The murder of David Kato – Michael Kimindu of CA Kenya writes an open letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury

Dear Archbishop Williams,

Happy New Year, may God endow you with wisdom to lead
the people of God in the Anglican Communion and globally.

I take this opportunity to thank you for adding your voice to the call for an end to homophobia and bigotry, the result of which may have contributed to the death of our brother David Kato. The death of David and the root cause may not lie in the position held by the Church of Uganda alone.

Since 2009, missionaries of hate and homophobia especially from USA have been spreading false teachings and interpretations on some selected texts of the Bible to some Charismatic Pentecostal believers, the results of which include the Bahati Anti-Homosexual Bill. Ignorance of the holistic interpretation of Scripture on the part of these missionaries of hate and their converts is much to blame.

These missionaries take advantage of the poverty affecting most of their followers, who are vulnerable, enticing them with money. Some of those confessing healing from homosexuality are heterosexuals who are simply after money. Homosexuality, like HIV/AIDS, has attracted large interest from people who see it as a way of getting rich. Even well meaning allies are accused of being affirming for the sake of money from the USA and EU Countries.

Personally, I have been involved in LGBTI advocacy for the last 7 years. I was at the last Lambeth Conference as part of the Voices of Witness Africa and I am the Coordinator for Other Sheep East Africa. David Kato, an Anglican, was part of Other Sheep Chapter Uganda.

Your Grace, homophobia in Africa cannot be fought by one denomination let alone one religion. It is time now for the Ecumenical Movement to take a step towards the concerted effort to fight homophobia. Leaving every member denomination to have their own position is not helpful. How many people are enough to wake up the WCC to action?

Christians alone will not win, Interfaith cooperation is necessary, and even then non-religious communities have to be included in this campaign. You have heard the false claim that homosexuality is imported from Europe and America. Africans do not formally talk about human sexuality including same-sex even when they come across it. They know sexual acts of all forms take place, but bury their heads like the proverbial ostrich.

If we are to save Africa, homophobia will have to be fought from all fronts, but the army must be united. Deliberate disunity among early missionaries succeeded in dividing the people hence creating suspicions which haunt us to this day. Homosexuals are homosexuals whatever religion or culture.

It is my plea to you and those in a similar position to think of new approaches in the fight against homophobia.

Poverty eradication should not be left out as a strategy in fighting homophobia. So is holistic theological training in our theological Institutions. Time is now to embrace Jesus' teaching on the importance of LETTING THE TARES TO GROW WITH THE WHEAT.

My last point to Your Grace is for the fight against homophobia in Africa to be led by an African Human Resource to avoid the claim that the West is imposing homosexuality on Africa.

I hope you will find some of these ideas useful.

Your obedient servant,

Rev. Michael Nzuki Kimindu, Anglican Priest
Changing Attitude Kenya contact
Coordinator for Other Sheep, East Africa
MCC Licensed, but Anglican flesh and blood

To enable Michael to develop his work with Changing Attitude and Other Sheep in Kenya, please send a donation or become a supporter. The time for action is now and the need is urgent.

David Kato RIP

David Kato, was attacked and beaten to death with a hammer at his home in Kampala on Wednesday 26 January 2011. David was known as ‘the grandfather of the kuchus”, a brave and passionately committed activist who had been campaigning for gay rights for more than a decade. He had been leading the campaign against David Bahati’s Anti-homosexuality bill, which demands that homosexuals be executed and which has intensified the climate of hatred and prejudice against LGBT people not only in Uganda but across Africa.

Changing Attitude England has been campaigning for fifteen years for the full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the Anglican Communion. By implication, we are campaigning against everything, every attitude, every theological position, every use of scripture, every sermon, teaching and episcopal attitude which allows or encourages prejudice and hatred against LGBT people.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, issued a statement following the murder. He said, in part: “No one should have to live in such fear because of the bigotry of others. This is a moment to take very serious stock and to address those attitudes of mind which endanger the lives of men and women belonging to sexual minorities.”

Changing Attitude England welcomes the Archbishop’s forthright stance. Following David’s murder, the time has come to demand that the Anglican Communion abandons the parts of the teaching enshrined in Lambeth Conference resolution 1.10 of 1998 that rejects homosexual practice as being incompatible with scripture (para. 4) and cannot advise the legitimizing or blessing of same sex unions nor ordaining those involved in same gender unions (para 5).

The Anglican Communion must move to adopt as policy the commitments made in paras 3 and 5 to assure homosexual people that they are loved by God and are full members of the body of Christ, and to minister pastorally and sensitively to all irrespective of sexual orientation.

The Most Revd Henry Orombi, Primate of Uganda, is one of 7 Primates who have absented themselves from the Primates’ meeting in Dublin this week because The Most Revd Katharine Jefferts Schori, the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church is present and because of TEC’s policy which breaks the moratoria on ordaining gay bishops and allowing same sex blessings.

TEC has led the way towards the full inclusion of LGBT people in the Church and in the global Christian community, reflecting theologically on human sexuality and listening for over 30 years to LGBT people. TEC has committed itself to integrating us into every level of Church life. For doing this it is demonized. Conservatives, in the words of Canon Chris Sugden, bear false witness against The Episcopal Church and claim, wrongly, that Anglicans have been persecuted and driven from their homes, buildings and jobs in the USA and Canada.

In contrast, the Church of Uganda in a statement issued on 9 February 2010, whilst not fully endorsing the Bahati bill, argued that homosexual behaviour should be prohibited and penalized and the licensing of organisations which promote homosexuality should be prohibited. In conclusion it reiterated the Church of Uganda’s desire to provide love and care for all God’s people “caught up in any sin” (which is not what Lambeth 1.10 says).

A local Anglican priest, the Revd Thomas Musoke, at Friday's funeral for David Kato, grabbed the microphone in the middle of the ceremony and decried homosexuality, causing a fight to break out and leading villagers to refuse to bury the body. Reports say he screamed:

"The world has gone crazy. People are turning away from the scriptures. They should turn back, they should abandon what they are doing. You cannot start admiring a fellow man. It is ungodly.”

One woman responded:

"Who are you to judge others? We have not come to fight. You are not the judge of us. As long as he's gone to God his creator, who are we to judge Kato?"

Marking a stark contrast with the attitude of the Church of Uganda, the Kampala-based Daily Monitor carried an editorial comment which concluded:

“People like David Kato and others who might be gay are Ugandans and enjoy the same rights and protections of the law as heterosexuals. We cannot send them into exile neither, lock them away, or hang them. We need to have an honest discussion about how to ensure that their rights are upheld without violating the rights of other Ugandans. Peaceful and stable societies only emerge when we understand and try to accommodate those who are different from us, or who disagree with us – not by ostracising or killing them.”

Changing Attitude England calls on every Province of the Anglican Communion to urgently review attitudes to homosexuality.

The abusive use of Lambeth 1.10 which focuses on negative, judgmental attitudes towards LGBT people must be reversed.

Affirmation of the unconditional love of God for all people, pastoral care and support which is undiscriminating, and opposition to homophobia and all prejudice against LGBT people must become the policy of the Communion.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has said that this is a moment to take very serious stock and to address those attitudes of mind which endanger the lives of men and women belonging to sexual minorities.

The Primates who are meeting in Dublin have an opportunity to reflect on the effect of Christian teaching which diminishes the humanity of LGBT people and puts our lives in danger. They must initiate a review of Lambeth Resolution 1.10 in response to David’s murder, the continuing violence against LGBT people in the global community and the loss of so many faithful LGBT Anglicans who are abandoning the Church they love because of its deeply ingrained prejudice.

The Anglican Consultative Council and the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion must engage in a similar review of Anglican policy when they next meet.

The next meeting of the Lambeth Conference in 2018 will be too late. By then, more LGBT activists and individuals will have been murdered and more teenagers committed suicide, and tens of thousands of LGBT Anglicans will continue to live in secrecy and in fear for their safety and their lives.

The need for action to combat the evil of prejudice and violence against LGBT people is urgent and changes in Anglican Communion teaching and policy must be made NOW.

Colin Coward

To enable Changing Attitude England to campaign for urgent change in Anglican Communion policy towards our LGBT members please become a supporter or make a donation.

Time for change – in depth

The tensions in the Church of England and the Anglican Communion surrounding the space it allows lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to occupy is reaching breaking point, I suspect. It is certainly driving many of us LGBT Anglicans who live within this insane dualism to the edge. In civil society we can contract civil partnerships (marriage in all but name) and create social lives which are largely free from anxiety about being gay, adult and equal. In the church we are a problem, a source of tension, guilt and embarrassment, a threat to unity and for some, a sinful body to be healed or an evil to be eradicated.

The practice of the Church of England encourages dishonesty, secrecy, collusion, fear, bad pastoral practice and bad theology. LGBT people either tolerate this unhealthy state of affairs, rail against it, or leave the church.

I don’t have the patience to wait while bishops revisit ‘Issues in Human Sexuality’ – it needs to be binned. I don’t have the patience to wait for the church to opt to treat the key biblical texts about same-sex activity in the same way it has treated texts about divorce, remarriage, slavery, the wearing of hats, the length of hair and the role of women in leadership, let alone the patience for the church to come to a common theological mind about homosexuality.

I want to be part of a church which no longer has an issue with my innate identity as a gay man, nor my visibility in church, nor my relationship with my life partner. I want to be part of a church which has overcome its uncertainty about the place of women and LGBT people in ministry, lay and ordained.

Tensions are reaching breaking point in the Communion, having been stretched in one direction by the Episcopal Church’s election as bishops of a partnered gay man and a partnered lesbian and in the other direction by conservative leaders and networks organising schismatic, transgressive movements.

Two weeks ago I was sent a scan of the Ugandan Rolling Stone front page naming Uganda’s 100 “top” homosexuals, including a picture of Bishop Christopher Senyonjo and a yellow banner saying “hang them”. The report has now been picked up by western media and websites. The Bishop of New York has written to the Archbishop of Canterbury and I’ve been asked whether the Archbishop is going to condemn the naming of and demand to hang Bishop Christopher (who of course is not gay) and the 99 other named homosexuals. Lambeth Palace usually tells me that private representations are being made and that these are felt to be more appropriate and effective than a public statement.

Changing Attitude may have acquiesced in this apparently reasonable justification of behind-the-scenes diplomacy for too long. The risk to the lives, security and emotional and physical well-being of LGBT people in Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, the UK, USA and elsewhere is too serious now for subtle diplomacy to be an appropriate response.

Homophobic individuals, newspapers, governments and churches need to know that the Anglican Communion condemns unequivocally all violence and prejudice against LGBT people (which is the Archbishop’s stated position). The fear of upsetting certain Anglican Primates, bishops and pressure groups inhibits a proper reaction.

In England, bodies have been busy planning their departure for the ordinariate or forming new pressure groups – the Society of St Wilfrid and St Hilda or the Society of St Augustine for the Anglican Mainstreamers – or not so mainstream following this development.

Archbishops and Popes and bishops don’t like schisms. They are symbols of unity and managing and containing threats of schism are a high priority compared with naming and condemning threats to the lives and well-being of vulnerable minority groups such as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Condemning sexism and homophobia should be a priority, alongside the condemnation of racism, fascism, rapacious capitalism and fundamentalism. The position of the Anglican Communion and the Archbishop of Canterbury should be to unequivocally support the dignity and full inclusion of LGBT people in church and society.

In the Communion, every action taken against LGBT people should be condemned and challenged. The Church of Uganda has allowed Bishop Christopher Senyonjo to be vilified, impoverished and threatened with death in the Ugandan press. The church should have immediately condemned the Rolling Stone report.

In England, LGBT Anglicans must now work towards converting the House of Bishops and General Synod from their various shades of prejudice, intolerance, passive tolerance and active if circumspect welcome for LGBT people into a radical change of church teaching and practice. There should be no discrimination against LGBT people in congregational life or ordained ministry and access to all the sacraments, including the blessing of relationships and the marriage of same-sex couples.

A great deal of time, energy and attention has been given to the parish of St Peter’s Folkestone and to the four bishops who may leave the Church of England to join the ordinariate. Those thinking of leaving the Church of England issue threats and a bishop calls the church vicious, vindictive and fascist because they are negative, against things, ordained women, gay relationships, gay bishops (funny, that one), theologies of justice and peace. Their departure opens up space for people who feel differently, theologise differently and have a very different awareness of how God is active in their lives.

A mini-storm has been going on in the church where I worship following front page stories and pictures in the local paper about the civil partnership my partner and I are planning to contract. Some people have left the congregation, others have arrived, and the balance between conservatives and progressives has changed. Those arriving can’t fathom why the church is so obsessed in a negative way about women and gay people. God is about love, compassion, integration, justice and truth, isn’t s/he? they ask.

The sermon the Archbishop of Canterbury preached in India seems apposite. "Sometimes we have listened to the past," he said. "We have identified ourselves with our ancestors in faith. Sometimes we have listened to our own unconverted hearts and used the church of God for our own ends, welcoming people like us and rejecting those who make us uncomfortable. And when any of those things happens, the Church begins to fall apart. The wounds in the Body get wider and deeper, and we find ourselves giving great energy to justifying our decision not to be together. As we stop listening to one another, we stop listening to Christ. Whether this happens in the name of nationality or tradition or pride of achievement or purity of teaching, the effect is the same tragedy."

It would be easy to say the church is falling apart because it doesn’t unconditionally welcome women or lesbians or gays or bisexuals or transgender people or black people or people from different social strata – people “not like us”. Christians find it very difficult to listen to Christ and don’t find listening to each other much easier sometimes. A Reflections group meets monthly at my church to meditate together and talk about spirituality and faith. The conversation is very tentative because the members are unsure of their experience and of the language to describe their faith. We are learning together how inadequate the church has been in providing us with the resources to go deeper into ourselves and into God.

+Rowan was one of the people who provided me with the basic tools. If he were to focus on one thing which might stop splits from occurring in the Communion, it would be to teach people and churches how to go deeper, really deep into silence and stillness, heart and body and emotions, mystery and unknowing. But we live in a Christian era, internationally, when attending to ourselves and God in depth is one of the last things people want to commit their lives to.

Colin Coward

Please help us to instill mature patterns of behaviour and deeper spiritual roots in the Anglican Communion by becoming a supporter of Changing Attitude or by making a donation.

A successful, anti-gay African Bishops Conference in Entebbe?

Arguing about the divisions in the Anglican Communion over homosexuality feels futile sometimes.

The bishops who gathered in Entebbe last week think they represent the majority, the true Christians, for whom homosexuality is the most evil abomination imaginable. I do not belong to such a group. If their interpretation of Jesus’ teaching leads them to this conclusion, then why should they not leave and form an exclusive church that is cleansed of the evil they imagine?

The Ugandan Daily Monitor reports comments from three of the Archbishops present last week.

The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Henry Luke Orombi, said: “Homosexuality is evil, abnormal and unnatural as per the Bible. It is a culturally unacceptable practice. Although there is a lot of pressure, we cannot turn our hands to support it. We are saying homosexuality is not compatible with the word of God. We are saying that this culture of other people is against the traditional belief of marriage held by the Anglican Communion.”

The Archbishop’s views do not represent those of other Provinces, Primates, bishops and churches, nor the mind of the Anglican Communion. No Anglican Communion report describes homosexuality as evil, abnormal and unnatural. But it’s futile to note this, to question why Henry Orombi says such things and gets away with it. He refutes Lambeth 1.10 and the Windsor Report, which call for an ongoing process of listening and discernment and urges Provinces to “reassess, in the light of … study and because of our concern for human rights, its care for and attitude towards persons of homosexual orientation.”

The Archbishop of the Province of Indian Ocean, Ian Ernest, said the teachings of homosexuality are irrelevant to the needs of Africans and are unrepresentative demographically.

If he had said irrelevant to the needs of some Africans, he would have been more accurate. But he didn’t. He ignored the millions of Africans who identify confidently as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. He ignored their families and friends and congregations. He ignored the effect his dishonesty has on the integrity of individual bishops, congregations, Primates (including those Primates who are gay) and on the integrity of the whole Communion.

Archbishop Nicholas Okoh of Nigeria said homosexuality is a result of some people engaged in making their culture to be superior to the biblical teachings. “Homosexuality is not a new phenomenon in the society but the only trouble is that the issues dividing us now are very difficult to handle. They are threatening the unity of the church because they disobey the authority of the scriptures. It is two sided; while some people want to be obedient to their culture to determine the content of the church, others say no and it must be the guidance of the bible,” he said.

It’s something of a breakthrough that Nicholas Okoh accepts that homosexuality is not a new phenomenon in society. But he claims that it is we who are threatening the unity of the church, obeying culture rather than scripture. He forgets that the change in attitudes to the slave trade happened in part because people challenged assumptions about scripture from the perspective of culture.

On Wednesday the Daily Monitor reported that the Prime Minister, Prof. Apolo Nsibambi, commended African bishops for rejecting the practice of homosexuality in the church. “I thank the church in Africa for being exemplary by not accepting homosexuality… they see that it is not acceptable in the society where they serve,” Prof. Nsibambi said. He added: “We should not persecute them but I think it is wrong and we cannot recognise them because it is wrong like ordaining a gay bishop.”

His qualification in the last sentence is significant. The Prime Minister told a recent visitor (who reported the conversation to me) that the Anti-homosexuality Bill is dead and will not be passed into law. Politicians are not following where bishops would like to drive them – towards further vilification and persecution of LGBT people.

The Daily Monitor thinks the anti-homosexuality voices from the bishops are a likely boost to proponents of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. It would seem the monitor is wrong – the bishops are simply propounding their own prejudice.

It’s hard work, maintaining calm opposition to the views held by Africa Primates and bishops, and to be confident that one day, LGBT people in Africa and Asia will achieve the freedom to live with dignity in society with the justice and protection we have come to value in the UK.

I pray to God that enough people will hold to the positives in the Windsor Report, which others in the Communion are determined to deny in an attempt to exterminate lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from their consciousness, their Provinces and their culture.

Colin Coward

Ugandan LGBT people disappearing as the All Africa Bishops Conference prepares to meet

Leonard Clark Beardsley’s recent blog reminded me to check gayuganda’s blog on Sunday. Gug hasn’t posted since 15 July when he reported that:

They've had a journalist infiltrate the Kampala gay community to try and ferret out what makes gay boys tick. It's not the first time this sort of thing has happened and the only thing that sets it apart is that this journalist has made a clumsy attempt to be balanced. That said, this journalist simply knows too much about the gay community for me to believe that he didn't get embedded deeper than he admits. And that is a great cause for discomfort.

The tactics the journalist are pretty basic and that he seems to be so successful merely attests to the humanity in all of us. But it is also a wake-up call for those Ugandan gay boys who seem unable to take the simplest precautions in this day and age when stalkers, blackmailers and malevolent people are on the prowl, with gay boys and girls as their target.

Gug confessed that he is more paranoid than lots of people. He has helped make connections and lessened LGBT isolation in more than one way, yet continues to be anonymous, gay, and closeted, and damned shy! Some have more to lose than others. It is very hard to live in self denial; and sometimes recklessness takes the place of despair.

Maybe I am just a coward, he concluded. And since then, nothing. No post and no response to emails. Alarm bells have been ringing furiously since the weekend.

On Saturday I went to Black Gay Pride held in the grounds of Regents College, Regents Park, London, on Saturday, helping Davis Mac-Iyalla, my partner and others on the Changing Attitude stall. Davis introduced me to a gay Ugandan who has been granted asylum in the UK, an Anglican living and worshipping in Southsea. He told me that many lesbian and gay Ugandans have been arrested in recent months. Why hasn’t this been reported, I asked him. Because the Ugandan media are afraid of being prosecuted under the terms of Bahati’s Anti-homosexuality Bill, even though it hasn’t been passed into law yet, he said.
I emailed gug again when I arrived home, plus other Ugandan contacts, but I still haven’t received a response.

Leonard also alerted me to the All Africa Bishops Conference which is being held at the Imperial Resort Beach Hotel, Entebbe, from 23rd – 29th August 2010, when 400 African Anglican bishops will be hosted by the Church of Uganda. The Archbishop of Canterbury is preaching at the opening service at 9am on Tuesday 24th.

The conference web site contains information about the conference, including the programme (though the final 2 days are missing).

On Wednesday morning there is a presentation on Nurturing Harmonious and Dignified Communities which includes Managing Diversity & Mechanisms for Conflict Management, Protection of the Vulnerable: Children and Protection of the Vulnerable: Women. The second presentation on Thursday morning is Disempowering the Powerful and Empowering the Vulnerable. Homosexuality is most definitely not on the agenda, I’m told, partly to ensure that the South African bishops feel comfortable enough to attend.

My immediate response was to explore whether it is possible to fly to Uganda next Monday, report on the conference and try and make contact with some of the LGBT groups and individuals I know in Kampala. Visas can be obtained in 24 hours, hotels and flights are available, but funding isn’t, time is short, and my safety is a concern to those close to me. If I were to go, I would certainly be the only openly gay person present and almost certainly the only person reporting from a pro-gay, pro-inclusion, pro-TEC perspective.

The Church of Uganda is determined not to give ground in the Anglican Communion, even if many in the church believe that too much attention has been given to homosexuality, but the lives and security of LGBT Ugandans, people like gug and my other Ugandan friends, remain at risk for as long as the prejudice and attitudes fuelled by the Bahati Bill remain unchallenged.

Colin Coward

Lord Hope says right-wing evangelical churches indulge in rampant homophobic teaching

Yesterday the panel of five Supreme Court justices ruled unanimously to allow the appeals from two gay men, from Cameroon and Iran, who had been refused asylum on the grounds they could hide their sexuality by behaving discreetly.

Lord Hope, who read out the judgement, said: "To compel a homosexual person to pretend that his sexuality does not exist or suppress the behaviour by which to manifest itself is to deny his fundamental right to be who he is. Homosexuals are as much entitled to freedom of association with others who are of the same sexual orientation as people who are straight."

What interests me are the comments he added later. He said that for many years some countries had simply insisted homosexuality did not exist, which avoided the evil of persecution. However, anti-gay sentiment had dramatically worsened in some places, fanned by "the rampant homophobic teaching that right-wing evangelical Christian churches indulge in throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa" and "the ultra-conservative interpretation of Islamic law that prevails in Iran".

If I used the phrase “rampant homophobic teaching that right-wing evangelical Christian churches indulge in” I might have been hauled over the coals by the Changing Attitude trustees for using intemperate and provocative language. I would expect to have been attacked by conservative evangelical groups in the UK and USA who work in alliance with African Provinces, bishops and Primates to whose public comments about homosexuality Lord Hope’s criticism applies.

The teaching of right-wing evangelical Christian churches is indeed often rampantly homophobic. Their western allies who deny that their own teaching is homophobic are responsible for endorsing the prejudice and hate of others and of campaigning and arguing for their right not just to hold such views in the Anglican Communion but for those views to influence Anglican teaching and policy.

The furore over the appointment of the next bishop of Southwark has a direct connection with the homophobia identified by Lord Hope. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Crown Nominations Commission and the potential for Canon Jeffrey John to be appointed bishop have been infected by the anti-homosexual views of conservative evangelicals.

Belief in the false report of the beheading of a gay member of Integrity Uganda gained traction because such a horrendous act is now all too possible in Uganda, Nigeria and other African countries where people like Bahati whip up hatred by propounding the most extreme and abusive accounts of gay behaviour.

Groups such as Anglican Mainstream in this country are engaged in similar activity by repeatedly posting news about paedophilia, bestiality, polyamoury, AIDS, converasion therapy and ‘cures’ for homosexuality. Why do they do it? To prove that homosexual people are intrinsically drawn to extreme forms of sexual behaviour. The tactic is wicked.

The applicant to the Supreme Court from Cameroon, identified as HT, had been told he should relocate elsewhere in his country and be "more discreet" in future. He had been attacked by an angry mob at home after being seen kissing his partner. He has been fighting removal from the UK for the past four years. He told the BBC. "I cannot go back and hide who I am or lie about my sexuality." In Cameroon jail sentences for homosexuality range from six months to five years.

The other application was from a 31-year-old Iranian gay man, who was attacked and expelled from school when his homosexuality was discovered. Like HT, he had been told he could be "reasonably expected to tolerate" conditions back home that would require him to be discreet and avoid persecution. Punishment for homosexual acts ranges from public flogging to execution in Iran.

Two members of Changing Attitude Nigeria have already been granted asylum in the UK and one of them, Davis Mac-Iyalla the founder, continues to work to achieve justice and safety for other vulnerable gay Africans.

Christians should be campaigning for justice and protection for LGBT people in Africa. Those who misuse the Bible to teach that homosexuality is sinful and gay people should be condemned must be challenged. Prejudice must be overcome so that homosexuals no longer need to hide their identity in their home country nor need to seek asylum here.

A massive re-education of christian attitudes towards homosexuality is still urgently needed. Lambeth Resolution 1.10 was and is a disaster for the Anglican Communion, let alone for those of us who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. This is most especially true for those trying to live in cultures where prejudice is endemic, reinforced by Christian taboos.

Colin Coward

Uganda missing gay man found beheaded in a farm latrine while the CofE worries about Jeffrey John

I have just finished a live discussion on Premier Radio with Chris Sugden about the possibility of Jeffrey John being recommended for Southwark by the Crown Nomination Commission meeting this afternoon.

Chris said ‘so what’ in response to me when I said that his appointment would be good in that it would bring honesty and integrity to the church and a role model not only for LGBT people but for our families, friends, colleagues and congregations. It would also be a landmark in those parts of the Communion where hostility to LGBT people is dominant.

News from Uganda which surfaced today highlights why change in church teaching and practice towards homosexuality is imperative and urgent.

A search for a missing pro-gay priest, the Rev Henry Kayizzi Nsubuga, who disappeared almost two and half weeks ago after delivering a scathing speech at St. Paul's Church, Kanyanya supporting homosexuality in Uganda, led the joint search team of Integrity Uganda and Namirembe Diocese to the severed head of another person. The head was found in a pit latrine on the farm of Badru Kiggundu, the Electoral Commission Chairman, in Makindye Sabagabo, Wakiso District.

Judith Nabakooba, a police spokesperson, identified the head as that of Pasikali Kashusbe, one of the workers on Kigggundu’s farm and a member of Integrity Uganda. Pasikali and his partner Abbey are youth workers with Integrity Uganda charged with the responsibility of mobilising young LGBT people in activities which build community capacity to face up to the challenge of homophobia, especially in the area of attitude change and care through drama and sports activities.

According to the police, a mutilated torso which was earlier in the week discovered in Kabuuma Zone, about half a kilometre away from Kiggundu’s farm was probably Pasikali’s The torso was described as belonging to a young man and had no genitals.

Pasikali went missing over three and half weeks ago when the country was celebrating Uganda Martyrs Day. All efforts by his partner Abbey and other family members to find him had been fruitless.

Bishop Christopher Senyonjo, Chairperson of Integrity Uganda lamented the murder of this young man as ‘absurd’ adding that, ‘clearly, the values of tolerance and social inclusion are sadly being sacrificed on the altar of state ignorance, ineptness and good old colonial stupidity’.

Homosexual acts are criminalized in Uganda under a sodomy law inherited from British colonial times, although punishments were substantially strengthened in 1990. Uganda government officials have regularly threatened and harassed lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Ugandans. In October 2004, James Nsaba Buturo, the country’s information minister at the time, ordered police to investigate and “take appropriate action against” a gay association allegedly organized at Uganda’s Makerere University.

State-owned media have repeatedly called for stronger measures against homosexual conduct. On July 6, 2005, an article in the government-owned New Vision newspaper urged authorities to crack down on homosexuality, saying, “The police should visit the holes mentioned in the press, spy on the perverts, arrest and prosecute them”.

The climax of state inspired homophobia was in Mr. Bahati’s draft legislation called the Anti Homosexual Bill which if enacted would broaden the criminalisation of homosexuality by introducing the death penalty to people who have homosexual relations. Until then, there seems to be a new form of state fanaticism leveled against sexual minorities in Uganda -of missing LGBTI peoples who are picked by plain clothed security and found beheaded in latrines.

The Rev Erich Kasirye, General Secretary, Integrity Uganda, said:

‘Pasikali and his partner Abbey joined Integrity Uganda in June 2007 and during the last three years, Integrity Uganda has seen an increase in coordination and harmonisation of youth activities. Pasikali emphasized the promotion of the concept of care across the continuum through the formation of voluntary home care groups for young LGBTIs who continue to live in fear. He will be greatly missed by the entire LGBTI fraternity’.

Integrity Uganda has declared today, Monday 5th July as day of mourning for countless many LGBTI people who continue to go missing in the name of state homophobia and a requiem mass will be held at 2pm. Pasikali will be laid to rest at his ancestral home in Ikumba sub-county of Kabale district in Mbarara Region on Tuesday 6th July 2010 at 4pm.

Pasikali’s death is tragic, and stands as a reason why the Anglican Communion must change its teaching on homosexuality. There is no reason why the consciences of those who oppose the full inclusion of LGBT people should be allow to inhibit change in the church. The prevention of torture and murder of any individual must always be the first priority, ensuring that all citizens and Christians can live in an environment of love, security and affirmation.

The longer the argument about avoiding splits and schism in the church continues in the face of the horrendous legislation proposed in Uganda and the murder of LGBT people in the UK and the USA as well as Uganda and other African countries, the more insistent becomes the call for change in the church, NOW. We are committed to radical change in the Anglican Communion. Now is the time to become a supporter of changing attitude, working together with groups in the UK, North America, Africa, Australia and New Zealand to achieve change which is holy, just and timely.

Colin Coward

Bishop Christopher Senyonjo from Uganda cites the Irish Peace Process in opposition to Anti-Gay Bill

Bishop Christopher Senyonjo who was a member of the Inclusive Church team at the Lambeth Conference in 2008 has just completed a speaking tour in Ireland following an extensive tour of the USA. In Ireland, he condemned what he described as the "draconian" Anti-Homosexuality Bill in his native Uganda. He said, "we should follow the good example of Ireland where you have been successful in seeking and affecting reconciliation."

Citing the example of the peace process in Northern Ireland he told the congregation in Christ Church Cathedral Dublin on Sunday 20th June that, "… you as the people of Ireland - you have a very great thing that God has done for you. That is the reconciliation in Northern Ireland that I have seen. You must now declare to other people that it is possible to bring peace where there is war, prosperity where there is poverty, health where there is disease and life where there is death and above all, love where there is hate. Jesus wants you to go and tell this to others so that they too may experience hope and change."

Turning to the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda, the Bishop said that "… it criminalises LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) people to the extent that even the words 'homosexual rights' must never be mentioned...Failure to report an LGBT person within 24 hours would be a crime...and committed homosexuals would face prison sometimes between 3 and 7 years, life imprisonment or even the death sentence." The Bill he said, "… intends to exterminate homosexuals." He continued, "… by the grace of God, some people are speaking against the Bill, President Obama described it as odious."

Urging people in Ireland to oppose the bill he said, "… they [homosexuals] may be different, and they are, but we should live with differences.” He went on to call for education because, "I have found that a lot of the prejudice against LGBT people comes from ignorance."

He concluded his sermon at Christ Church Cathedral Dublin on Sunday with the prayer. "Almighty God, we believe that in Christ there is no discrimination against race, colour, gender or LGBT people. We pray that you guide us with your Holy Spirit so that all hate campaigns including those against LGBT people may be transformed into peace, justice and reconciliation. Amen."

During his stay in Dublin, Bishop Senyonjo met with Senator David Norris, officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and representatives of GLEN (the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network).His visit was arranged by Changing Attitude Ireland

Leading African clergy and civil society groups call on Uganda to stop the Anti-Homosexuality Bill

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu (a patron of Changing Attitude), the Archbishop of Cape Town, Dr. Thabo Makgoba, Bishop Jo Seoka (Bishop of Pretoria), Reverend Canon Gideon Byamugisha, (Priest in the Church of Uganda and Reverend Bongani Blessing Finca (former Commissioner of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Provincial Electoral Officer for the Eastern Cape, South Africa) have endorsed a statement calling on the Parliament of Uganda to reject the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in its entirety.

The statement also calls on African governments and the African Union to call on the President and Government of Uganda to withdraw the Bill and to respect the human rights of all in Uganda, without exception. The Archbishops, bishops and priests join more than 60 civil society and human rights groups from 10 sub-Saharan African countries and prominent individuals in affirming that the right of men and women to have same sex relationships is a fundamental human right.

When gug, the gay Ugandan blogger, forwarded the statement and press release to me on Monday the list of signatories included the Archbishop of Uganda, the Most Reverend Henry Orombi and the Right Reverend Zac Niringiye, Suffragan Bishop of Kampala. Gug described it as an astonishing development and said he didn’t know why the change of heart had occurred. He couldn’t quite believe it. He was right to distrust those two signatures. It would indeed have been a dramatic conversion if the Primate of Uganda had endorsed a statement which says:

We believe that the Bill, if enacted, will cut deeply into the fabric of Ugandan society by–

Violating the rights of an already vulnerable and severely stigmatised group of persons by attacking their dignity, privacy and other constitutionally protected rights;
Disrupting family and community life by compelling everyone, by the threat of criminal sanction, to report those suspected of engaging in same-sex sexual activity;
Seeking to withdraw Uganda from the family of nations by reneging on the country’s international law obligations;
Undermining public health interventions such as HIV prevention, treatment, care and support;
Promoting prejudice and hate and encouraging harmful and violent action to be taken against those engaging in same sex relations.

Changing Attitude welcomes the fact that both Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Thabo Makgoba, the Archbishop of Cape Town endorsed the statement.

I asked gug in subsequent emails why anyone would have added the names of the Archbishop and Bishop. Doing so risked the danger of discrediting a powerful statement which leading Anglicans have signed. Gug didn’t know the answer.

The statement and press release can be read on Changing Attitude’s web site. The organisers say the list of individuals and organizations continues to grow and will be updated regularly.

The Province of the Anglican Church in Southern Africa had already issued a statement on the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda on 19 February 2010:

We, the Bishops of the Anglican Church in Southern Africa, meeting at Thokoza Conference Centre, Swaziland, from 8 to 12 February 2010, are disturbed by the debate among Ugandan law-makers of a draft bill that seek to criminalize homosexuality and to prosecute gay people. It even proposes imposing the death penalty, which we regard as a breach of God’s commandment, “You shall not murder,” given in Exodus 20:13. We also deplore the statement, attributed to our fellow Bishop, describing those who are opposed to this legislation as “lovers of evil”. Though there are a breadth of theological views among us on matters of human sexuality, we see this Bill as a gross violation of human rights and we therefore strongly condemn such attitudes and behaviour towards other human beings. We emphasize the teachings of the Scriptures that all human beings are created in the image of God and therefore must be treated with respect and accorded human dignity.

We are therefore also deeply concerned about the violent language used against the gay community across Sub-Saharan Africa. We thus appeal to law-makers to defend the rights of these minorities. As Bishops we believe that it is immoral to permit or support oppression of, or discrimination against, people on the grounds of their sexual orientation, and contrary to the teaching of the gospel; particularly Jesus’ command that we should love one another as he has loved us, without distinction (John 13:34-35). We commit ourselves to teach, preach and act against any laws that undermine human dignity and oppress any and all minorities, even as we call for Christians and all people to uphold the standards of holiness of life.

We call on all Christians to stand up against this Bill so that its provisions do not become law in Uganda or anywhere else in the world. We also call on our President and law-makers to engage in dialogue with their counterparts on the rights of minorities.

Rwandan threat to criminalise homosexuality not enacted

In December 2009, the lower House of the Rwandan Parliament was set to vote upon a revised Penal Code, Article 217 of which would have made homosexuality a criminal offence for the first time in the East African nation.

The proposed Article 217 would have criminalised "[a]ny person who practices, encourages or sensitises people of the same sex, to sexual relation or any sexual practice." It would impose prison sentences of between five and ten years for those convicted of homosexual acts. The "encouraging and sensitising" aspects would have meant a ban on counselling and could have impacted on health services for gays and lesbians. Proposed fines range from 200,000 to one million Rwandan francs (£216 to £1,090).

In the wake of the Ugandan Bill, it seemed in the autumn as if a wave of actions hostile to LGBT people was going to spread across Africa, demonizing and further criminalizing gay people. This hasn’t happened in Rwanda, where, following strong action from diplomats and human rights activists in the region, Tharcisse Karugarama, Minister of Justice, declared this week that the Rwandan government "cannot and will not in any way criminalize homosexuality", reaffirming that sexual orientation was "a private matter and each individual has his or her own orientation – this is not a State matter at all."

The proposed Bill had been condemned by LGBT group Horizon Community Association of Rwanda (HOCA) and the Coalition of African Lesbians. HOCA president Naomi Ruzindana said back in December: “Our country and our people refuse to recognise the fact that we exist. As far as they are concerned, there are no lesbians or gays in Rwanda. Well, we are here, we exist. We are ordinary people like everyone and all we want is for our people and our government to recognise our existence and the fact that it is our basic human right to live our lives the way that we want and choose.”

Michael Cashman MEP, Co-president of the European Parliament's Intergroup on LGBT Rights, has congratulated the Rwandan authorities on their decision, saying: "In a context increasingly repressive of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in African countries, Rwanda did the right thing by refusing to criminalise homosexuality. This is yet another example of Rwanda being a role-model for African nations. The European Parliament's Intergroup on LGBT Rights calls on other African nations to follow the lead of Rwanda, and abide by Article 2 of the African Charter on Human and People's Rights."

In November 2009 Rwanda became only the second non-former British colony to be admitted into the Commonwealth.

Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church is deeply involved in Rwanda as well as Uganda, but there is no record of him making a statement opposing the bill in Rwanda. Neither has AMiA, the Rwandan branch of ACNA, issued a statement. In February 2007 the Archbishop of Rwanda, Emmanuel Kolini, equated homosexuality with moral genocide, and the consecration of Gene Robinson with “satanic attack on the church of God.” In September of 2007 he made it clear he favours the criminalization of homosexuality, saying, "Even when the government decides to legalise homosexuality our church will not accept it its totally illegal and un-Godly." There is no record of Archbishop Kolini having spoken about the Rwandan bill.

I was curious as to why the Bill in Uganda has received such huge attention in the media and why the Rwandan Bill has been quietly dropped with no apparent discussion in the media nor reaction from conservatives in the church. One of Changing Attitude’s Rwandan contacts tells me that it’s a difference of culture. No-one commented about the Bill in Rwanda because people don’t say what they really think. As a result of the genocide, Rwandan’s now make decisions as if they were a family, and once the government dropped the Bill, they all dropped it. The government does all the talking, and if the government isn’t saying much, the people don’t say much. The contact described Ugandans as being more liberal than Rwandans. Liberal isn’t how I’d describe Uganda attitudes to sexuality! Others will know Rwanda culture and society better than me and may have more information as to why the Bill has been dropped.

Campaigners opposing Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill deliver online petition to parliament

On Monday a group of activists from various organizations in Uganda delivered a petition to the Speaker of Parliament, Edward Sekandi, protesting against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. The online petition, organised by the campaign group Avaaz, has been signed by over 450,000 people worldwide. Eventually they hope to reach one million signatures. The petition calls on the government of Uganda to withdraw the Anti-Homosexual Bill and to protect the universal human rights embodied in the Ugandan constitution.


Pictured are Bishop Ssenyonjo, Frank Mugisha, Canon Byamugisha, Major Rubaramira

The petitioners included bishop Christopher Senyonjo from Integrity Uganda, Canon Gideon Byamugisha , an Anglican priest, the HIV/AIDS activist Rubaramira Ruranga and Noerine Kaleeba from TASO. Gug’s partner was there, being one of the people organizing the presentation. Gug had predicted that a surprise person, a Prince of the Church, would be there, but they didn’t turn up.

A letter accompanying the petition read: "This is a bill that requires various members of community, family members, service providers and spiritual mentors to "spy" on one another." Those who delivered the petition could face jail for failing to inform the authorities if somebody confided their homosexual activities to them. They say the bill does not protect Ugandan cultural practices as it violates traditions that teach against intolerance, injustice, hatred and violence. In particular they oppose the clause that requires family and community members to report people suspected to be gays, which they say could be used for a political and religious witch-hunt. They are asking Parliament to instead enact laws that will protect people and not humiliate or kill them.

The BBC East Africa correspondent Will Ross said the fact that the vast majority of the signatures were from outside Uganda is significant, as the MPs would be more likely to take notice of Ugandan rather than international opposition to the bill.

The government has indicated it expects the final bill to be amended eliminating the more extreme proposals. However, it is a private member's bill and so the government says it cannot directly intervene before parliament votes on it.

To add your signature to the petition go the Avaaz web site.

Uganda pastor Martin Ssempa screens gay porn in church

Pastor Martin Ssempa, the Christian leader driving support for the Anti-homosexuality Bill, whose Million-Man March was supposed to have taken place on Ash Wednesday until banned by the police, decided instead to screen gay porn in Pastor Kiganda’s church in Kampala on Wednesday evening. The screening was attended by around 300 supporters crammed into an evangelical church. This is the most astonishing way to mark Ash Wednesday that I have ever heard and if a church in the UK or North America chose to screen gay porn in church on any occasion, let alone Ash Wednesday, the backlash would be intense and unforgiving.

Martin Ssempa told the supporters:

"We had planned to have a million-man and -woman march in Kampala but unfortunately we were told that we could not march because of security concerns. The major argument homosexuals have is that what people do in the privacy of their bedrooms is nobody's business but do you know what they do in their bedrooms?," he asked, and then displayed a slide show of gay pornographic pictures. "This one is eating another man's penis," the pastor said, before going into even more graphic descriptions. "Is this what Obama wants to bring to Africa?" he said, following fierce US criticism the Anti-homosexuality Bill.

In his report about Ssempa’s gay pornography Ash Wednesday in church, gug says he has heard that some mainstream Christians have had enough and are going to publicly oppose the bill. They are Anglicans and their strongly heart-felt opposition will be in marked contrast to the 'wishy washy hypocrisy' of the Church of Uganda. If they are to have any more credibility, says gug, Christians will have to claim back their Church.

Gug watched the programme Agenda Uganda on NTV last night, in which Pastor Solomon Male justified the killing of gay Ugandans because they have refused to change. He said gays should be killed because the Bible says so, and the audience applauded – another extraordinary message for Ash Wednesday.

This morning, gug decided to send an email letter to the key supporters of the Bill:

MP David Bahati, sponsor of the Bill, who is doing all this in defence of the traditional family
MP Benson Obua Ogwal, co-sponsor the bill, who calls gug a gay pervert because the Bible calls him so
MP Nsaba-Buturo who is a born again Christian, fierce proponent of the Bill and the Minister for Ethics and Integrity
Speaker Ssekandi, the man with the official final say with what goes on in parliament
Stephen Langa, the 'ideologue' behind the Anti-Homosexuality Bill and a fierce defender of the family (but presumably not against gay porn!)

Gug wrote:

Dear Sirs,
Last night, I watched Pastor Solomon Male on Agenda Uganda on NTV justifying the killing of gay Ugandans, because they could not, or would not change.
This morning, I see this article: Ugandan Pastor screens gay porn in Church.

It would be laughable if it wasn’t the truth. Of course Ssempa has done exactly the same thing many times. And, the Minister of Ethics and Integrity looks on... Martin Ssempa has screened gay porn at press conferences. He has done so at the National Theatre. He has done so at many other places which the press has simply not reported about. He has gone into graphic descriptions of gay porn on Television, and the Broadcasting Council is yet to caution any of the stations, or even the man of God.

Is it because it is Gay Porn? Or is it because it makes gay people look bad? Or, will someone soon claim that there are laws against 'straight porn' and none against 'gay porn'? This debate has reached, or has always been at the heights of hypocrisy.

Or, maybe it is the Christian thing to do, to screen porn in Church? Maybe I used to know a different Christianity.

Gayuganda

Gug says Ssempa is breaking one of the clauses of his own Bill, which says:

Section 13; Promotion of homosexuality.

(1). A person who -

(a) participates in production, procuring, marketing, broadcasting, disseminating, publishing pornographic materials for purposes of promoting homosexuality;

commits an offence is liable on conviction to a fine of five thousand currency points or imprisonment of a minimum of seven years or both fine and imprisonment.

Church of Uganda issues position statement opposing Bahati Anti Homosexuality 2009 Bill

Where to begin? So much has happened since I last blogged and there a several stories which I want to write about.

Let’s begin with Uganda and gug’s latest blog.

“At last the Anglicans in Uganda have decided that a good Anglican cannot support the Bahati bill.

“Thanks to all people who pulled and pushed for us. Changing Attitude England, Leonardo pushing and pulling and ranting and reving, and all Christians out there. Archbishops of York, Canterbury. Cant forget you guys. You weighed in late, but you did.

“You may wonder what it does for the bill? Just remember, the bill is only a symptom of the homophobia in Uganda. It has to be undercut. Uganda must be safe for those of us who will live there. And, never again to Genocide, which this bill is.

“Here, at long last, is the absolute about turn from Uganda’s Anglicans.”

Gug's blog is based on a report carried in the Ugandan Monitor. The full text of the Church of Uganda’s statement is here.

The Church of Uganda associates itself with the concerns expressed in the Anti Homosexuality Bill 2009 but instead of a completely new Bill, recommends a Bill that amends the present Penal Code. The Church of Uganda does not support Bahati’s Bill.

The stance of the Ugandan Church distances itself from support for the present Bill and would effectively kick the whole process into the long grass. They propose amending existing provisions by means of a new Bill which might be called “The Penal Code Unnatural Offences Amendment Bill” and recommend that a comprehensive legislative and literature review of all the laws and literature related to the subject at hand be undertaken in order to identify the actual gaps in the existing legislation.

The position statement is cleverly worded. It doesn’t explicitly state opposition to the Bill but effectively does so by recommending the introduction of a completely new Bill. If the Bahati Bill is passed, the Church of Uganda will be on record as not having supported it. If the Bill fails to pass, will there be any traction behind the proposal to amend existing legislation? I doubt it.

The Church of Uganda proposals for the new Bill addresses three loopholes: protecting the vulnerability of the boy child; proportionality in sentencing; and ensuring that sexual orientation is excluded as a protected human right.

Changing Attitude welcomes the first two proposals. Girl children are protected under existing legislation against abuse by adults. Boy children are not and must be. The paper doesn’t explain what is meant by proportionality in sentencing, but I understand it to mean opposition to the death penalty, which we also clearly welcome.

We disagree with the proposal to exclude sexual orientation as a protected human right. This is in contravention of Anglican Communion policy. Lambeth 1.10 recognises the reality of homosexual orientation and assures us that we are full members of the Body of Christ. The Church of Uganda has yet to accept Lambeth 1.10 in its entirety. Likewise with Dromantine which unreservedly commits the Communion to the pastoral support and care of homosexual people and describes the victimisation or diminishment of human beings whose affections happen to be ordered towards people of the same sex as anathema.

To its credit, the Church of Uganda commits to ensure that the law protects the confidentiality of medical, pastoral and counselling relationships, including those that disclose homosexual practice in accordance with the relevant professional code of ethics. There are members of the Church of Uganda engaged not in the counselling approach advocated by ex-gay ministries but are in accord with professional, non-judgmental practice.

This part of the position statement is clearly in conflict with other recommendations. It uses the phrase ‘homosexual disorientation’ which a professional counsellor would never use. It would prohibit and penalise homosexual behaviour and links homosexuality with sexual perversion.

But this is a dramatic change from the Church of Uganda and Changing Attitude welcomes their opposition to the Bahati Anti Homosexuality Bill 2009.

Is the death knell of the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill being sounded?

Gug, the gay Ugandan blogger, celebrated the 9th anniversary of his relationship with his partner on Sunday 10th January and posted a picture of the anniversary cake with a moving account of their first meeting and weeks together:

http://gayuganda.blogspot.com/2010/01/anniversary.html

Today he has blogged about the reports of yesterday’s rambling speech by the President on the first day of the meeting of the NRM (ruling party). Unprompted he brought up the Bahati bill, saying there were foreign policy issues to consider, he had had lots of phone calls, and the government was going to talk to Bahati about the bill:

http://gayuganda.blogspot.com/2010/01/what-do-papers-say.html

Gug expresses his thanks to all those concerned citizens of the world who have put pressure on their own governments. It is this pressure above all that will do the trick. When we ask our leaders to speak to the Ugandan President, then we are doing LGBT Ugandans an immeasurable service. Thanks, a lot, says gug. Gay Ugandans cannot speak, even when it is their lives under threat.

There is certainly pressure on the government to back down but gug doesn’t know whether it is yet enough. The President has withdrawn from total commitment to the Bill though not very decisively. For the last three months Buturo, and Ssempa had effectively been defining the foreign policy of Uganda but they are no longer being allowed to do so. The government seemed to be paralyzed in the decision making process and for that, gug is cautiously thankful, waiting and watching with bated breath.

During the statement, the NRM members (including MPs) became rowdy, shouting, talking with each other, mumbling, grumbling. The statement was certainly unpopular. But was it the death knell to the kill the Gay Bill? News reports were mixed though some of the pundits were very, very clear that the death of the Bill was underway.
New Vision, the government paper, reported that President Yoweri Museveni cautioned those advocating for the Anti-Homosexuality Bill to “go slow”, saying the matter was a sensitive foreign policy issue. The President said although Ugandans should not allow their values to be compromised, they should equally not move ahead with the issue recklessly.

Museveni said he had been questioned about the bill by several foreign leaders, including the Canadian prime minister, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who called him for over 45 minutes over the issue. He told them that the bill was brought up by a private member and he hadn’t had time to discuss it with him.

He said: “It is my judgment that our foreign policy is not managed just by some individuals. We have our values and our stand, historically and socially, but we need to know also that our partners we have been working with have their systems.” Members apparently murmured in disapproval and shouted: “No, no, no!” when he added: “This is a foreign policy issue and we have to discuss it in a manner that does not compromise our principles but also takes care of our foreign policy interest.” The Cabinet had decided, he said, to call Bahati and discuss the bill with him.

The Press has spoken, says gug, and Bahati was on WBS discussing the meeting, still defiant. The matter was not yet settled and he would be talking with the executive and parliament etc.

The one person whose comments need to be attended to when listening to the confusion coming from the Uganda government about the Bahati bill is the President, says gug, and he spoke yesterday with great caution. The Ugandan Government has yet to make up its mind about the Anti-Gay Bill.

Transcript of John Humphries' interview with the Archbishop of York about the Uganda Bill

John Humphries interviewed the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, on the Today programme this morning about the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill. This is my transcript of what he said:

“I think that the context in which this whole bill is coming, which is a private member’s bill not a Government Bill, it’s now going through the Committee stage and they have invited everybody who’s got interested to make some kind of comment and it shall return probably back to Parliament in February next year. My feeling is that in order to understand what is all behind all of this is that unfortunately, or whatever one wants to say, the Penal Code, Chapter 20, Section 145, which dates back to the time when England had similar legislation, that is still what they call unnatural offences, and anybody who commits them at the moment is liable to imprisonment for life. But also that penal code, in cases of rape as what they call aggravated sexuality, in cases of rape, you also face a death penalty, if you have got sex with a girl under the age of 18, you are liable again to suffer death. So this particular high, extreme sentencing already exists. Now what they have done in cases of homosexuality in this particular Bill, they are talking about aggravated in terms of again, a girl of eighteen, somebody living with HIV, a guardian or a parent, and the trouble is, it tends to confuse all of homosexual relationships with what you call aggravated stuff and that’s the problem”

What’s your general moral reaction to this kind of approach?

“I want to go back to the Dromantine Communiqué in 2004 by the Primates of the Anglican Communion where we said, we wish to make it clear that our discussion and assessment of moral appropriateness of specific behaviours; we continue unreservedly to be committed to the pastoral care and support of homosexual people;the victimisation or diminishment of human beings whose affections happen to be ordered towards people of the same sex is anathema to us. We assure homosexual people that they are children of God, loved and regarded by him and deserving the best we can give of pastoral care and friendship."

So it is anathema to you?

“I think when you begin ... I am opposed totally to the death penalty I am also quite not happy when you describe people with the kind of language you find in this Private Member’s Bill, which seems also not only victimising but diminishment of individuals.”

Well, they are being demonised in effect.

“Yes, I think that is not a very helpful way, but having said that, already the law in Uganda is where we were before the 1967 Act.”

Well absolutely. There’s a question about what those people who are affiliated to the Anglican Communion in Uganda feel about this and what they can do about it. There’s been a great deal of publicity in recent years about the difference between the views, generally speaking, of the Church of England, and the views of many people in the African Churches in the Anglican Communion. How concerned are you about that huge gulf which seems to exist?

“Well, I am absolutely convinced that Dr Zac Niringie, the assistant bishop of Kampala, assistant to Archbishop of Uganda, is now carrying out an assessment and they will be making their responses to this particular Bill. The gap can actually grow when is seems as though we are have a dialogue of the deaf, and the reason why Canterbury and I haven’t actually come out publicly to say anything is not because we don’t want to say anything, because the position is very clear, but rather ..”

Because you were trying to help?

“We were trying to help, and we are trying actually to listen, and sometimes people are not understood that actually the law in Uganda at the moment without this Bill does exactly the same thing and what this Bill has done....”

So in other words in your view it’s bad enough already even without this.

“
Without this, and therefore it seems to me that what we need is greater understanding of the context and I’m absolutely committed that the Church of Uganda, and I can only speak about the Church of Uganda, is committed to the pastoral care which is in the Dromantine Communiqué, is also committed to the listening process to the experience of homosexual people, and people may have very clear, what I may call traditional views about sexuality, but we as a Communion are actually committed to listening to the experience of homosexual people. You can’t do that on one hand and then have language which in many ways seems to suggest that all these people are not children of God. I mean, they are valued by God, they deserve the best we can give in pastoral care and friendship and I’m quite sure that the response the Church of Uganda will make in due course will have to take account of all these realities.”

A gay wedding in Uganda

Gug, the gay Ugandan, reports that a Gay Wedding took place in Uganda on Saturday.
http://gayuganda.blogspot.com/2009/12/gay-wedding-in-uganda.html

A traditional Ugandan wedding begins with the Introduction Ceremony when the girl introduces the boy to her parents. This happens before the Church or mosque wedding ceremony. The ‘Introduction Ceremony’ is a must. For various reasons many don’t go beyond this stage, but, once the Introduction is done, the man and woman are one, part of the family in the eyes of the community. It is for Ugandans the most important ceremony.

Two guys, two kuchus wanted to celebrate their love. And on Saturday they did it, in full awareness of the bill in parliament and the current climate of hostility, homophobia and violence being cultivated in Uganda.

The couple came out to their parents, an amazing thing in itself because it never, ever happens for most kuchus. It is too dangerous and courts the risk of being thrown out of their tribe and losing everything.

With their parents’ permission this couple planned and went ahead with their wedding, a gay wedding in Uganda. Gug discovered they had been planning it for most of the year, despite all the impediments, fears and the risks. Traditionally the whole community fundraises for the couple but this gay couple couldn’t risk that so they raised the money on their own.

They informed their parents who acceded to the wedding. The couple informed a few other kuchus who joined whole heartedly in the preparations. The secret was closely guarded, usually an impossibility because kuchus are notoriously bad at keeping secrets – but they are unfailingly good in the party organizing business.

A week before the wedding invitations were given out, not written cards handed to people but personal invitations delivered face to face.

Gug and his partner were informed by one of the grooms. He wanted them to grace his ceremony with their presence, an invitation, though gug, delivered from the groom’s side. Gug had a prior commitment but his partner reluctantly decided to attend without him.

There comes a time when the family demands that a man gets married, straight or gay – and they do get married - to a woman. Marriage has never meant marital faithfulness, says gug - that is a foreign concept. Polygamy is part of a man’s heritage. For a kuchu man in Uganda to be married to a woman is accepted as part of life, a necessary rite even when they know they are different. Gug and his partner assumed that they had been invited to a conventional, male/female wedding ceremony - the prospective groom didn’t bother to tell them that this was going to be different.

Gug’s partner told him what happened. The wedding took place in an enclosed compound which was secured. There were two armed policemen at the gate – police can be hired – even for an event such as this turned out to be.

Guys arrived in their ‘introduction ceremony’ traditional wear. ‘Kanzus’ for the men, white ankle length shirts like a dress with a jacket over them, a little tuck in at the waist exposing the ankles discreetly and allowing the man to walk without impediment. The most expensive are silk. The women wear ‘gomesis’, another very traditional Ugandan costume.

The ceremony started on time. It was long, with lots of gift giving, hyperbole and laughter. The grooms were not visibly present. It is an elaborate ritual of give and take, laughter, noise, story telling, introductions, rules of ceremony, with a master of ceremony on both sides whose job is to make it as lively and interesting as possible. Each competes to outdo the other.

It is not until the end that the ‘shy’ bride is brought out of the house. That is when gug’s partner realized that it was a groom introducing a groom - a gay introduction ceremony. The secret had been so well kept that a number of people didn’t know. Gug’s partner’s anxiety levels shot into the stratosphere!

People were peeping through the fence and the secret was out. A crowd was gathering and the policemen were overwhelmed. The kuchus were by now happy that the secret was out, they were delirious with joy. Two kuchus were actually coming out and making their partnership official in the traditional way.

Gossip has wings and the crowd at the gate grew. They wanted to know what was happening inside the compound. The rumours were too tantalizing and the music and atmosphere of gaiety too tempting. Gug’s partner decided it was time to leave before it got violent – and the signs were that it would.

Those kuchus who stayed told gug and his partner that they started sneaking out, one by one, leaving the food and drink on the tables. They feared being photographed in all their finery, photos which would be damning if published in the local tabloids. Hearing the buzz of the crowd, many decided to disguise the fact that they had been at the wedding, taking off their kanzus, mingling with the crowd and slipping away. One who was foolish enough to remain in his kanzu was attacked. It was torn off his body by the crowd outside.

It was, says gug, pure madness, absolute, sweet madness, to have such a ceremony in Uganda at this moment. No amount of security could keep such an event secret. “We kuchus, we gay Ugandans, we are also human beings who seek the simple, wonderful small pleasures that all other Ugandans have. Nothing shows that like our desire to be known in the eyes of our parents, as a couple. We want to be acknowledged in the ultimate way, as groom and groom, husband and husband, wife and wife.”

The punishment for this ‘gay marriage’ in the Bahati/Benson Anti-Homosexuality Bill in parliament is life imprisonment for the happy couple and 3 years in prison for those who participated in the ceremony if they fail to reveal the marriage to police within 24 hours. That’s if they hadn’t already been lynched by the enraged crowd.

Now the couple have to deal with the expected backlash. The wedding was an exceedingly stupid, incredibly foolish thing to do, gug says, but it was, and is, human - poignantly, absolutely, completely human.

The Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill is an open invitation to a witch-hunt

This is the dramatic judgment of The Times today in a leading article about the proposed Bill. “It must be seen for what it is: a bigoted and inhumane Bill that will cause suffering for thousands of innocent people.”

The Times reminds readers that the deep prejudice against homosexuality in Africa has been fanned by the row within the Anglican communion over gay clergy and by the tentative attempts by a few gay Africans to call for greater tolerance. Political groups have seen easy advantage in exploiting this prejudice. Branding homosexuality as a Western perversion is an easy way to hit out at perceived Western cultural dominance for the Church. The link has been reinforced not only by the recent visit of leaders of US conservative Christian ministries that promote therapy for gays to become heterosexual but by the campaign waged by Anglican conservatives in the Global South/FoCA alliances.

People who have written to Lambeth Palace have been receiving responses in an email from Marie Papworth:

“Thank you for your message and for taking the trouble to write about this deeply painful issue.

“The Archbishop of Canterbury is very clear that the Private Member’s Bill being discussed in Uganda as drafted is entirely unacceptable from a pastoral, moral and legal point of view. It is a cause of deep concern, fear and, to many, outrage. The Archbishop has publicly stated that “the proposed legislation is of shocking severity and I can’t see how it can be supported by any Anglican who is committed to what the Communion has said in recent decades.

“For its part the Church of Uganda has clearly restated its opposition to the death penalty. As the Ugandan Church continues to formulate its position on the bill as a whole, the Archbishop has been working intensively behind the scenes (over the past weeks) to ensure that there is clarity on how the proposed bill is contrary to Anglican teaching.

“Marie Papworth
Press Secretary to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lambeth Palace, London, SE1 7JU”

Almost 5,000 people have joined the Facebook group Anglicans who want THIS statement from Canterbury, which calls on the Archbishop to repent of his earlier statement and issue this one instead:

"The proposed legal actions that would make homosexuality punishable by death in Uganda, and the lack of outrage regarding this proposed action by the Church of Uganda, raises very serious questions not just for the Church of Uganda and its place in the Anglican Communion, but for the Communion as a whole."

"The proposed legislation has not yet become law, and could be rejected, with the Anglican Church of Uganda leading the opposition. That decision will have very important implications. The bishops of the Communion have collectively acknowledged that offering pastoral care and listening to the experience of homosexual persons is necessary if our bonds of mutual affection are to hold."

http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?tid=1203949990222#/group.php?v=info&gid=193885897219

In a post to the group today in the light of the email from Marie Papworth above, Susan Russell questions how deep does concern and how unacceptable the Bill have to be before the Archbishop of Canterbury uses his moral authority to speak out on behalf of gay and lesbian Ugandans who cannot speak for themselves?

Susan believes that speaking out to protect gay and lesbian lives in Uganda is less important than speaking out to protect the Anglican Communion from a lesbian bishop and that the leader of the Anglican Communion is more concerned about preserving institutional unity than he is protecting innocent Ugandans.

She invite members of the group to: Send another email; Write another letter; Post another blog; urging the Archbishop to use the power he has as the moral leader of this worldwide Anglican family of ours to speak the truth of God's inclusive and abundant love for ALL people.

I invite readers of this blog to join the Facebook group if you haven’t already, and email or write as Susan suggests, to Lambeth Palace.

The Times recognizes the Bill as bigoted and inhumane, an open invitation to a witch-hunt that will cause suffering for thousands of innocent people. It will cause suffering for tens of thousands in reality, not only those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered but their parents, brothers, sisters, extended family, teachers, pastors and priests. The Bill will solve none of the problems it claims to target but will criminalize innocent people because of their sexual identity.

It will also exacerbate the potential for schism in the Anglican Communion between conservatives who want to further criminalise LGBT people and those working not only for full inclusion but for Christian truth, justice, the protection of human life and fidelity to those elements in church teaching which affirm these core values.

Gug’s conversation with a Ugandan legislator

Gug, my gay Ugandan friend, has been engaged in an email correspondence with the Rt Honourable Benson Obua Ogwal. (UPC), Member of Parliament for Moroto (pictured right). This morning, he decided to make some parts of the conversation public, posting them on his blog: http://gayuganda.blogspot.com/2009/12/conversation-with-ugandan-legislator.html

The gloves have to be off, says gug, and as readers of this blog will know, I agree with him. The Uganda Bill and the reactions to it from different national leaders, Primates and bishops and Christian organizations reveal fault lines that show what we LGBT Christians and others are confronted with. Gay Ugandan lives are in the balance as a result of the Bill. The ability of Anglicans to honour the sanctity of all life and the teaching of our Communion about LGBT people is also in the balance.

Gug became concerned to ensure that the reaction of the rest of the world was made known to Ugandan legislators, so he started sending a few of them emails with the Rick Warren letter, the Rachel Maddow links, and the update on the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Vatican, etc.

The correspondence reveals gug’s increasing courage in confronting the MP and the MP’s growing frustration and intolerance. He arrives at the conclusion that the whole world must be wrong about homosexuality and Uganda alone is right. Gud reminds us that is his life and the lives of LGBT Ugandans which are ultimately in the balance.

In reply to gug’s first email, MP Benson replied:

Dear Anonymous Gay,
And you think this will deter us?
There are a very few aspects of the Bill that we can concede on like the Death Penalty and Extra-territorial Jurisdiction, but Gays won't have a field day in this country, try as they would. It is not about any of those Anti-Gay activists being attacked in the media. It is about Uganda. If only Gays could do it behind closed doors and not try to lure the innocent poor youth, it would be a different matter. But they are becoming bolder and bolder.
Benson

MP Benson’s next email picked up on gug’s self-reference:

Hey Gay Pervert,
How about this one coming from all religious leaders across board right here at home?
www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/news/Church_leaders_back_govt_on_anti-gay_Bill_95758.shtml
We love gays, but hate homosexuality which has no place here.
Forget about the Bill being withdrawn, for it will be passed in due time.
Benson.

Here is gug’s reply:

Hi Honourable MP,
Yes, I have noted the pejorative term you have used.

Personally, I think it shows some very fine defects in your intellect. But, I cannot say so. I am the pervert, arent I? You, sir, and all the ones you have copied this letter, are shaming my beautiful country. Yes, I am gay and Ugandan. And, you are shaming my country, before the whole world.

Rick Warren has denied Ssempa, and come out against the Bill. So will the rest of the world. The Catholic Church is going to come out against the bill. And, you will continue calling me a pervert, dear honourable MP. Dont think it takes much intelligence to work out who will be the dishonourable person and who will not.

Thanks for your nice comments, dear esteemed honourable.
gug

There followed a long period while the Rt Honorable gentleman was silent. He was eventually apparently irked by gug’s reference to himself as the gay pervert. It irks, gug wrote, when one embraces the spear instead of shying away from it, doesn’t it?

In his next email the MP responded as follows:

It is not me who calls gays perverts. It is the Bible, and I believe in the Bible. Gays and lesbians are perverts. And I cannot call you "Gay Uganda" because Uganda is not gay. What is your real name?

The religious groups in Uganda who met at Entebbe under the aegis of Inter Religious Council of Uganda and endorsed the Bill were represented at the top-most levels in person: the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, the Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church, the Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Kampala who is head of the Catholics in Uganda, the Mufti who heads Muslims of Uganda, the head of the Seventh Day Adventists and the President of the Born Again Federation of Uganda.
Think about it.
Benson

Gug replied:

Hi Benson,
My name is gay Uganda the pervert.

I happen not to be a Christian. It is a foreign religion. I don’t believe in it. Does that make me less a Ugandan?

Do you represent only Christians in your Constituency? So you confirm that the Catholic Archbishop was amongst the 200 church leaders and the Moslem leaders. Was the Cardinal there?

Tell me, Benson, do you really think there is nothing wrong with this bill of yours, the Bahati/Benson Bill? I am just curious. So many people from all over the world have condemned it that I am curious about your view. Do you think Uganda must be right and the world MUST be wrong?
gug

The MP replied:

Why are panicky, Mr who? Why don't you wait and see what MPs are going to do with this Bill as representatives of their people? These protracted and winding arguments are not going to be very helpful because they are simply convoluted.

Has it ever occurred to you that the whole world could be wrong and only Uganda right on this gay thing? Why must we see things through the lenses of the WORLD that might be totally lost? Does it not bother you that it is evil, wrong and dirty to use an organ meant for egesting (ejecting?) something dirty? Give me a break!!
I represent all in Moroto, but will be disappointed to find that there is a gay there. My people are very happy with my stand on the Bill.

I do not know the difference between the Cardinal and the Archbishop, but I know His Eminence the Cardinal Emmanuel Wamala retired recently and was replaced by Bishop Kizito Lwanga. I am inclined to think the latter was there.

I know what you want to say, but spare yourself the trouble; The Vatican may have a position that is different as you are trying to say, but this is Uganda.

I think this debate is up. It is taking me nowhere!! There is nothing new coming here. It is beginning to irritate me that you keep flooding my inbox with your mails. Remove me from your mailing list.

Gug posts his last reply but doesn’t expect to hear from the MP for some time:

Hi Benson,
So, there are no gay people in Karamoja? I dont really know how to reply to that. The best answer would be that I am from there. But, you will not believe a gay Ugandan pervert, will you?

Why panicky? The MPs in my country have tabled a bill in which I and any other Ugandan who is like me is to be imprisoned or killed. Because we are different.

You know, I have too much evidence and knowledge that Uganda is in the wrong here. That is why I am asking you for your take on it. So, you do think that Uganda is right and the world is wrong?

I see life through my own eyes. I happen to be too independent not to question what people like Mr Langa tell me. I question, I listen, I look, I observe. I come to conclusions. For example, I am not a Catholic. But I know the difference between the Archbishop and the Cardinal.

Benson, I am a Ugandan. The law of the spear prevails. You have one to my throat. My life. That is the option you give me with a Bill which gives me life in prison or death. For you it might be an academic thing. For me, well, it is not, Mr Member of Parliament.

Which reminds me that you are supposed to represent all Ugandans who are in your Moroto district. Not only those who are in UPC, or those who are saved, or Christian. That is our right as Ugandans. And we are Ugandans.

So, the shame, Mr Member of Parliament, is squarely in your corner.

I remain
gay Uganda the Pervert

Gug acknowledges that he is provoking the lion in his den, but that even a mouse can fight when it is the mouse's life in balance. He asks for prayers for this mouse...

Would that western Christian leaders (and Ugandan Christian leaders) had the courage to oppose the bill in the name of the humanity and love of Jesus Christ and free from the ignorance and prejudice which is claimed as a Christian ideal by Global South leaders, fuelled by their western schismatic allies.

Archbishop of Canterbutry - Ugandan legislation is of "shocking severity"

In an interview with George Pitcher in the Telegraph the Archbishop of Canterbury commented publicly about the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda. The report says:

“Overall, the proposed legislation is of shocking severity and I can’t see how it could be supported by any Anglican who is committed to what the Communion has said in recent decades,” says Dr Williams. “Apart from invoking the death penalty, it makes pastoral care impossible – it seeks to turn pastors into informers.” He adds that the Anglican Church in Uganda opposes the death penalty but, tellingly, he notes that its archbishop, Henry Orombi, who boycotted the Lambeth Conference last year, “has not taken a position on this bill”.

I am relieved at last to see the Archbishop recognize that the Ugandan Bill would make pastoral care impossible and cannot be supported by Anglicans who are committed to Communion statements about the death penalty and homosexuality. I have been saying this for several weeks and the Archbishop’s comment is a very important confirmation of the elements of Anglican policy which give spiritual affirmation to LGBT people and recognize that we are children of God and have a place in the Anglican Communion.

Gug believes that it is right to put pressure on religious leaders to condemn the bill because they have the moral authority to do so and are listened to in Uganda. The bill is being justified in the name of God and religion and religious leaders and community who oppose such draconian laws against LGBT people need to state their opposition. From gug’s perspective the condemnation by the Archbishop of Canterbury will have a positive effect in Uganda, even though Lambeth and other English bishops think public condemnation risks being counter-productive with the Ugandan hierarchy.

Gug speculates that the caution and delay may have given the Archbishop protection from being accused of 'neo-colonialism' by his Anglican brothers in Uganda, which is certainly the reason I was given by Lambeth Palace and by others with links to Uganda.

The engagement which is going on behind the scenes between Ugandan and English bishops and dioceses and the comment by the Archbishop add to the pressure to force a re-think of the Bill by country-mates whom gug thinks are genocidal. He says they believe they are more Christian than any other person, more morally upright, more faithful to God and to the Anglican tradition. For gug’s safety and the safety of other gay Ugandans, the defeat of the Bill is crucial. If the Bill isn’t defeated, at least the moral authority of the preachers of hate might be dented.

George Pitcher’s report says the Anti-Homosexuality Bill now looks set to become law in February 2010 if it passes through parliament unfettered. Gug wants the bill to be thrown out, of course. If it isn’t, he is confronted with the choice of settling for no death penalty while accepting that he will still be criminalised and legally hounded in his own country. With his partner, he wants the freedom to live at peace in his homeland.