Gay debate continues in Uganda (in the gutter)

The debate over the rights of homosexuals i Uganda continues, but as with most contentious issues, the level of debate has been pathetic. Here is a headline from Uganda's leading sh@t tabloid paper, the Red Pepper (Sorry I rarely swear but this rag deserves it):

MPs To Discuss Bum Shafting (No way I am linking this site but here is the text of the article!)

Members of Prliament are set to discuss the rate at which bumshafters are slowly but surely entrenching themselves in Uganda, Red Pepper can exclusively reveal.

The meeting which is to take place on March 5 at the parliamentary conference hall will be officiated over by the first lady Janet Kataha Museveni.
Snoops have seen an open invitation to all MPs in which the organizers of the meeting want the legislators to among other things understand the Gay movement’s agenda which is bent on destabilizing society.

The MPs will also have to understand in detail the Gay blueprint for transforming this nation and also how Uganda can respond to the bumshafters’ secret agenda.

“This is an executive sensitization meeting themed ‘Exposing the truth about bum shafting and the homosexual agenda” part of an invitation seen by RP reads.

Recently, State Minister for ethics and integrity Nsaba Buturo informed MPs at Imperial Royale hotel that a group of bum shafting leaning donor countries had approached him seeking for his nod to start funding and campaigning for bum shafting in Uganda, but he refused.

This vice of homosexuality has been reported in several institutions including churches, schools and high institutions of learning.

This is the same paper that published this in April. It is an amazing level of ignorance that displays what the gay community here is up against. Incredible...

Death sentence for gays - In Uganda???

Two days after we landed in Entebbe, riots broke out in Kampala over a dispute between the Kabaka, the cultural king of the Bugandan people, and President Museveni. More than 20 people were killed and it was a bitter introduction into Ugandan politics.

Now there is another riot brewing online over a proposed bill before the Ugandan Parliament that could impose the death sentence on people convicted of homosexual acts.

You can read the text of the bill here.

There has been both some good reporting on the bill in the Guardian and local papers like the Monitor have been covering it. It is becoming a big deal here.

You can follow the entire debate from a more personal side at the Gay Uganda blog.

One commentator has called the debate Rovian politics - remember that guy? And Andrew Sullivan criticized Pastor Rick Warren of avoiding the issue in recent interviews.

It seems to me the this is just a political issue to deflect attention away from more pressing issues in the run-up to the elections in 2011. What makes me think this is a comment by the president - and many others - that European gays or "liasons" are in Uganda "recruiting" gays. This has a colonial ring to it, but diplomats who bring up the topic to their Ugandan counterparts are told "if you don't like it, take your money and leave". Something they will never do...

It is a debate that will continue to boil on the web and in the media. Unfortunately I am afraid that as politicians and preachers stoke this fire here, it might just explode.

Faster Africa's introduction to Uganda

I have been in Uganda now for over two months and I finally feel that I can write intelligently on the country. The last weeks were spent building a foundation of knowledge on the topics of politics, media, technology, culture and society in the "Pearl of Africa".

Here is a brief summary: Uganda is a democracy which has been led by the same man for over twenty-three years. It boasts a free media in which journalists can be charged with sedition for criticizing the president. The populace is poor but not hungry and the educated leave for lack of an intellectual infrastructure. It is also highly corrupt and most people just grin and bear it. Ugandans are generally warm and generous but in a land which is poor and poorly educated it is every man for himself. There is also a general lack of the rule of law, especially on the roads and in the villages. And finally there is a vast and vibrant development industry, which according to who you read is either the cause or the potential cure of all of the above.

In terms of geography, Uganda is wet in the west where poor land management and deforestation has led to an increase in deadly floods. The east of the country is mostly dry and poor land management and deforestation there has led to longer and more severe droughts. And in the war-ravaged but now mostly peaceful north, the Lord's Resistance Army has been forced out of Uganda only to rape, kill, pillage, kidnap and terrorize Uganda's poorer and more instable neighbors.

But for myself, it is an easy place to live. I can sit by the pool, munch some "SPicy Nacho" Doritos, drink Red Bull and the iPhone is on it's way. Plus it is 85 degrees (28 degrees) and sunny everyday and the landscape is breathtaking.

This may seem an overly bleak  view of the country but negatives usually take a front seat in first impressions. I am sure these impressions will both change and become more ingrained over the next three to five years. 

So stay tuned!