Shinners, Full 51 Minutes of Fame

We mentioned the UK hate preacher, Paul Shinners, who was filmed preaching in favour of killing gay people (before the clause was removed from the bill).

Despite claiming he had never been to Uganda, when faced with the evidence, his reaction was laughable:

He immediately played the victim card after his presence in Uganda, and the hate message he conveyed to those attending a religious rally organised by David Kiganda, was exposed by the Freethinker, and by bloggers Melanie Nathan in San Francisco and Daniel Law in the UK.

He accused us all of defamation, and – via a local newspaper – demanded an apology. He said he was being unfairly pilloried, and that his Cornerstone Café in St Neots had suffered as a result of the allegations made against him.

No concern at all for the suffering of the Ugandan LGBT community because of his own actions.

So, here's the full 51-minute rampage by Shinners, courtesy of the stop Shinners campaign blog (and Facebook group). Just to make sure we didn't get anything out of context...

If that's sending you to sleep, there's a brief rundown here.

If you are in the UK, write to your MP and the House of Lords to ask why this man is not being investigated by the Charity Commission. 

Bobi Wine Bottoms Out of UK Tour

We're bored of uploading pictures of Bobi Wine, so we thought we'd use an artist's impression this time.

Startling resemblance.

After the petition against this homophobic singer (we hesitate to use the word 'entertainer' as that would imply there is something entertaining about him), we have a result:

‘Burn the gays’ rapper axed from UK venues

Representatives from the Troxy Theatre in London and the Drum Theatre in Birmingham confirmed they told promoters for rapper Bobi Wine their establishments would not allow someone who promotes discrimination.

Good call, UK. 

Shame the Border Agency didn't rule it out first.

Meanwhile: Bobi Wine’s brother arrested with missing school girl

Sweden Resumes Aid

Unimpressive announcement by Sweden today, who have decided to resume direct aid to Uganda:

The Swedish embassy in Kampala announced Monday it will provide $200 million (£117.8 million) in development support to Uganda over the next five years...

In a statement issued by the foreign ministry in Stockholm last Thursday, Engstrom also said: “I will specifically monitor the situation of women’s rights and LGBT rights..."

How is that Engstrom, by putting on a blindfold and sticking your fingers in your ears?

In case you hadn't noticed, gay people don't have any rights. Especially where access to healthcare is concerned. I'm sure Sweden's six-month slap on the wrist is already forgotten. 

Uganda Applauds Gay Kiss

John Barrowman is one of the UK's best-loved gay celebrities. Glitter, glitz and entertainment are his trade, so it's hardly surprising to see him kissing at the Commonwealth Games.

What is mind-blowingly surprising is Uganda's reaction:

Uganda C’wealth Games coach praises John Barrowman gay kiss

Grace Eriyo, a coach with the Ugandan team, has praised the kiss. 

She was quoted in The Times as saying: ‘Where we come from it is illegal to kiss a man, but here you can have it on the TV, right in front of the Queen. 

‘To me that is so great.’

Grace, you've just shot to the top of everyone's adoration list. What a brave, beautiful, and hope-inspiring thing to say. It becomes too easy from the media to believe that all Ugandans are hate-filled towards gay people. You are a shining example of why we must never generalise, and why the future of human rights in Uganda rests with the individual. We think you're pretty darn great yourself.

Homophobe Bobi Wine to Play UK

Ugly Face of Homophobia:
Bobi Wine

[UPDATE: ‘Burn the gays’ rapper axed from UK venues: "Representatives from the Troxy Theatre in London and the Drum Theatre in Birmingham confirmed they told promoters for rapper Bobi Wine their establishments would not allow someone who promotes discrimination."]

Remember the time singer Bobi Wine called Obama a 'fag' for protecting gay rights? Or the time he spouted the tiresome 'Adam and Steve' line?

Such lovely lyrics:

If you’re a man, you better be a man. If you’re a girl, you better stay a girl. Question, why do you do the abomination? Some men dress like a bitch and get it like a bitch. They stink like fish. Fire will burn the batty man. Burn all the batty man. All Ugandans get behind me and fight the batty man.

Yup, prize prick Bobi Wine is now headed to play concerts in Birmingham and London. 

SIGN PETITION

It's not the first petition against Wine's entry to the UK. There's another one calling on a Europe-wide ban of his batty-hating antics.

More importantly than signing the petitions, please contact the following directly:

Home Secretary Theresa May: mayt@parliament.uk / Fax: +44 .20 7219 1145

Immigration Minister: ministerforimmigration@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

And copy to the following Home Office & UKBA addresses:

citto@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

privateoffice.external@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

public.enquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

ukbapublicenquiries@ukba.gsi.gov.uk

If you know the venues he will be playing at, please post links in a comment below, and contact them directly.

Don't Pray Away the Gay

Anthropologist & Social Science Researcher
Stella Nyanzi

Nice little article here by Uganda-based Anthropologist Stella Nyanzi:

Uganda, don’t pray to ‘heal’ gays (or blacks or women)

To heal a homosexual and cure the homosexuality out of the system would be like curing me of my blackness or healing me from my womanhood. Blackness is not sickness. Being woman is not an illness. Homosexuality is neither a disease nor an illness.

Nice selection of comments and responses included.

Trans Woman Beaten Blind

Hush (“Mich”) Ainebyona

In September 2012, MtF transgender Mich Ainebyona was brutally attacked outside a bar in Kampala. Since then, her eyesight has been failing. There is now an appeal to pay for medical treatment to try to save her sight. You can read more in the following article, as well as Mich's story in her own words: Seeking to save the eyesight of battered trans Ugandan

US U-Turn on International Homophobia

The Bill's Primary Sponsor Rep. John Tierney

We read this article with interest:

New House Bill Seeks To Make LGBT Rights Abroad A State Department Priority

A bill introduced in the House of Representatives Wednesday would bolster the State Department's ability to fight discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals abroad, its bipartisan sponsors say.

The bill would direct the department to make LGBT rights a foreign policy priority, develop a strategy to prevent LGBT discrimination and appoint a special envoy to handle those efforts.

The envoy would help coordinate activities between the State Department and other governments, non-governmental organizations and -- if appropriate -- the private sector to address LGBT discrimination globally...

Why are we so surprised by this?

Because it was only last year that the US Supreme Court was saying the exact opposite:

Supreme Court Limits US Courts’ Ability to Use Human Rights Law to Address Human Rights Abuses Committed Abroad

Still, who are we to argue with progress? 

Whilst we're onthe topic, a good article by Kevin Watkins: Time to Act on LGBT Rights in Africa, which advocates a change in approach by foreign countris:

While gay rights are advancing in the world's richest countries, across much of Africa they are in retreat. Homosexuality is illegal in 36 of the region's 55 countries. Lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) people are being criminalized through draconian legislation. Gay Nigerians face up to 14 years in prison and their Ugandan counterparts face life. In a particularly ugly twist, Ugandan citizens are also required to report on 'gay suspects'...

Ultimately, civil rights struggles are fought through domestic politics. In Africa, as in Harvey Milk's America, the struggle for LGBT will be won by people forming broad alliances for changes. Western governments cannot deliver change. But they can do far more to support the people who can.

And, finally, food for thought: Don’t Blame Yesterday’s Colonialism for Today’s Homophobia

Quaker Railroad Helps 107 LGBT Ugandans

With all the Christian organisations promoting discrimination against gay people, claiming that they're Nazis, and selling coffee to raise funds to persecute them, it is truly refreshing to see one Christian organisation trying to help Uganda's LGBT community.

'Underground Railroad' Ferries Gays Out Of Uganda

A group of Quakers calling themselves Friends New Underground Railroad (FNUR) formed to take action and help gays and lesbians in Uganda escape persecution.

So far they have assisted an estimated 107 people to escape from Uganda, leaving egg on the face of Scott Long from Human Rights Watch whose most constructive comment was:

This is not the kind of stuff that well-meaning amateurs can do

Well, apparently it is Scott. 

Margret Nazziwa

Margret Nazziwa

What is it about the UK and Ugandan lesbians?

After a protest outside the Home Office, Margaret Nazziwa was informed that she was to be released instead of deported yesterday. 

That's a better result than being deported like Prossie N or murdered like Jackie Nanyonjo.

Congratulations Margret, we hope that you can start to rebuild your life after Yarls Wood.

US Sanctions Overview

Although the US aren't the only country imposing sanctions or speaking out against the Anti-homosexuality Bill, they are the ones coming under closest scrutiny.

Here's a comprehensive rundown of the sanctions the US have in place at the moment.

Lokodo Case Ruling

Holy Mother. Hands up who honestly thought we'd ever live to see this day?

After the trial was delayed not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times, we just assumed it was never going to happen. 

But it has.

And the ruling is exactly as you'd expect:

Rights Group Says Ugandan Court Decision Violates Basic Freedoms

Human Rights Watch has condemned a recent Ugandan court ruling against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) activists, whose workshop on rights advocacy was broken up two years ago by the government.  HRW says the ruling is part of a pattern of intimidation of activists. 

In February 2012, Uganda’s Minister for Ethics and Integrity, Simon Lokodo, stormed into a human rights workshop run by gay and lesbian activists in Entebbe and shut it down. 

The organizers sued Lokodo, arguing that the workshop was intended to develop advocacy and leadership skills.  But on Wednesday Uganda’s High Court ruled against the activists, saying Lokodo had acted in the public interest by protecting Ugandan moral standards.

Rights groups weren't the only ones saying it's unconstitutional. Credit where credit is due for Ugandan MP Fox Odoi. We dearly hope he still has a job, he's far too good for this parliament.

No doubt this ruling had an effect on the closure of LGBT workshops.

Ban on LGBT Workshops

After closing down the Refugee Law Project, Uganda's parliament has now banned all LGBT workshops, including those to do with HIV/AIDS Awareness:

Ugandan LGBT rights workshop ‘promotes illegal same sex acts’

The Ugandan High Court has endorsed the government closure of a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights workshop, saying that workshop participants were ‘promoting’ or ‘inciting’ same-sex acts. The judgement relied on a single statement from an ‘ex-gay’ who said that the organisation was ‘training homosexual youths to safely engage in the same-sex practices by distributing condoms.’

Let's just rewind in time to January 2013. SMUG were suing the hilariously titled Minister for Ethics & Integrity for arresting people at an LGBT workshop, long before the law was passed. The point disputed was that every citizen has the constitutional right to assembly. Only, SMUG never got to take Lokodo to trial, because the judge delayed the case long enough for the pending anti-gay bill to pass, criminalising gay people. And, of course, criminals don't have a right to assembly.

Sneaky little super villains.

[CORRECTION: No sooner did we post this, then we saw the ruling. Apparently the case wasn't dropped, but the results were as disappointing as you'd expect.]

Students Arrested

Following hot on the heels of Kenya's gay roundup and the first arrests of Ugandans under the Bahati Bill:

Students Arrested for 'Promoting Homosexuality'

The newspaper reports that those arrested include a teacher, two students, and two businessmen. Police reportedly arrested the group over the course of a week, after locals informed police of their suspicions that the group was "carrying out clandestine movements in both primary and secondary schools in the district, luring the pupils and students" into homosexuality...

Wow, a police officer's job must be so easy in Uganda. People just tell you who to arrest, no need for evidence or anything like that. Almost as good as the 1600s in Europe when you could just point accusingly at someone and shout 'witch'!

Who says Uganda isn't at the forefront of African development?

For the Children

Aw, isn't that sweet? Uganda's PMs were only doing it for the kids - and only the straight ones.

Uganda On Their Anti-Gay Legislation: It Was All For The Children

Following reduced aid from the United States and other nations, Ugandan officials are claiming its harsh anti-gay bill signed into law in February was never intended to discriminate against gays and lesbians, but instead its sole purpose is to protect the children of Uganda.

Uganda's love of its children is well documented. When they aren't being raped on an epidemic scale, they are being forcibly removed from school, branded as gay, and ritually humiliated. A more nurturing environment it is difficult to imagine.

Even the head of Ethics & Integrity reckons raping girls is perfectly natural.

The KKK - Sorry, CCC.

The Campus Crusade for Christ, CCC, also known simply as 'the Cru' to its homies, is a US evangelical mission bent of sowing the seeds of homophobia in Africa.

The Christian Do-Gooders Secretly Attacking Gays

Remarkably, CCC is No. 20 on Forbes magazine’s list of the largest charity organizations in America, with $548 million in annual receipts in 2013, $503 million of which are donations. (Presumably the rest are Cru-branded sweatshirts.) This is an impressive achievement, to put it mildly—most of the other top 20 are household names such as United Way and the Salvation Army. 

As its former name implies, Cru is best known for its campus outreach: Bible study groups and the like. But it also has a powerful international arm—there are a lot more eligible converts in Africa than at your typical college kegger, after all—which runs missionary work and conferences... 

According to Truth Wins Out, CCC has been active in Uganda for more than a decade, bringing Holocaust revisionist-turned-anti-gay zealot Scott Lively to the country in 2002.

If you fancy messing with them a little, like sending your spent copies of Out Magazine through the post, here's the address:

Cru

New Life Resources

665 Highway 74 South, Suite 350

Peachtree City, GA. 30269

Tel: 1-800-827-2788

Or, to offer your (sperm) donations: 1-888-278-7233

Mon.-Fri. 8:00a.m.-5:00p.m. Eastern Time, Select Option 1 or 2 

It would seem they accept more than one option in automated telephone forwarding, but not in love.

You can also find their domain registry info on WhoIs.

Meanwhile: Obama’s Evangelical Gravy Train: Despite the president’s promise to cut funding to discredited HIV and pregnancy prevention programs, taxpayer dollars are still bankrolling anti-gay, anti-choice conservative religious groups.

Kenya Joins Uganda in Rounding up Gays

Kenya, which has been considered relatively sane in comparison to Uganda (though never by much), as suddenly decided to round up suspected LGBT people:

60 Arrested for 'Suspected Homosexuality' at Kenyan Nightclub

Sixty people have been arrested at Club Envy in Nairobi for "suspected homosexuality,"..."The arrests at Envy had nothing to do with Mututho law but just trying to suppress the visibility of gays and lesbians," recording artists and LGBT advocate Joji Baro... 

Today's news of the arrests in Nairobi comes in the shadow of international headlines reporting 29 dead along Kenya's tourist-heavy eastern coastline, possibly at the hands of Somali terrorist group Al Shabab.

Ah, suddenly it starts to make sense. Uganda uses homophobia as a deflection from its breathtaking corruption, meanwhile Kenyatta uses it to detract from his abysmal grip on national security.

If in doubt, arrest the gays: plague, divorce, terrorism. You name it, then blame it.

Kuchus’ Day Out

A little ray of sunshine through the gloom.

Kuchus’ Day Out: a time to celebrate despite anti-gay law

About 100 people gathered on a Ugandan beach last weekend to  celebrate LGBT solidarity in an increasingly anti-gay country — and to have fun. 

The event, called Kuchus’ Day Out, was organized by the anti-AIDS and pro-LGBT rights advocacy group Youth on Rock Foundation. The word  “kuchu” — Ugandan slang for “gay” — is a term that LGBT people have reclaimed as their own.

We hope everyone had a fabulous time.