Pastor Rick Warren Denounces Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill

by Michael Jones · 2009-12-10 11:16:00 UTC
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Pastor Rick WarrenFaced with a bill in Uganda that would execute certain members of the country's LGBT population, sentence many others to lifetime jail terms, and imprison straight advocates for LGBT rights, Pastor Rick Warren has finally spoken up with a loud and clear message: Uganda, don't pass the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009.

Rick Warren has taken a boatload of criticism from bloggers and media folks, who have done a really diligent job of drawing the connections between Warren's ministry and anti-gay leadership in Uganda. One of the biggest champions of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda, Martin Ssempa, was even welcomed at Warren's Saddleback Church years ago, with Pastor Warren's wife calling Ssempa her "brother."

But today Rick Warren set the record straight. Uganda has no business passing the Anti-Homosexuality Act, and if it does, it will be violating both human rights and -- at least in the eyes of Warren -- biblical principles to love one another.

Warren released the letter, part of a Christmas message, on his Web site earlier today. In the letter, Warren outlines several reasons why Uganda's proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill is bad news.

"The potential law is unjust, extreme and un-Christian toward homosexuals, requiring the death penalty in some cases," writes Warren. "If I am reading the proposed bill correctly, this law would also imprison anyone convicted of homosexual practice."

Yes, Warren, you're reading the bill correctly.

Truth Wins Out, an organization founded to help combat the manipulations and distortions put forward by ex-gay ministries, commended Warren for speaking out against Uganda's bill. Given Warren's influence in the country, his condemnation of the bill sends a strong message that Uganda not only overstepped its bounds, but is potentially en route to becoming one of the world's worst human rights abusers if this law passes.

"We applaud Rick Warren for speaking out with force and clarity on a bill that would lead to the persecution and prosecution of gay and lesbian Ugandans,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out," said Wayne Besen, the Executive Director of Truth Wins Out. "Today, Warren showed true moral courage and stood for what is right and just. We urge other leading pastors and world leaders to stand up and condemn Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill."

And many activists are continuing to send that message to Uganda's leadership at the UN, with upwards of 1,500 people signing our petition urging Uganda to drop this bill.

Warren did the right thing today. Others, including many prominent U.S. politicians who have ties to Uganda through the evangelical network known as "The Family," need to do the same thing too.

(Photo courtesy of the Joint Congerssional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.)

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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