Uganda Celebrates Anti-Gay Crackdown

On Saturday Ugandan Pastor Martin "Eat Da Poo Poo" Ssempa smirkingly invited me to attend a parade in celebration of his country's brutal crackdown on its LGBT citizens. The festivities went off as planned yesterday, complete with a marching band and children that waved anti-gay signs.

 J. Lester Feder reports at Buzzfeed:

Fire jugglers, acrobats, and schoolchildren performed at a five-hour ceremony in the Ugandan capital on Monday called to celebrate the country’s new Anti-Homosexuality Act. Speakers paid tribute to President Yoweri Museveni, the official guest of honor, and linked Uganda’s fight against homosexuality with shedding its colonial past in an event that had the feeling of a campaign rally. [snip The event, called the “National Thanksgiving Service Celebrating the Passing of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill,” was organized by the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU), an umbrella organization of the country’s major denominations, and other groups that had supported the bill, which punishes homosexuality with up to life in prison and essentially bans LGBT advocacy. The event comes amidst several moves by Museveni to consolidate his position as the unchallenged leader of Uganda and his National Resistance Movement party ahead of presidential elections in 2016.

Feder notes that President Musevni spoke at the event, which was also attended by numerous members of the Ugandan national legislature and other government officials. After Museveni told the crowd that gay sex causes intestines to fall out, he added another denouncement: "Oral sex is an idiocy, the mouth is for eating." Read much more and view many more photos at Feder's excellent report.

UGANDA: Kill Gays Bill Back On Table

Box Turtle Bulletin alerts us that despite recent media reports that Uganda's "kill gays" bill had been shelved, in fact it will be debated in the national parliament next week. The bill came into being after American evangelicals visited Uganda with claims that foreign homosexuals wanted to pay Uganda's children to become gay.

The controversial Anti Homosexuality bill is one of several bills that Members of Parliament on the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs committee are set to debate when the House resumes business next week. Speaking to the media at Parliament today, the committee chairman, Stephen Tashobya said though the bill has created both local and international concern, it is up to Parliament to pass the bill. Tashobya says the committee will hold public hearings where stakeholders’ views will be heard and a report made to the House for debate and possible passing before Parliament closes the 8th Parliament.

RELATED: Earlier this week the U.S. House Financial Services Committee approved a bill that would discourage the granting of American foreign aid to nations that "physically persecute" their LGBT citizens. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank, faces an uncertain future with the full House.

Author Of Uganda's "Kill Gays" Bill May Be Banned From The UK

Ugandan member of parliament David Bahati, the sponsor of his government's still-pending "kill gays" legislation, may be banned from entering the UK.

According to the Guardian, civil servants in the Foreign Office, the Department for International Development and the Borders Agency are drawing up plans to block Mr Bahati's visa if he does not drop the bill. A senior government source said the issue could become "a major diplomatic incident if the Ugandans do not back down". The bill proposes the death penalty for people who have gay sex with minors, disabled people, or while infected with HIV, along with repeat offenders. Others convicted of homosexual sex will face life imprisonment, up from the current 14 year sentence.

Bahati's bill remains stalled in the face of international condemnation.

Uganda MP David Bahati Disinvited From National Prayer Breakfast

Box Turtle Bulletin reports that Uganda MP David "Kill Gays" Behati has been disinvited from next month's National Prayer Breakfast, where President Obama is scheduled to speak. Via Advocate:

Ambassador Richard Swett, a spokesman for the breakfast, confirmed that Bahati was no longer allowed to come to the event, scheduled for February 4. He added, "The National Prayer Breakfast is an organization that builds bridges of understanding between all peoples, religions and beliefs and has never advocated the sentiments expressed in Mr. Bahati’s legislation.” Early reports from the Monitor newspaper in Uganda said that Bahati had planned to go to the even, and make a speech. The organization that puts on the National Prayer Breakfast is the Fellowship Foundation, also known as the Family, an evangelical Christian group linked to the development of the "kill the gays" bill.

Uganda's "Kill Gays" Bill Author To Attend U.S. National Prayer Breakfast

Box Turtle Bulletin reports that Uganda MP David Bahati, the author of the pending "kill gays" legislation, will attend the National Prayer Breakfast in DC, where President Obama is expected to speak. Via Uganda's Sunday Monitor:

In February, David Bahati, the mover of the controversial Anti-Homosexuality Bill is expected to attend a prayer breakfast in the American capital of DC. Mr Bahati, according to reports, may speak at the event where President Barack Obama – a gays-tolerant liberal president, is also expected to attend. On Friday, Mr Bahati said he would attend. The event is organised by The Fellowship- a conservative Christian organisation, which has deep political connections and counts several high-ranking conservative politicians in its membership. “I intend to attend the prayer breakfast,” said Mr Bahati – himself a part organiser of the Ugandan equivalent of the national prayer breakfast. This week, citing international pressure, President Yoweri Museveni advised his party’s National Executive Committee, his cabinet and the NRM parliamentary caucus to “go slow” on the Bill.

Behait was invited to the prayer breakfast by the secretive Family, a coalition of GOP leaders and evangelical pastors. Will the president have anything to say about Uganda during the event?

Author Of Uganda's "Kill Gays" Bill Says Death Penalty Will Remain

According to a report in tomorrow's issue of the UK's Guardian, Ugandan member of parliament David Behati has presented his "kill gays" bill and vows that it will not be watered down. In addition to the death penalty or a life sentence for some cases, the bill provides for the imprisonment of people who don't turn in someone they know to be gay.

The Ugandan bill extends existing laws to make it illegal to promote homosexuality by talking or writing about it, and forcing people to tell the authorities about anyone they know who is gay. The bill, said Bahati, 35, an MP from the ruling party, aims to "protect the cherished culture of the people of Uganda against the attempts of sexual rights activists seeking to impose their values of sex promiscuity on the people of Uganda". He denied reports that international pressure might result in parts of the bill being toned down. "We are not going to yield to any international pressure – we cannot allow people to play with the future of our children and put aid into the game. We are not in the trade of values. We need mutual respect."

The Guardian goes on to point out that despite Bahati's claim that Uganda is immune to outside pressure, it was in fact outsiders from America's evangelical world that spawned the bill in the first place.

In March, Bahati met several prominent anti-gay US Christian activists who attended a conference in Uganda where they pledged to "wipe out" homosexuality. The conference featured Scott Lively, president of California's anti-gay Abiding Truth Ministries and co-author of The Pink Swastika, a book claiming that leading Nazis were gay. Also there was Don Schmierer, on the board of Exodus International, which promotes the "ex-gay" movement, believing people can change their sexuality and be redeemed. The third extremist evangelical to attend was Caleb Lee Brundidge, who is linked to Richard Cohen who believes that psychotherapy can "cure" homosexuality. Bahati's bill was drawn up within weeks of the conference.

Another American evangelical deeply involved in Uganda is Rick Warren, who yesterday released a videotaped message denouncing the submitted bill, something he only did after weeks of criticism over his silence. Bahati is disappointed with Warren, saying, "It's unfortunate that a man of God who has inspired many people across the world can give in to pressure and disappoint them."