Sunday Catch-Up

Ugandan Campaigner, Frank Mugisha

Sorry, we've been a bit lax lately. Just catching up on the news so that we can condense it and deliver it to you in bite-sized pieces of protesting goodness.

Sunday catch-up of articles that caught our attention...

American Activist Provides Insights after day with UgandanLGBTI Rights Hero Frank Mugisha

Not the snappiest title, but does what it says on the tin. American LGBT campaigner, Cathy Kristofferson, meets Ugandan activist, Frank Mugisha:

Back in Uganda where homophobia is rampant, members of the gay community are in constant fear of physical harm, often beaten in the streets during broad daylight or burned out of their homes... [Frank] is one of the only four out-and-proud LGBTI people in Uganda as he would explain to us later that evening but you wouldn’t image that watching him then smiling holding a “Scott Lively Ministries of Hate and Homophobia Springfield ←→ Uganda” sign out there with the rest of us...

Amongst the ironies I heard that night was that it seemed to me that it was not homosexuality that is un-African as so often claimed, but Christianity which was brought in and it was the Christians, starting particularly with the Pentecostals, and culminating with those 3 American Evangelicals – Lively, Brundidge, and Schmierer who hosted the infamous ‘Gay Agenda’ workshop – who have brought the homophobia to Uganda all the while recruiting followers and promoting hate, sometimes paying stooges to pretend to be ex-gay along the way, all of which is exactly what they falsely accuse the gay community of doing!...

Frank also commented that before Scott Lively came to Uganda, churches had always come to talk to churches but Lively came to talk to the politicians setting a new standard for American Evangelical interference in the Ugandan political process.   And now the Ugandan Parliament likes to complain about foreign interference when the international community speaks out about the bill.

You can follow Frank on Twitter: @frankmugisha

We've already mentioned American Evangelist involvement in the bill, and more recently the Catholic nod of approval. Interesting to watch it backfire on them as people start to question whether Christianity is even less 'African' than homosexuality.

US Pentecostal churches blamed for homophobia ‘surge’ in Africa

Extreme elements of the US Pentecostal Church are behind the ‘surge’ in homophobia across Africa, according to human rights groups.

Speaking to Metro, Renato Sabbadini, the secretary general of the International Lesbian and Gay Association, said: “What we’re seeing is that this surge of homophobia is being encouraged by an active influence of foreign sources and I’m mainly referring to Pentecostal churches in the US...

Although most African nations seem to be going backwards on LGBT equality, Kenya has been cited by Amnesty International as making significant progress.

South Africa remains the only country on the continent to have legalised equal marriage.

And, finally, a nicely balanced piece in the Ugandan Independent:

Homosexuality Brinksmanship, asking the question: "Why pass a costly law you cannot enforce?"

Nice to see some intelligent journalism coming out of the country on this issue. It was beginning to look as though Red Pepper and Rolling Stone were the only papers on sale.

The article gives a rundown on the pressure exerted by international representatives and the business community.