Tag: uganda

Uganda antigay group holds first meeting

The South African Independent Online reported recently that a new group opposed to homosexuality had been formed as a consequence of a March 5-8 conference held in Kampala. The article in full stated:

Kampala – Anti-gay activists in Uganda on Saturday formed a pressure group to discourage homosexuality, following a two-day conference of religious leaders, teachers and social workers in the capital Kampala.
The group, to be called the Anti-Gay Task Force, is intended to “fight against the spread of homosexuality and lesbianism in the country,” spokesperson for the group Stephen Langa told reporters.
Same sex-relationships and marriages are illegal in Uganda, and human rights groups have criticised the government for harassing homosexuals.
The task-force said that it would one day “wipe out” gay practices in the African state.

A meeting of this task force was held on March 15. An anonymous source provided a narrative of that meeting. I am putting excerpts here. Keep in mind that this is one eyewitness account and may not be completely accurate. I have asked Stephen Langa for confirmation and for comment on any discrepancies he believes are here. However, over the last several days all emails to Family Life Network are bouncing back as undeliverable.
Here are some excerpts…

Family Life Network – FLN Comes out Strong on Homosexuality in Uganda
To follow up the anti – gay training in Uganda from 5th to 7th March 2009 — Family Life Net work – FLN, organized a follow up meeting on Sunday 15th March 2009.
The meeting attracted an audience of over 60 people, mostly parents but who included civil servants, government workers, researchers, journalists, activists and students.
The assistant director FLN gave a brief back ground of Family Life Network that FLN deals with restoration of family values. Participants who attended the the previous anti – gay seminar were asked to give a recap.
After that, the audience gave testimonies of their encounter with homosexuals in Uganda and that the movement is strong hence the need for strong forces to deal with the gay movement in Uganda.
The assistant director FLN then introduced the director family Life Network Stephan Langa as the main facilitator of the day.
In his opening remarks, Stephan Langa said the Gay Agenda is controlling the debate, so it is time for the family to take over and start controlling the debate. He also emphasized terms like “Sexual Orientation and told participants not to allow such terms in our vocabulary, that these are terms or words introduced by homosexuals to fulfill their agenda. He warned participants that homosexuals in Uganda want the constitution to include no discrimination based on “sexual orientation”, he urged participants not to allow it.

If accurate, this demonstrates the mixed paradigm of this effort. This coalition is not dedicated to ministry but political engagement.

Presentation “Homosexuality in Uganda.” By Stephen Langa
What cause homosexuality.
In his presentation Stephan Langa said homosexuality is not about sex, it is about the search for a fatherly or motherly figure. Children with bad parenting end up becoming homosexuals as they search for mother’s or father’s love.

I wonder where he heard that?

He also mentioned another cause of homosexuality as child abuse; he said that the homosexuals he has counseled have been abused as children. He cited broken families as another cause of homosexuality.
He mentioned domineering mothers and abusive fathers as another cause of homosexuality, as well as negligent father who are emotionally off (away from?) with children.
Exposure to pornography as another cause of homosexuality.
He said some people are lured into homosexuality by money and other social favors. Rebellion, he said some children become homosexuals because they want to be rebellious, noting that homosexuality is some kind of rebellion.
He also said same sex attraction is a disorder and quoted: Richard Cohen MA. He emphasized the point that all homosexuals can change since all disorders can be changed. Homosexuality is not genetical, it is a learned behavior and what is learned can be unlearned. (Richard Cohen MA.)

Without no obvious awareness of the disconnect, the talk goes from describing homosexuality as a pathology to criticizing it as a political movement.

HISTORY OF THE MODERN GAY MOVEMENT
He talked about Henry Garber, who was a German American soldier in 1924, that Henry Garber sodomized Champ Simmons and Champ Simmons sodomized Harry Hay. Then Harry Hay started the whole gay movement that gays follow to date. Source: The PINK SWASTIKA – Dr. Scott Lively.
GAY AGENDA.
Utopia meaning, the gay agenda has no sexual restrictions and they want the entire world to adapt to this trend of life — that homosexuals want total acceptance, that homosexuals want to over throw the marriage, family values and the moral base of society.
GAY STRATEGY
Homosexuals have redefined homosexuality as in- born and that it is gender irreversible.They focus on who they are and what they want. They are after your children…

According to the person attending the training, there were many more points presented that came from Scott Lively’s books and talks.
After the presentations, the participants brainstormed what could be done. Here are just some…

The laws on homosexuality are weak, hence the need to strengthen these laws.
Parents were encouraged to participant in law making decisions in Uganda so that to strengthen the laws on homosexuality.
To establish a unit at Police to deal with homosexuality.
Homosexuality is an abomination; it is evil and should be dealt with
strongly.
During the reactions a prominent pastor also said that they have been talking with an ex-gay activist who has given them a five year plan for dealing with the gay agenda in Uganda. And they have submitted this plan to the ministry concerned, that they await reactions.
Another participant told the audience that parliament is drafting a new law that will be tough on homosexuals.

I wonder who the ex-gay activist is?
Here is a chilling claim:

A participant asked a liberal question on issues of sexuality: You have associated homosexuality with all evils, defiles, child molesters, etc. Don’t you think that also heterosexuals defile or molest our children why don’t you address this issue as well. He was answered: We are here to talk about homosexuality, do not divert us. After this question he was intimated, almost thrown out of the meeting.

And then plans were made:

Way Forward
-Formation of a task force to deal with homosexuality
-Volunteers to educate children on the dangers of homosexuality
-Fund raising to facilitate the volunteers
-Collect signatures from Ugandans door to door to request parliament to tighten the law on homosexuality.
-Get information and knowledge about homosexuality
-Government should note gay funders, and scrutinize the funding or stop the funding for gay movements in Uganda.
-Rehabilitation of gays, we were told that a curriculum on rehabilitation is being developed and will be out in the next 3 months.
-To deal with homosexuality at local level and involve local councils
-Full up meeting on Sunday: 22nd March, 2009. People pledged to fund raise funds for follow-up meetings.

Let me repeat: I tried to reach Stephen Langa to verify this information but no one answered the phone and the emails have come back undeliverable. This seems plausible given the participants in the earlier ex-gay meeting and what they have suggested they discussed then. If anyone else who was there or Mr. Langa would like to offer a different view, I welcome the contact.
UPDATE: The GayUganda blog has the entire narrative. Short on details, this article reports on another group.

Brief post: Scott Lively on criminalization of homosexuality and compulsory therapy

I have posted several times on the Ugandan conference on homosexuality last weekend. In researching this, I wrote to Exodus International, International Healing Foundation and Scott Lively to ask if they were quoted accurately regarding calls for criminalization of homosexuals and forced therapy as an option to jail. Exodus International issued a statement for today’s Christian Post article on the subject. Neither Richard Cohen nor Caleb Brundidge have issued statements; Extreme Prophetic – Mr. Brundidge’s other affiliation has not issued a statement. However, Scott Lively did answer my request for a statement. I asked him if he favored criminal penalties for homosexuality in Uganda and if he favored compulsory therapy as an option. He requested that I present it exactly as written so here goes:

I did promote therapy as an option to imprisonment, citing my own experience benefitting from optional therapy after an arrest for drunk driving many years ago. In fact, it was during that period I accepted Christ and was spontaneously healed of alcoholism and drug addiction.
I don’t think under the circumstances homosexuality should be decriminalized in Uganda since it seems to be the only thing stopping the international “gay” juggernaut from turning Uganda into another Brazil.

It is hard to know where to start here. The assumptions are that an analogy to drunk driving is reasonable (nope) and that disagreement with homosexuality should be enforced via the coercive power of the state (we can’t go there – what other ideas and beliefs might states want to coerce?).
For now, how about readers taking over…

Christian Post article on the Ugandan homosexuality conference

Michelle Vu, reporter for the Christian Post, penned an article regarding the Ugandan anti-gay conference.
Exodus International is quoted in this article, I think for the first time since the controversy began:

In response, Exodus International said it applauds its board member Don Schmierer, who attended the Uganda conference, for his effort to convey an “alternative message that encompasses a compassionate, biblical view of homosexuality,” according to a statement by Exodus International president Alan Chambers to The Christian Post on Wednesday.
Exodus says neither Schmierer nor the ministry agrees or endorses Uganda’s criminalization of homosexuality law, imprisonment of homosexuals or compulsory therapy. Rather, the ministry says it “unequivocally denounces” the positions the government of Uganda has towards homosexuality.

The full statement is here:

Alan Chambers, President of Exodus International, responded to reports about an Exodus board member’s participation at a conference in Uganda on homosexuality:
“Unfortunately, Uganda as a country has demonstrated severe hostility towards homosexuals supporting criminalization of homosexual behavior and proposing compulsory therapy – positions that Exodus International unequivocally denounces. It is our sincere desire to offer an alternative message that encompasses a compassionate, biblical view of homosexuality not just here in America, but around the world. We applaud our board member’s attempt to convey these truths to a country in need.”
###

There is nothing in this statement that changes my view of this conference. It was ill-advised for several reasons, some of which were described in this Christian Post article. Another issue, largely undiscussed, is the collaboration of Exodus with Richard Cohen’s associate, Caleb Brundidge. Mr. Brundidge believes he can raise people from the dead by God’s power but he can’t heal gays without beating pillows with a tennis raquet and getting in touch with the inner child. Is this the kind of compulsory therapy Ugandan gays might have in their future?
On this subject, I highly recommend thoughtful posts by Wendy Gritter at Bridging the Gap and Karen Keen on her Pursue God blog
Also, Scott Lively provides a quote regarding his views on the Ugandan conference here…

Report from the Uganda conference on homosexuality: Open forum

Frank Mugisha is the chairperson of a gay advocacy group in Uganda called Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG). An unnamed person from his group attended all of the meetings in Kampala and filed this report. Obviously, I cannot vouch for the accuracy of it and I think it should be considered one person’s impressions of the event. There are some issues raised in it however, which I am exploring and will probably post about in the future. For now, I am just going to post a link to the report and open the floor for comments.

Gay Ugandan man seeks asylum in UK; EU group condemns Ugandan homosexuality conference

Gay Without Borders is reporting that John Bosco Nyombi is back in the UK after being returned to Uganda against his will. While there, he was beaten and had to hide from police to avoid detention, according to GWB.
Nyombi’s case made headlines in September of 2008 but little has been reported since. I post this case in light of the recent ex-gay conference in Kampala, Uganda involving Exodus International board member, Don Schmeirer, International Healing Foundation’s Caleb Brundidge and Scott Lively. During this series of meetings, a new anti-gay group was formed, and Scott Lively called for tougher criminal laws and forced therapy of homosexuals.
Bosco claims he was beaten and lived under threat.

He fled to the UK from Uganda where homosexuality is illegal and carries a punishment of life in prison.
His case has attracted publicity in Uganda.
Mr Bosco said in a statement seen by the court that, on his return to his homeland, his circumstances had become “quite desperate”.
He had been beaten up during a period in detention and he had now gone into hiding to avoid being interviewed by the police about his homosexuality.
The judge said the evidence before him made it perfectly plain that Mr Bosco had come to the notice of the authorities, and this had added to the risk of his human rights being breached by reason of his homosexuality.
In rejecting the Home Office’s argument that it was safe to return Mr Bosco to Uganda, the judge said: “I find it impossible to conclude, on the basis of the evidence as it now is, that there is not the real possibility that a judge might find that he is at risk if he is returned (to his homeland) by reason of his homosexuality.”

Elsewhere, a LGBT group affiliated with the European Union blasted the Uganda conference and the American participants by name:

European Parliament’s Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights strongly condemns the meeting of 5 March between several Ugandan parliamentarians and Scott Lively, Don Schmierer, Caleb Lee Brundidge and Stephen Langa of the USA and Uganda-based groups working to diminish human rights of LGBT persons.

In my view, American groups should be condemning the situation in Uganda and not enabling it.