European Homosexuals are Recruiting in Africa?
Nary a day goes by without the situation in Uganda getting worse for LGBT people, with the country's parliament considering one of the most homophobic and anti-gay pieces of legislation this side of the 1600s. Worldwide condemnation of Uganda's proposed "Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009" has sparked protests outside of Ugandan embassies, calls for global days of prayer to reject the bill, and action by U.S. politicians, including Rep. Tammy Baldwin who sent a scathing letter to the U.S. State Department calling Uganda's anti-homosexuality bill "appalling."
In the face of such worldwide scrutiny, one might think the President of Uganda would sound a more conciliatory tone. Far from it. Instead, President Yoweri Museveni has taken a hard line against LGBT rights, urging passage of the anti-homosexuality bill and accusing Europe's LGBT population of trying to recruit Africans to become homosexual.
President Museveni, speaking to a group of Ugandan children this weekend, said that Uganda's youth should fight hard to reject the forces of homosexuality.
"I hear European homosexuals are recruiting in Africa," said President Museveni. "We used to have very few homosexuals traditionally. They were not persecuted but were not encouraged either because it was clear that is not how God arranged things to be."
Sure, one-third of Ugandans live below the poverty level. But what does that matter when there are European homosexuals to stave off.
Uganda's "Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009" is legislation that will foster human rights violations and result in LGBT people, and their straight allies, being imprisoned and killed. Among its more heinous calls, the legislation criminalizes homosexuality with jail terms and fines, outlines the death penalty for HIV-positive people who have any sort of sexual contact, threatens straight people who don't rat out their LGBT neighbors with fines and imprisonment, and even suggests that the country will go after Ugandan ex-pats living abroad who might encourage LGBT rights.
And now the President of Uganda says that the law is justified because European homosexuals are invading the continent of Africa and looking for fresh recruits. That not only shows a complete ignorance of human sexuality, it's so far-fetched that it approaches Mahmoud Ahmadinejad levels.
On the bright side, at least megachurch pastor Rev. Rick Warren has condemned the efforts by Uganda to radically criminalize homosexuality. That's a huge deal, given that Rev. Warren is heavily involved with evangelical ministry in the country.
Rev. Warren joins the growing global chorus of voices that think Uganda is heading in a dangerous direction. If Uganda passes this bill it will, simply put become one of the worst violators of human rights in the world. Let's see how President Museveni likes wearing that title.
Michael Jones
is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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