Molotov Mitchell spins the record

Note: the ads for Bing, Dell, Resolve, etc., seem to have disappeared from the Mitchell video below…

Another day, another need to post the actual text of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Molotov Mitchell makes little film clips that WorldNetDaily puts up on various topics. Yesterday, he put up a second video on the Ugandan bill which claims to tell viewers what the bill says. He takes on an unfortunate straw man and then creates one of his own.

I have rarely used the short hand, “Kill the Gays Bill” because David Bahati’s bill does not impose the death sentence on all homosexual behavior. However, one could call it, “Kill-Some-Gays-and-Jail-the-Rest-for-Life Bill.” The longer description ceases to be shorthand but it is more accurate. In this video, Mitchell takes on the narrower description and then critiques it. To attack what he considers to be a false picture of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, he creates a false and incomplete picture. Here’s the vid:

First of all, why are Resolve and Dell advertising on this video?

Anyway, Mitchell says the death penalty is given for three offenses: pedophilia or sexual abuse of the handicapped, knowingly spreading HIV to others, and using positions of authority to coerce others to have sex. He says, “that is it.”

Well, for the record, that is not it.

Yet again, let’s review the bill which you can read here. And by the way, here is another big fan of the bill who does not post it or make it available to his viewers.

Here are some portions of the AHB relevant to Mitchell’s claims. First from the introduction: 

The object of this Bill is to establish a comprehensive consolidated legislation to protect the traditional family by prohibiting (i) any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex; and (ii) the promotion or recognition of such sexual relations in public institutions and other places through or with the support of any Government entity in Uganda or any non governmental organization inside or outside the country.

And, in the definitions section:

“serial offender” means a person who has previous convictions of the offence of homosexuality or related offences;

“touching” includes touching—

(a) with any part of the body;

(b) with anything else;

(c) through anything; and in particular includes touching amounting to penetration of any sexual organ. anus or mouth.

And from section 2:

2. The offence of homosexuality.

(1) A person commits the offence of homosexuality if-

(a) he penetrates the anus or mouth of another person of the same sex with his penis or any other sexual contraption;

(b) he or she uses any object or sexual contraption to penetrate or stimulate sexual organ of a person of the same sex;

(e) he or she touches another person with the intention of committing the act of homosexuality.

(2) A person who commits an offence under this section shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for life.

Note, no mention of children in section 2. And note that touching with the intent to commit homosexuality gets a life sentence. Recall how touching was defined. Now, what if you touch someone and you are HIV positive? Examine the death penalty section:

3. Aggravated homosexuality.

(1) A person commits the offense of aggravated homosexuality where the

(a) person against whom the offence is committed is below the age of 18 years;

(b) offender is a person living with HIV;

(c) offender is a parent or guardian of the person against whom the offence is committed;

(d) offender is a person in authority over the person against whom the offence is committed;

(e) victim of the offence is a person with disability;

(f) offender is a serial offender, or

(g) offender applies, administers or causes to be used by any man or woman any drug, matter or thing with intent to stupefy overpower him or her so as to there by enable any person to have unlawful carnal connection with any person of the same sex,

(2) A person who commits the offence of aggravated homosexuality shall be liable on conviction to suffer death.

(3) Where a person is charged with the offence under this section, that person shall undergo a medical examination to ascertain his or her HIV status.

Section 3, line b and f is where the private consensual behavior could result in death. Arguably, line d could be construed as forbidding consensual relationships between a boss and a co-worker. Perhaps the author intended some kind of sexual harassment but the way the bill is written, this is not clear. When Mitchell says the bill says the death penalty is reserved for people who use a position of authority to coerce compliance, he is reading into the language.

Mitchell takes another leap when he says the bill requires intentional spread of HIV. As written, it does not require knowledge of status, nor does it require intention to spread HIV. In this section, HIV testing is required. If no HIV, then section 2 might apply, if the person is HIV positive, then section 3 is relevant. Perhaps none of this is what David Bahati intended but the language of the bill does not include anything about intention to spread HIV to unsuspecting persons. The plain language requires only touching with the homosexual intent, and HIV positive status.

For reasons only he knows, Mitchell omits the line which provides the death penalty to serial offenders. People can be put to death for committing “related offenses” to those covered in this bill more than once. What are those?

Finally, he glosses over the life sentence component by saying there might be other aspects of the bill about which one could argue. Would it be ok to oppose it if we just said we oppose Uganda’s “Kill-Some-Gays-and-Jail-the-Rest-for-Life Bill?”

If those who support the bill would simply acknowledge what was in it and then say, here is what we mean or here is what we think it should say, that would be a different conversation. Then, a debate could take place on the actual proposals. However, as illustrated by this video, those who support the bill often spin what it says and then won’t provide the bill for their readers to see what it says.

For the record, who will be first to link to it?

Michael Glatze writes again; removes inflammatory comment from blog

Michael Glatze is back and according to one of the blog posts he left up, he is ready to “rumble.”  

Glatze caused quite a stir in July, 2007 when he announced that the former Young Gay America editor had gone straight. He was interviewed by NARTH’s Joe Nicolosi in addition to being featured by various socially conservative groups.

If you clicked the first link above, you went to a WorldNetDaily article by Glatze where he gives an update of his life since he first left his work as an advocate for gay youth.

The second link is to his blog which is a recent effort. However, he has already removed most of the posts prior to today. ExGayWatch early this morning posted a link to the blog where inflammatory statements were posted. The most troubling was the one titled, “I really can’t stand that man” (see below):

glatzeblogclip

In case it is difficult to read the picture, here is the quote: “Have I mentioned lately how utterly *disgusting* Obama is? And, yes, it’s because he’s black. God, help us all.”

I asked Glatze if he wanted to offer comment. He said the following in an email response: 

Yes, I can. I was talking with some friends about Jimmy Carter’s recent comments along the lines of that anybody who disagrees with Obama is a racist. My friend posted that on my blog, as sarcasm.

Warren, I am about fed-up with the “race card” being pulled, any time someone so much as *suggests* that Obama may not be doing something right. It’s getting to the point, where people are literally losing their minds trying to speak up, trying to have their voices heard. You don’t know how many friends I have who feel crippled, in a country that has its foundations in the notion of freedom and – more importantly – liberty.

You’ll see a quote on my little blog – now – that says, “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” It’s a quote by George Orwell. I’m trying to do my small part, in the midst of all this insanity, to find integrity. 

No, I’m not happy with the current administration. No, I don’t hate Obama because he’s black. What I do hate is evil, and many of the things he has done I would consider evil.

Even with his explanation, this is still very troubling. Readers can decide if they feel the explanation is sufficient. There was no apology, no recognition that the “sarcasm” was incredibly offensive and incendiary. I suspect that WND did not know about this and will be interested to see if they leave the Glatze articles on their site.

UPDATE: Glatze added the previous posts he deleted back to his blog.

WND Day of Silence incident reports – The rest of the story

Yesterday, WorldNetDaily filed a report about Mission America’s efforts to keep kids out of school on the Day of Silence. I noted that the WND article reproduced the Golden Rule Pledge card and called it a “popular poster used to promote the Day of Silence.”
However, reading further, I became curious about some of the bullet-point reports from various schools labeled by the WND article as Day of Silence “incidents.”
This post is the follow up of two allegations. First, from a Kirksville, MO parent:

Kirksville, Mo.: A parent reported that the Kirksville High School principal and superintendent laughed when she asked if her child could be excused from participating in the school’s Day of Silence. According to Mission America, she said, “They called me a narrow-minded bigot and refused to give excused absences.”

Curious, I called the Kirksville High School Superintendent of schools, Pat Williams about the allegation of name-calling. When I read the account to him, he said, “That’s absolutely false. I did not use that language with any parent or in response to any inquiry.”
He told me that a couple of parents called to express disagreement with the Day of Silence and one mother met in person with him but he did not express any judgment about the mother’s views. He further explained that the matter of an excused absence would be at the discretion of the building principal.
He told the parent that the Day of Silence was student initiated and followed procedures established by the school for student-initiated activities. Mr. Williams explained,

“We don’t pass judgment on the causes as long as they follow established parameters. We have had a variety of student-initiated activities such as Bible study groups, days of prayer, and national flag pole prayer observances. This year, a parent and student also approached us about a Day of Truth as a follow up on Monday and we held them to the same standards.”

Randy Michael, principal of Kirksville High School also took strong exception to the Mission America source. He said flatly, “That’s not true” when I read the allegation to him. He said he received “two or three” complaints about the event and at least one request for an excused absence which was denied. He explained that there was no basis for an excused absence since no student was compelled to participate in the Day of Silence.
He said both the Day of Silence and Day of Truth were observed in accord with the same standards. Students were required to speak if called on by a teacher. Also, no student could force their materials on others, but could give cards or information out if asked. “Neither day disrupted education,” Mr. Michael said.
I emailed Linda Harvey at Mission America to see if I could interview the parent involved but she declined to provide more information or contact the person who made the allegation. The Kirksville administrators were not aware of any allegations surrounding the Day of Silence until I called. In my opinion, the the information provided by Mr. Williams and Mr. Michael and the fact that the school district also allowed the Day of Truth detract from the credibility of the anonymous allegation.
I also talked to the Mesa, AZ Police about this story:

Also in Phoenix, at Desert Ridge High School, Arizona Republic reported that nearly 250 students stayed home. A parent who objected to the observance hosted a pool party for students who refused to participate. His son received a death threat via text message, and police questioned a group of homosexual students who silently sat across the street from his home.

You can see a not completely accurate video report here.
I talked to Detective Steve Berry at the Mesa Police Department who said the Mesa Police received a call from a student who heard a rumor that someone was planning a shooting on the Day of Silence. No targets were identified. The text message was not a threat but rather a report of the rumored planned shooting. Essentially, Det. Berry said the threat was a rumor that was passed through the grapevine, but there was no text threat directly made toward anyone. Thus, the KPHO.com report is misleading in that no student group was ever identified as responsible. The WND report is misleading in that the boy in question did not actually receive a text message with a threat, according to Det. Berry, who read the police report to me.
And those were just the first two bulletpoints. I guess you can’t believe everything you read.

WorldNetDaily. Golden Rule Pledge. Day of Silence.

I couldn’t think of a good title for this one so I just assembled the players, so to speak.
Check out this Worldnetdaily article banging away at the Day of Silence and then scroll about half way down the page and check out the “popular poster used to promote the Day of Silence.”
I was saddened to see that Linda Harvey believes her efforts were successful. But I had to smile a bit to think that the Golden Rule Pledge card was considered a promotion for the DOS.
Maybe next year we’ll have t-shirts…