“A dark cloud has fallen over my beautiful country, I cannot hold my tears!”
By Melanie Nathan, February 24, 2014.
On Monday February 24, 2014, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed the Kill the Gays Bill, despite pleas around the Globe asking him to refrain. The media was notified with individual calls from the Sate House, indicating the President wanted to make his epic signing a big show for the World. In doing so he has thumbed his nose at the World, and told all to go to hell, as many have expressed their horror at the Bill, including President Obama, who has described it as ‘odious.’
And you are probably wondering why I am still calling the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, ‘The Kill the Gays Bill’, since the death penalty has apparently been removed. To my way of thinking it is still a bill that is tantamount to death for Ugandan gays.
For many Ugandan LGBT people a life in prison term is the equivalent of a death penalty! Many of the Ugandan Kuchus have and will continue to experience being shamed and forced out by family, driven out by village elders, evicted by landlords, fired from jobs, chased by mobs, assaulted, raped, blackmailed – Is that the way to live a life? Being driven underground without HIV/AIDS resources and services which otherwise may be perceived as “promoting” homosexuality – surely all tantamount to the death sentence. And most of all, the greatest penalty is not being able to live authentically and freely, with the very basic human right to one’s sexuality. To have one’s love criminalized is death!
One Ugandan, currently in hiding, told me, “A dark cloud has fallen over my beautiful country, I cannot hold my tears!”
Until now we had not seen the final Bill as passed and now signed by the President the full text is available, see the link below. Still in the bill is the outlawing of the so called “promotion of homosexuality” – a nebulous and ill-defined term, which can essentially mean jail for anyone even seen to be helping a gay person. It includes life in prison for repeated ‘acts of homosexuality. The law punishes first-time offenders with 14 years in jail.
This Bill goes far beyond the existing Penal Code and in essence has started to send LGBTI people scurrying for hiding or trying to find countries who will take them in.
On December 20, when the Bill passed, there was no quorum as is required, and the Bill came for a vote without being placed on the Parliamentary Order papers. Even President Museveni wrote to Speaker Rebecca Kadaga and reprimanded her for this shoddy work. Yet he still signed the Bill. The Bill is also said to be unconstitutional and it is believed that human rights defenders will seek to immediately challenge it in the courts. It is also contrary to several of Uganda’s international treaties as well as against The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
One Ugandan activist noted: “Justice will be served, we are going to seek an injunction against the enforcement of this law- we have the Constitution to back us up. We are going to seek redress from the courts of law and we are going hard! Don’t Fret, don’t despair, on the road to freedom, we face challenges, and those challenges are not supposed to break us, but to make us stronger.
We MUST keep strong, we have nothing left except our inner strength.- That they cant take away.”
Full text of the Bill and amendments can be seen here.
President Obama informed Museveni that if the Bill became law, the USA’s relationship with Uganda would become complicated. LGBT activists are calling for the recall of the US Ambassador to Uganda and some are calling for the expulsion of the Ugandan Ambassador from the US. Museveni said he did not care and that he would not be blackmailed saying he was willing to go to war with the World’s gays. And war it shall now be…, stay tuned!
Updated:
This is what Museveni said at the Press Conference during the public signing of the Bill into law at State House Entebbe.:
“Homosexuals are nurtured but not natured. No study has shown that one can be a homosexual purely by nature. Since nurture is the cause, that is why I have agreed to sign the Bill into law,”
Flanked by ministers, MPs and senior health practitioners, the President said there are mercenaries recruiting young people into gay activities to get money.
“That is why those mercenaries must be punished and those recruiting them. I have failed to understand that you can fail to be attracted to all these beautiful women and be attracted to a man,” Museveni said.
“That is a really serious matter. There is something really wrong with you,” he said.
“Homosexuals are actually mercenaries. They are heterosexual people but because of money they say they are homosexuals. These are prostitutes because of money,” he said, asserting that he had taken the time to get scientific advice before signing off on the law.
“No study has shown you can be homosexual by nature,” he said. “That man can choose to love a man… is a matter of choice. After listening to the scientists, I got the facts.
“Can somebody be homosexual simply by nature? The answer is no.”
The president said he had a particular problem with oral sex.
“One of the cultures that we detest is oral sex. The mouth is for picking food, not for sex. We know the address for sex. That address (the mouth) is not for sex,” he said. “The mouth is for eating not for sex. The mouth is engineered for kissing.”
As for gay oral sex, he said the health risks were appalling.“It is not healthy. You can contract STD (sexually transmitted diseases). You push the mouth there, you can come back with worms and they enter your stomach because that is a wrong address. You can also contract Hepatitis B,” he said.
He said homosexuality in Uganda has been “provoked by the arrogant and careless Western groups that are coming in our schools and recruiting homosexuals into homosexuality and lesbianism”.
“Initially I have not paid attention to it because I was busy with the immediate issues of defence, security, electricity, the roads,” the president said.
“When finally, when I concentrated my mind on it, I distilled three problems: number one, those who are promoting homosexuality and recruiting normal people to it. Secondly, as a consequence of number one, many of those recruited, are doing so for mercenary reasons. To get money. In effect, homosexual prostitutes. These mercenary homosexual prostitutes have to be punished. Just like those who are recruiting them,” he explained.
“Number three, homosexuals exhibiting themselves. Exhibition of homosexuals, advertising yourself that you are homosexual.”
Museveni warned critics of the law not to push Uganda on the matter.
“I advise friends from the West not to make this an issue because if they make it an issue the more they will lose,” he said. “This is social imperialism. To impose social values of one group on our society.
“I would advise Western countries, this is a no-go area,” he said. “I don’t mind being in a collision course with the West. I am prepared.”
Please contribute to Rescue Fund to help LGBt Ugandans with asylum and safe housing
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/rescue-fund-to-help-lgbt-people-escape-africa/x/6400968
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Not yet signed the Ugandan President Juggles the Anti-Homosexuality Ball
by Melanie Nathan on February 23, 2014 in Africa, CRIME, EVENTS, NEWS, Parliament Uganda, POLITICAL VIEWS, Uganda, WORLD
By Melanie Nathan, February 23, 2014. The Anti-Homosexuality Bill passed the Ugandan parliament on December 20, 2013. Although the Washington Blade and others report that the Anti-Homosexuality Bill has been signed, sources from the State House in Uganda inform us is that it has yet to be signed by president Museveni. The Anti-Homosexuality Bill of […]
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Protest Against Anti-Gay Laws by Ugandan Kuchus and Exiled African Gays in Sweden
by Melanie Nathan on February 19, 2014 in Advocacy & Activism, Africa, Europe, EVENTS, NEWS, Rally, Sweden, WO
By Melanie Nathan, February 18, 2014. Today about 50 people, from various African countries, together with allies, gathered in Sergel’s Square in Stockholm, Sweden, to protest the LGBT situation in Africa. In true African style, a protest, though sad and serious, brought people out in dance and song. This information was shared with Oblogdee by […]
Canada threatens to cut ties with Uganda over anti-gay bill
by Melanie Nathan on February 18, 2014 in Advocacy & Activism, Africa, EVENTS, LGBT, MEDIA, NEWS, Parliament Uganda, Uganda,
By Melanie Nathan, February 17, 2014. Earlier today I wrote an article calling on President Obama to expel the Ugandan Ambassador to the U.S.A. because President Museveni has declared war with gays of the World, which includes the LGBT people of the United States of America. It seems the Canadians may be leading the pack […]
U.S.A. should expel the Ugandan Ambassador as Museveni declares War on Gays in World
by Melanie Nathan on February 18, 2014 in Advocacy & Activism, Africa, CRIME, EVENTS, LGBT, NEWS, Parliament Uganda, Uganda, WORL
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EU Catherine Ashton Deeply Concerned by Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill
by Melanie Nathan on February 18, 2014 in Africa, CRIME, EVENTS, History, NEWS, Parliament Uganda, Uganda, WORLD
By Melanie Nathan, February 17, 2014. In the face of the new Anti-Homosexuality law, about to be signed with the assent of President Museveni, in Uganda, Catherine Ashton the High Representative in the European Union, has called on Uganda as follows: “I am deeply concerned about the news that Uganda will enact draconian legislation to […]
Uganda President Persecutes LGBTQ People For Political Power
by Melanie Nathan on February 17, 2014 in Africa, NEWS, Uganda, WORLD
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White House Releases President Obama Statement on Uganda Anti-Gay Bill
by Melanie Nathan on February 16, 2014 in Advocacy & Activism, Africa, LGBT, NEWS, Parliament Uganda, U.S.A., Uganda, VIDEO, WORLD
We have conveyed to President Museveni, enacting this legislation will complicate our valued relationship with Uganda By Melanie Nathan, February 16, 2014. President Barack Obama informs the world that he has indicated to President Yoweri Museveni that this anti- homosexuality Bill will complicate US relations with Uganda. And damn right it will. Because as an […]
CNN World Reports Ugandan President Ready To Sign Bill and Ready for War With World’s Gays
by Melanie Nathan on February 15, 2014 in Advocacy & Activism, Africa, EVENTS, NEWS, Parliament Uganda, Uganda, WORLD
He may find his war will be with more than just us Gays. CROSS POSTED CNN from as follows: Kampala, Uganda (CNN) — Uganda’s president Saturday vowed to sign sweeping anti-gay legislation, citing what he said were scientific, not political, considerations for a controversial measure in a country that already criminalizes homosexuality. In a statement, […]
Ugandan Scientists Say Homosexuality is an Abnormal Practice That Requires Regulation
by Melanie Nathan on February 15, 2014 in Academic, Advocacy & Activism, Africa, CRIME, EVENTS, LGBT, NEWS, Parliament Uganda, POLITICAL VIEWS, RELIGION, Uganda, WORLD
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Ugandan President Museveni Has Said He Will Sign the Anti-Gay Bill
by Melanie Nathan on February 14, 2014 in Advocacy & Activism, Africa, CRIME, NEWS, Parliament Uganda, Uganda, WORLD
Is this real or mere political pandering to increase his leadership popularity ? By Melanie Nathan, February 14, 2014. Unconfirmed reports are coming in from Uganda from our sources on the ground asserting that President Yoweri Museveni had said at a the NRM retreat that if the Anti-gay Bill was put in front of him, […]
Impact of New Study of Gay Brothers on Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill
by Melanie Nathan on February 14, 2014 in Advocacy & Activism, Africa, CULTURE, EVENTS, LGBT, NEWS, Parliament Uganda, Uganda, WORLD
And the Renewed Interest in Genetic Factors in Homosexuality By Melanie Nathan, February 14, 2014. In an article posted by Warren Throckmorton, it is revealed that papers in Australia and the UK published stories late yesterday about a study recently described at the 2013 International Association for Sex Research by Alan Sanders and then yesterday by […]
Ugandan MPS and Museveni Want to Stop Bail for Sodomy
by Melanie Nathan on February 14, 2014 in Africa, CRIME, EVENTS, LGBT, NEWS, Parliament Uganda, Uganda, WOR
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Gays in Kenya Protest Against Ugandan Anti-Gay Bill
by Melanie Nathan on February 10, 2014 in LGBT, WORLD, Africa, MEDIA, EVENTS, Rally, Uganda, Advocacy & Activism, Kenya { Edit }
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Doctors Place an Ad in Ugandan Press Declaring Anti-Homosexuality Bill a Threat to Public Health
by Melanie Nathan on February 9, 2014 in Africa, NEWS, Uganda, WORLD
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Denied by Ambassador Exiled Ugandans Reflect
by Cathy Kristofferson on February 6, 2014 in Advocacy & Activism, LGBT, NEWS, Parliament Uganda, Rally
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Ugandan Minister Has A Hunt the Gays List
by Melanie Nathan on February 6, 2014 in Advocacy & Activism, Africa, EVENTS, NEWS, U
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Ugandan exiles protest anti gay laws at D.C. Embassy
by Cathy Kristofferson on February 4, 2014 in LGBT, NEWS, Parliament Uganda, POLITICAL VIEW
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Ugandan Parliament proceedings for Kill-The-Gays-Bill passage released
by Cathy Kristofferson on February 3, 2014 in Law, LGB
By Cathy Kristofferson, February 3, 2014 Today, the website Parliament Watch Uganda released the Hansard, the Parliamentary proceedings, of the Dec 20th 2nd reading of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill (AHB). Proponents for the AHB lead off with the tired old need to defend marriage as between one man, one woman argument but quickly got to: “There have […]
Diaspora Gays to protest at Ugandan Consulate and want you to Join them
by Melanie Nathan on January 31, 2014 in Advocacy & Activism, Africa, EVENTS, LGBT, Parliament Uganda, POLITICAL VIEWS, Rally
It is time to go out of our way and to show solidarity with Uganda’s Gay LGBTI community By Melanie Nathan, January 31, 2014. KUCHU DIASPORA ALLIANCE (KDA), the group of Ugandan LGBT and allies, living in the United States, invites you to join in a critical protest on Tuesday, February 4, 2014 @2pm at […]
Disturbing Hunt for Gays Heats up in Uganda | Update on the Anti-Homosexuality Bill
by Melanie Nathan on January 29, 2014 in Advocacy & Activism, Africa, CRIME, EVENTS, Law, LGBT, MEDIA, NEWS, Parliament Uganda, POLITICAL VIEWS, R
Mob Attacks, Police Parades and Violence on the rise as International Day of Protests in planning statges By Melanie Nathan, January 29, 2014. One of the worst fears with regard to the Anti Homosexuality bill was the possibility of witch hunts targeting LGBTI people in Uganda if the bill passed. Unfortunately, this fear has started […]
Frank Mugisha speaks about Increased Violence in Uganda due to the Anti-Gay Bill
by Melanie Nathan on January 28, 2014 in Advocacy & Activism, Africa, CRIME, EVENTS, NEWS, Parliament Uganda, Uganda, WORLD
WATCH the TV Interview with Michele Meow of Swirl below – “The most dangerous person in your life could be your next door neighbor” Mugisha By Melanie Nathan, January 29, 2014. Frank Mugisha, Executive Director of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) and the award winning LGBT human rights defender from Uganda, who together with other Ugandan […]
Ugandan Police Persecute by Public Parading Men Accused of Being Gay
by Melanie Nathan on January 28, 2014 in NEWS { E
Showing the World How Unsafe Uganda is for Anyone, Tourists, Foreign Nationals….. By Melanie Nathan, January 28, 2014. It seems that the recent passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which has yet to pass the 30 day period of assent by President Museveni, has provided license to fuel police brutality and the unconscionable practice of parading […]
Meeting with LGBT Activist Ganafa After Shocking Raid Arrest in Uganda
by Melanie Nathan on January 26, 2014 in Advocacy & Activism, Africa, AIDS/HIV, HEALTH, Law, LGBT, NEWS, U
A witness to government persecution of gays in Uganda Posted by Melanie Nathan, written by JP Conly, January 23, 2014. JP Conly and I were in communication when he was in Uganda late last year. He was able to make contact with members of the Ugandan LGBT community while working as a nurse volunteer. Here […]
NRM Uganda to Hire Doctors to Decipher Whether Homosexuality is Abnormal or a Choice
by Melanie Nathan on January 24, 2014 in Advocacy & Activism, Africa, EVENTS, Law, LGBT, NEWS, Parliament Uganda, Uganda, WORLD {
Are gays nuts or sinners seems to be the question at hand given the Ugandan context? By Melanie Nathan, January 24, 2014. The NRM, Uganda’s ruling political party, under President Yoweri Museveni discussed the newly passed Anti-Homosexuality Bill at a caucus today. Word has it that the NRM has resolved that they will hire consultant […]
The Deadly Silence of Shinners and other Christians on Anti-Gay Ugandan Law
by Melanie Nathan on January 20, 2014 in Advocacy & Activism, Africa, EVENTS, Law, LGBT, NEWS, Parliament Uganda, RELIGION, Uganda, United Kingdom, WORLD {
By Melanie Nathan, January 20, 2014 When religious extremists in the form of Lou Engle, Scott Lively and others found that their war against homosexuality was floundering on home turf, they scrambled to capture a world ripe for scapegoating, using the Bible to spin their hateful yarn on African soil. Uganda became a target and […]
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by Cathy Kristofferson on January 18, 2014 in Advocacy & Activism, Law, LGBT, NEWS, Parliament Uganda, POLITICAL VIEWS, Uganda
“President Museveni pledged to reject the bill as currently drafted, calling the legislation ‘fascist.’” By Cathy Kristofferson, January 18, 2014 The Robert F. Kennedy Center For Justice & Human Rights has posted a press release (below) saying they have met with Ugandan President Museveni today and he “pledged to reject” the Anti-Homosexuality Bill (AHB). Museveni reportedly […]
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by Melanie Nathan on January 16, 2014 in Advocacy & Activism, Africa, EVENTS, LGBT, NEWS, Parliament Uganda, Uganda
President Museveni becomes an authority on Homosexuality while saving Uganda from the Kill the Gays Bill FOR NOW! In December 2013, The Ugandan Parliament passed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill which criminalizes homosexuality and its so called “promotion” with harsh punishment. The legislation provides for a sentence of life imprisonment for anyone convicted of homosexuality, which covers […]
US LGBTs Silent while London and Amsterdam respond to Uganda Call To Action
by Cathy Kristofferson on January 16, 2014 in Advocacy & Activism, AIDS/HIV, Parliament Uganda, POLITICAL VIEWS, Rally, RELIGION, U
By Cathy Kristofferson, January 16, 2014 A demonstration against Uganda’s so-called Anti-Homosexuality Bill (AHB), better known as the Kill-The-Gays Bill, has been called for this Saturday in Amsterdam by Out & Proud Diamond Group. Out & Proud Diamond Group was founded by African LGBTI and Human Rights activists fighting for equality for all. Last week the […]
Has the Death Penalty Really been removed from Uganda’s Kill the Gays Bill?
by Melanie Nathan on January 13, 2014 in Advocacy & Activism, Africa, EVENTS, LGBT, NEWS, Parliament Uganda, Uganda, WORLD
By Melanie Nathan, January 13, 2014. It seems that I am not the only one who is wondering why no one can get their hands on the current version Ugandan Parliament’s Anti-homosexuality Bill (AHB) and mistrusting the situation. Where is a Parliamentary copy of the version of the AHB that has apparently passed Parliament; the […]
A sad day in the history of Uganda and of the world who sat by and did nothing to stop it
Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
The “Kill the Gays” Bill has been signed! No doubt now …. a sad day for Uganda and the world!!!
This is insane. What are these zealots afraid of, truly?
How do you fight back against an internal fear, a self-loathing “purportedly-straight” person who goes on a rampage because they cannot accept themselves? We all know it- it isn’t an urban legend at how many people violently attack the LGBTI only to “come out” later?
This is a far greater fight than civil rights- it is one which factors the human psyche into the bigoted equation…
I am sitting here- waiting to hear from our PM’s/Presidents on this horror. Who will step up to defend those who cannot defend themselves? This bill requires all citizens become “moral police” of their family & friends…I am aghast!
Horrific!
Reblogged this on JerBear's Queer World News, Views & More From The City Different – Santa Fe, NM and commented:
This is infuriating and terribly sad for it’s LGBTQ citizens who are now under constant peril.
Reblogged this on The ObamaCrat™.
Forbes Magazine asked readers on Facebook (2013) to name the worst dictators alive. President Yoweri Museveni was put along side former Ugandan President Idi Amin. Look at the list of his fellow dictators:
Bashar al-Assad of Syria **North Korea’s Kim Jong-ill, ** Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe **Vladamir Putin **General Than Shwe (Burma)**Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Kha** Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir **
I next decided to investigate his wealth – most sites state that he is a BILLIONAIRE. This site might be biased, but I’ve quoted it here:
ddungu Musa Evans -Just Another WordPress.com site writes the following information;
President Museveni should reveal how he acquired this wealth, yet by 1986 he was landless, without shelter, poor like a church mouse, the only wealth he had was an AK 47 Kalashnikov that he had used to butcher Ugandans during the 1981-1986 bush war.
But now surprisingly President Yoweri Museveni’s being ranked the 12th richest person in Africa, his wealth is estimated at $1.7bn
Unknown-4 Unknown-5followed by former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo as the richest with $65b, followed by former Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi at $56billions, According to the document leaked towww.weloveafricans.com, website.