No Thanks, Winnicki

Robert Winnicki

Aberystwyth Arts Centre in Wales recently held an LGBT fundraiser which netted over £2,000 to support rights organisations in Uganda and Russia.

Bad timing for fascist leader Robert Winnicki, who was hoping to do a Scott Lively/Oxford Union type appearance.

Planned talk by 'fascist' blocked by university after protests

PLANS by a right-wing Polish leader to hold a talk at Aberystwyth University ended after the university blocked it from going ahead, following protests from gay people.

Over 50 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) activists and anti-fascist campaigners gathered in Bank Square on Friday evening to demonstrate against the visit by Robert Winnicki.

A poster was distributed saying that Mr Winnicki’s talk was taking place at Old College on Friday, 25 October, but the university moved to pull the plug on it, saying it was not an “official” event.

It is understood that Mr Winnicki, who is said to hold “extreme” homophobic and anti-Semitic views, ended up holding a private event in front of around 10 people in someone’s home.

It is absolutely stunning that the UK Border Agency happily allows poeple like this into the country whilst simultaneously assisting in the death of a Ugandan lesbian.

Priorities, anyone?

Homophobia Harming Economies

At the beginning of the year, Uganda's Deputy Secretary to the Treasury, Keith Muhakanizi, came out with the brave statement that the Bahati Bill is harming Uganda's economy.

Now, an ECOSOC (Economic, Social and Cultural issues) report, presented at a meeting of African NGOs in Gambia last week attests that:

Anti-gay laws harm African economies

Recently the World Bank has been looking at the cost of homophobia when citizens who are educated and willing to contribute to the well-being of their communities are denied opportunity to work...

A number of countries imprison their health workers and activists, accusing them of promoting homosexuality when they are merely educating the general public and these marginalized communities about access to health care. A clear distinction needs to be made in the right to access information and healthcare as not only a moral and humane issue, but also an economic one.

It was noted even in countries in West Africa who not do have criminal statutes against homosexuality i.e. Chad or Gabon, but LGBT citizens are still having a difficult time completing school or finding a job because of cultural or religious beliefs about their sexual orientation. These countries need to develop new laws and mechanisms to reduce stigma and discrimination so that LGBT people can emerge from poverty and homelessness as well.

Governments and faith communities need to extend protections and poverty reduction programmes, health services and equal business opportunities to all citizens without distinction of sexual orientation. African family life should be protected against exterior cultural and religious movements that legitimize rejection of African family members purely on the basis of their sexual orientation.

The report also makes a set of recommendations, including ratifying the Optional Protocol of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and engaging cultural and religious leaders in a serious review of positive and negative beliefs and values.

Little mention seems to have been made of the damaging consequences to tourism on countries perceived to be overtly homophobic. This is a growing area of income for many developing countries, including Uganda, and undoubtedly has an effect on employment.

Scott Lively Resorts to Witchcraft

Earlier this year the US courts ruled that the case of SMUG versus Scott Lively can go ahead. SMUG, Uganda's LGBT coalition group, with the help of the Center for Constitutional Rights, is suing the American hate preacher for promoting homophobia in their country.

The next stage of the hearing is due on 6th November:

The SMUG v. Scott Lively Case is a must attend for LGBT Community

After being charged with Crimes Against Humanity and even after the Court refused to dismiss the case against him,  Scott Lively has not slowed down from his life’s work of persecuting the LGBTI community worldwide. In fact, he has stepped it up.

This past week Lively was in Russia, again, where he has been so many times. So proud of his work in Russia, and what he perceives as the resulting anti-gay legislation, he told Bryan Fischer of The American Family Association: “I indirectly assisted in that and it’s one of the proudest achievements of my career.”

In his spare time, Lively has also been engaging in the darker arts:

Scott Lively Asks For Prayers That Opposing Side In Lawsuit Will Become ‘Confused’

He is quoted as saying:

“First, pray for God to guide Judge Ponsor as he makes future decisions in this case.  Pray for him to be fair and objective, and not swayed by liberal ideology or the lies of my persecutors. Next pray that the Marxist activists that have conspired to bring this bogus litigation forward are thwarted. Pray especially for Holly Richardson of both Arise and OUT NOW, the self-described 44-year-old ‘butch’ lesbian. She has been especially aggressive against me and against our church. Lastly, pray for the George Soros-funded so-called ‘Center for Constitutional Rights.’ CCR is the ‘principality and power’ behind the SMUG lawsuit and many far-left causes, a truly demonic organization, operating from the heart of New York City at 666 Broadway (no joke.). Pray for all of these Marxist activists to be saved and delivered from their sin and error in rejecting the truth of God. As they press forward to attack me, pray confusion into their camp and for all of their strategies and tactics to be turned against them.”

Praying to an unseen force to bend the will of a Judge, calling upon the powers that be to turn their actions against them, and cursing them with confusion... sounds a lot like juju to us.

What's the matter Lively, afraid God needs reminding which side he's supposed to be on?

Brit Arrested in Uganda

Bernard Randall
(Image from The Times)

A former British banker, Bernard Randall, and Albert Cheptoyet, who is alleged to be his Ugandan partner, have been arrested following a rabid news outing by Red Pepper.

British man and Ugandan lover to go on trial over gay sex videos: Ugandan prosecutors deny the men have been ‘medically tested’ to see if they have been having homosexual sex

The presiding judge confessed this is the first case of its kind she has dealt with and therefore said she needed time to consider it, although she pledged it would be dealt with as soon as possible.

Randall and Cheptoyet were released on bail of UGX1.5million ($593,000 €430,000) while their sureties were bonded at UGX500,000 ($198,000 €143,000). They are due to return to court on 18 November.

Prosecutors at the hearing on 22 October had objected to bail being granted, claiming the men may ‘lure’ others into gay ‘practices’.

Activists from Uganda Gay On Move have ‘strongly condemned’ the government for the arrests describing them as an ‘invasion of privacy’. They have warned other people will use some of the trumped-up allegations against the pair as ‘an excuse to blackmail LGBT people’.

The men apparently live together in Katabi village, a suburb of the major town of Entebbe, just south of the capital Kampala.

The British Foreign Office is aware of the arrest and said it is providing Randall with consular assistance.

Only a few days earlier, one of the leading members of Uganda Gay On Move, Mleuben Maccarthy, was himself arrested whilst returning to the country to attend his mother's funeral.

More Tabloid Trash

Red Pepper, the newspaper famous for outing LGBT Ugandans and quick to accuse everyone of being gay, from MPs to school children, are at it again.

There are already calls to arrest Giles Muham, who was the editor of Rolling Stone when it outed Ugandans it claimed were gay, alongside the title 'hang them'. 

This time they are accusing a British banker and his Ugandan partner of making illicit sex tapes, referring to the couple as the 'bum-shafting duo'.

You can read the full story on GayStarNews: Police arrest abusive ‘sodomy video’ gays, claims Uganda tabloid

bum-shafting duo

Grieving Activist Arrested

Mleuben Maccarthy

News has broken that:

Uganda police arrest activist as he grieves for his gay hero mom

Mleuben Maccarthy, an LGBT human rights campaigner from Kampala, Uganda, lost his mother Naomi to illness yesterday (18 October).

Known as ‘Mama Naomi’ in the Ugandan gay community, she was a popular figure who openly supported her gay son and her death has sparked tributes from LGBTI people.

Maccarthy’s partner, Wolter Swaagman, who is based in the Netherlands, sent money to the Western Union Bank in Uganda to pay for the funeral.

But when he went to collect it in the afternoon, he was arrested by the police.

Utterly shameful behaviour by a police force known for its brutality towards activists.

Maccarthy is the Director of LGBTI rights group St. Pauls Voice Centre, and part of the Gay on Move group who are campaigning for his release.

Senyonjo Speaks Out

The wonderful Bishop Senyonjo, who protected David Kato's mourners from a vicious anti-gay attack at his funeral, and who has been excommunicated from the church for his staunch support of LGBTI rights, has given an interview about the influence of American Christians on Ugandan homophobia.

Bishop Christopher Senyonjo Talks Gay Rights

The Huffington Post article is here: Bishop Christopher Senyonjo, Excommunicated Ugandan Priest, Says American Missionaries Feed LGBT Hate

This follows in the footsteps of both Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the former Archbishop of Canterbury.

Corrective Rape

Rape is a huge problem in Uganda, with an estimated 600 children raped every month, and both the Minister for Youth and the Minister for Ethics appearing to condone rape.

Recently, British presenter Stephen Fry undertook a global documentary of LGBT rights around the world, called Out There. It brings to light the shocking issue of corrective rape.

The documentary came to life in Uganda, where the government proposes not only to outlaw homosexuality but to criminalise anyone who fails to report gay friends. During a radio debate, Fry flicks through a local newspaper whose headlines seem to have been written by an adolescent bully. 'Top homos named' was one of the milder examples. The pastor defending the law then lectures Fry on the proper use of his penis...

Fry speaks to a young lesbian who has been subjected to "corrective rape", intended to bring her back into the heterosexual fold. The attack left her pregnant and HIV-positive - and no more attracted to men.

Refreshingly, the programme puts on no pretence of impartiality. Fry barely conceals his contempt for the ironically titled Minister for Ethics and Integrity, who says the rape of schoolgirls is preferable to consensual same-sex love. "At least they’re doing it the right way," he says.

If you're in the UK, you can watch Fry's Out There on iPlayer. We suspect it won't be long until it's available on YouTube and download streams.

Uganda to Close Charities

The highly unethical Ugandan Minister of Ethics, Simon Lokodo (Facebook/Twitter), who thinks that raping girls is perfectly natural and women should be arrested for wearing short skirts, now proposes to close down all charities supporting LGBT human rights.

Uganda threatens to ban charities supporting LGBT rights

He has a long reputation of fighting homosexuality and in 2012 joined a police raid on an LGBT workshop where participants were rounded up and arrested. Amnesty International condemned his actions.

He blamed foreigners for the event, saying he does not support ‘bestiality and lesbianism’.

That language is again reflected his new comments.

He said: ‘For homosexuality, the Ugandan laws are very clear; marriage between people of the same sex cannot be allowed and therefore we condemn it. When they come and say it is a human right we say that it is bestiality in the African culture.’

Earlier this year Spectrum Uganda, an LGBT rights organisation, were driven from their office by an angry mob.

Appalling Violence Against Gays

Former Archbishop of Canterbury,
Dr Rowan Williams

The former Archbishop of Canterbury has spoken out to condemn the Church of England's attitude to gay people:

Former Archbishop of Canterbury: The Church of England has been ‘appallingly violent’ towards gays

Writing in the Cambridge student paper The Tab, Dr Rowan Williams said: “The Church has to put its hands up and say our attitude towards gay people has at times been appallingly violent. Even now it can be unconsciously patronising and demeaning.”

When asked “On the issue of homosexuality and gay marriage, do you consider your own views and those of the Church as being out of touch with the views of your students at Cambridge, and do you think that’s a problem?”

Dr Williams replied: “I think it is quite a problem. This is the one area where there is the deepest sense of the Church being out of step with what the rest of the culture take for granted. I think it’s quite difficult for some people outside of the Church to recognise that there is something in the matter of several thousand years of assumption, reflection and ethical practice here which isn’t likely to be overturned in a moment.

Earlier this year Archbishop Desmond Tutu announced that he would rather go to hell than to a homophobic heaven.

Nobel LGBT Snub

Interesting article by The Guardian's Nancy Goldstein recently, suggesting that the Nobel Peace Prize, whilst holding many high ideals, repeatedly snubs the LGBT community:

 
Kudos to the Nobel peace prize winner, but it's another snub for LGBT activists: When will the Nobel peace prize committee recognise lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights as human rights? 

First of all, congratulations to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which has just won the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize. Only a curmudgeon of the highest order would begrudge giving this honor to an organization devoted to eliminating chemical weapons, most currently in Syria. 

Still, I have a bone to pick with the Nobel selection committee – namely that they don't appear to have considered the work of even a single LGBT activist or organization during a year when dozens could have qualified from Eastern Europe alone. For goodness sakes, bookies were posting odds for Russian President Vladimir Putin for allegedly helping to bring "peace" to Syria, despite his role as one of the key architects of the trifecta of recent laws that criminalize virtually every aspect of being or seeming to be LGBT in Russia...

Russian LGBT activists themselves were quick to say that they had not yet done enough to end human rights violations and to recommend others for the Nobel Peace Prize. Journalist Masha Gessen, the target of the Kremlin's recent efforts to strip children from LGBT parents, thought the prize should go to the founders of Breaking the Silence for their work in Israel and Palestine. Nina Long, co-president of RUSA LGBT, recommended human rights activist Ludmila Alekseeva and Pussy Riot, whose members have been sent to remote Russian prison camps to die for speaking out against Putin's repressive regime. Yelena Goltsman, Long's co-president and the founder of RUSA LGBT supported a prize that would recognize David Kato of Uganda, who was murdered for working to end homophobia in his country.

Stories of Escape

Nice article on BuzzFeed:

LGBT Refugees Now Living In The United States Share Their Stories

Immigration Equality released a short film sharing success stories from their LGBT Asylum Program, which represents over 400 individuals from all over the world.

It covers stories from Russia, Nicaragua, and also Victor Mukasa's story from Uganda.

Ambassador of Angst

Jon Qwelane

South Africa's Ambassador to Uganda, Jon Qwelane, was formerly convicted in 2011 of making hate speeches against LGBT people. Speeches it was claimed only last month that he was extremely proud of.

Who knew?

Well, one would hope the South African government who made him Ambassador to Uganda...

Anyway, now he's challenging equality legislation that protects gay people's human rights.

His trusty campaign motto is: “Call me names, but gay is not okay.”

Prove You're Gay

 

The UK Border Agency, which was accused of murdering a Ugandan LGBT refugee earlier this year, has now been caught inflicting humiliating treatment on gay asylum seekers:

UK asylum seekers 'told to prove they are gay'

Gay and lesbian people seeking asylum in the UK from persecution abroad are being ordered to "prove" their sexuality, MPs have said.

In extreme cases claimants had handed over photographic and video evidence of "highly personal sexual activity" in an effort to persuade officials, the Home Affairs Committee found.

The gay rights group Stonewall called the testing system "distressing".

If you follow the link to the article, you can listen to one woman's story of what happened to her.

Lively Runs for Massachusetts

We had to rub our eyes for a double-take when we read this headline:

Anti-LGBT pastor running for Massachusetts gov. because ‘homosexuality is condemned by God’

Yup, the world's biggest floater on LGBT hate is hoping that once his court case with Sexual Minorities Uganda is over, and he's finished waging war on Russia's gay community, he can settle into a cushty job in politics.

Why?

Well:

In a statement earlier this week, Scott Lively said that prayer had convinced him to make a bid for Massachusetts governor.

I doubt many people are going to be saying 'amen' to that.

Ear-Bashing Bishop

The Bishop of Namirembe, Wilberforce Kityo Luwalira, maintains the Church's view that gay Ugandans are 'copying foreign lifestyles' whilst preaching to a group of school children and their parents.

UK Charity Commission Denies Human Dignity

The ominous shadow of the UK Charity Commission once again rears its head in the LGBT arena.

Having taken absolutely no action at all over Paul Shinners, head of a UK charity - Passion for Souls Ministries - who was caught preaching at a rally in Uganda run by lead anti-gay campaigners, they have now decided to deny registration to an LGBT rights organisation.

Charity Commission publishes decision not to register the Human Dignity Trust

The Charity Commission, the regulator of charities in England and Wales, has upheld its June 2012 decision not to register the Human Dignity Trust (HDT) as a charity.

The HDT works to support individuals who seek to challenge legislation criminalising consensual sexual activity between same sex adults in certain countries. It applied to register as a charity in July 2011, and requested a decision review after the Commission refused registration in June 2012...

The Commission says that the purposes of HDT are not cast in an exclusively charitable form and that it cannot meet the public benefit requirement for a charity as its purpose is directed towards changing the law.

Generally, that's known in the Voluntary Sector as 'campaigning and lobbying.'

We sense more than a little twisted thinking by the Charity Commission on the issue of international human rights where LGBT people are concerned. 

You can tweet to let them know what you think: @ChtyCommission

Stop Lecturing, Nick Westcott

EU Managing Director for Africa, Nick Westcott

Whilst the Commonwealth extols Rebecca Kadaga, the EU's Director for Africa tells Europe to stop condemning African politicians for trying to kill gay people.

Top EU official says Europe should stop lecturing Africa on gay rights

The European Union’s most senior official in charge of relations with Africa has said the EU should stop lecturing the continent about gay rights.

Nick Westcott, the managing director for Africa in the EU’s diplomatic service said at a debate in Brussels on Wednesday that the EU needs a “strong message” when it comes to foreign policy and that the message should be “two-fold.” It should be “less apologetic about our financial clout and, secondly … more humble on the cultural issues.”

Yup, Nick Wescott reckons that bullying, abusing and humiliating gay people is a cultural right.

Dan Dyson

Dan Dyson

Continuing with personal stories: Former Ugandan gospel singer seeks success in U.S.

Dan Dyson had been building a successful gospel music career in Uganda for nearly a decade when his life was turned upside down by a group of anti-gay activists bent on ridding the country of its LGBT citizens. Today, he is in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign trying to raise $5,000 to record a full-length album and restart his career in the United States.

In 2009, a group of United States evangelicals joined together with Ugandan pastors and held a conference in Uganda, developing an agenda against homosexuality in the country as well as a campaign to out LGBTI Ugandans through the media.

The campaign included bribery—often of other gay people—for names of known LGBTI citizens.

"A gay man that we knew … was paid to start naming and outing people," Dyson said.

A publication called Red Paper [sic] began publishing the names and careers of LGBTI individuals living in Uganda.

You can read the rest of the interview by following the link above.

Unfortunately Dyson's musical career is probably on hold, as is the rest of America, until congress gets its arse in gear.