation into the allegations of bullying before or after Bell took his own life on Wednesday.

Smith also wouldn’t say whether Bell had ever reported being bullying to school officials.

Bell’s father, Corey Moore, has said his son was bullied recently in welding class at Hamilton Southeastern High School.

This article gives more specifics and indicates the role of bullying.

Jamarcus had been bullied repeatedly at Hamilton Southeastern High in Fishers and earlier at Fishers Junior High, Moore said. Incidents included Jamarcus being hit, punched and kicked, and the theft of his shoes and some clothing, Moore said, adding that some students even kicked over and smashed candles at a vigil set up by his friends Friday night.

An interesting report out of Zambia…

FORMER president of Botswana Festus Mogae has urged President Rupiah Banda’s government not to criminalise homosexuality and sex work because that would make the fight against HIV/AIDS difficult.

And President Rupiah Banda said he understood the need not to criminalise homosexuals.

Speaking when he led a group of prominent Africans that include Dr Kenneth Kaunda, former Vice-President of Uganda Dr Speciosa Wandira and former chairperson of Kenya’s National AIDS Control Prof Mirriam Were, who are calling themselves Champions of an HIV-Free Generation, Mogae said there was no need to enact laws that criminilise homosexuals and sex workers.

He explained that the Botswana constitution criminalized homosexuality and sex work but since he left office he had been arguing with the government to repeal the law.

Mogae said over the last three years nobody had been prosecuted for being homosexuals or sex workers in Botswana.

This afternoon, Mitch Harrison at Canyon Ridge Christian Church sent me a statement about church support for Martin Ssempa. The statement, in full, reads:

Canyon Ridge Christian Church began work in Uganda with the intent of helping address the HIV/AIDS pandemic that was wiping out generations of people in that country and other parts of Africa. Our partnership with Pastor Martin Ssempa began in response to this intent.

 

Because of the current controversy in Uganda over the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, and because of Pastor Ssempa’s involvement in the support of the bill, we have been in regular communication with him to clarify his positions and opinions. While we have come to understand that Pastor Ssempa advocates for an amended version of the Anti-Homosexuality bill that removes the death penalty and reduces other severe penalties, he is still supports passage of this bill.

 

We, however, do not support him in this effort.

 

We are in the process of determining how we can redirect our support in Uganda to activities specifically related to addressing HIV/AIDS issues.

 

Further, we condemn acts of violence against any person regardless of sexual orientation.

 

Our desire is to see God’s purposes lived out in Uganda, and for the redemption and abundant life he gives to be experienced by everyone.

While CRCC is not directly acknowledging the errors in their earlier statement (still up but probably not for long), they do so implicitly by condemning acts of violence which the AHB would lead to and which has been recently incited by Uganda’s Rolling Stone.

Background for this story is here, here, here, here, and here (all of my articles at Salon.com)

UPDATE: CRCC has replaced their former statement with the one above on their website. The Ssempas are no longer referenced as mission partners but rather a link to this statement has replaced their page. The former page is archived here (page 1, page 2, page 3).

I. Love. This.