Ugandan Church Leaders Call for Quick Passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill

By Melanie Nathan, June 04, 2012

Orombi (left) and MP Bahati during a recent meeting of UJCC. Photo by Mark Owor

Religious leaders from the Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox denominations have held a meeting in Uganda where the Anti-Homosexuality Bill was touted for speedy passage in the context of State funding for Churches.  According to the Ugandan press, the comments were made by clerics under the Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC) in  talks held to discuss the needs of Churches for state funding in critical areas such as health and education.

The religious leaders called on Parliament to expedite the passing of the Anti-homosexuality Bill into law to combat same-sex marriages which threats the moral fabric of the Ugandan society.

The Anglican archbishop, Henry Luke Orombi who is the UJCC chairman said during their annual assembly at Pope Paul memorial center in Kampala that if the church starts receiving State funding, it would make a  large contribution towards alleviating and improving the standards of living among the populace.

Indeed an unsurprising way for the clerics  to exacerbate the hate for gays, lesbians and transgender people in Uganda is to maintain this context for scapegoating, where the mere mention of solutions for poverty take on the association with ‘Kill the Gays’ legislation.  The Fundamentalist Churches have been known to spearhead the Kill the Gays Bill in Uganda and now their marketing of its speedy passage in this context will surely up the ante in this call.

His remarks came after the National Resistance Movement (NRM) deputy chief whip, MP David Bahati informed the clerics that government was considering the possibility of starting to “give funding to faith-based organizations engaged in activities that improve the livelihood of the people in the country.”

As it happens Bahati is also author and prime sponsor of The Anti-Homosexuality Bill also known as The Kill the Gays Bill.

In a statement, the bishops  also called for the review of the Constitution to reduce the excessive powers enjoyed by the President, who has been increasingly viewed as a dictator.  Orombi said there is need to enact a law to protect the sitting President from being bombarded by the people asking him to address issues that can be solved by the relevant institutions.

The Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga  in a speech read by Bahati said “the Church should continue advising the political leaders objectively.”

Bahati, a rising star in Ugandan politics,  represents a very poor area of Uganda and has been seeking passage of his anti-homosexuality bill since 2009.

See Below

Melanie Nathan’s Interview with Bishop Christopher Senyonjo, the Ugandan cleric and Christian leader who is against the Anti-homosexuality Bill and blames it as an import of hate by American Evangelicals.  He says in this interview that he believes the Bill could pass and that if it does it would be very dangerous and result in a great number of Ugandans seeking asylum from persecution.

Video by  Kristina Lapinski of Gay USA the Movie