On Dec. 7, 2010, David Bahati, a member of Uganda’s parliament was denied entrance to a conference in Washington, D.C. His presence in our country was notable because his proposed Bill 18 (a.k.a. the Kill the Gays Bill) in Uganda would make homosexuality punishable by life imprisonment or death by hanging. The bill is scheduled to be voted on soon and now has the chance for passage. The proposed law criminalizes attempted gay acts, requires the immediate reporting of suspected homosexuals, and would censor or fine any Ugandan agency that publicly supported gay rights. The reach of the proposed law also extends beyond Africa by demanding the extradition of homosexual Ugandans living abroad.
So, how should we react when we learn lawmakers are voting on laws like these?
The history of anti-gay laws is long and cruel. In the 1930s, Paragraph 175 of the Nazi Criminal Code sent 15,000 gays to die in death camps. In Saudi Arabia, under Sharia law, homosexuality is still punishable by death.
To many, Uganda seems far removed from Main Street USA—but the church on the corner is precisely what is funding the hateful efforts in Africa, both spiritually and financially. The Washington, D.C.-based organization known as “The Family,” which hosts the National Prayer Breakfast, counts both Bahati and Uganda’s President amongst its most important members. Senator Inhofe has stated that it was The Family that directed him toward political involvement in Uganda. The Family is also thought to have used Senator Brownback and Representative Joe Pitts to funnel millions of dollars into Ugandan abstinence-only programs. These programs have resulted in condom burnings and are faulted for a doubling in the HIV instance rate in Uganda.
Furthermore, inspiration for the newest anti-gay law is credited to American anti-gay activists, Don Schmierer, Caleb Lee Brundidge and Scott Lively, who gave a seminar in Uganda months before Bill 18 was first proposed.
But we cannot point an accusing finger only at extremists. These cruel and murderous laws are the fault of every politician and citizen in America who voted “No” on gay marriage or have voted to ban it, who voted “No” on repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, and those who said “No,” their gay son or daughter can no longer live in their home.
To people shocked about this bill I say, what did you expect would happen? What did you expect when you looked away or said nothing in the face of the Phelps family’s “God Hates Fags” signs that are displayed at Iraq War veteran’s funerals, citing homosexuality as the cause of the war?
What did you expect when you shrugged and put your donation in the basket the day a guest speaker at your church suggested that AIDS was divine intervention? Make no mistake that groups who make these claims are, at best, hate groups, and at worst, terrorists.
If every one of you who witnesses the actions of hate does not openly condemn them, then you are compliant. A silent voice in the face of hate is a voice of agreement. Eulogized leaders like Jerry Falwell preached statements saying, “AIDS is not just God’s punishment for homosexuals; it is God’s punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals.” Yet, the response by millions of Americans to words like these continues to be “Amen.”
The religious frenzy in the world’s wealthiest nation is being led astray, first by a minority of leaders who let piety usurp righteousness, and second by a majority of them to sit silently compliant. We live in a time and place where countless people actually believe that homosexuality caused 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina and that there is an official “Gay Agenda.”
Efforts to escape oppression are not an agenda, they are acts of liberation. It is time that these leaders stop blaming the “gotcha media” for the hateful statements falling from their own mouths. It’s time for us all to take responsibility for the things that we say, the meanings we convey, and the eventuality to which they lead. All contingencies of Moral Majority’s war on the LGBT community lead to one place: that place was Paragraph 175 in the early 20th century; it is Uganda in the early 21st.
So, it is time we all take good notice of the morbid glee with which purveyors of hate pursue homosexuals. We need to ask ourselves why we ignore the utter joy they get from funding cruelty, ask ourselves why anyone should be allowed to feel warm, fuzzy, or holy knowing a portion of their tithe has bought the bullet used to murder a homosexual—whether in Uganda or just down the street. And ultimately, we need to force those people to look at their smiling faces in the mirror and ask themselves: “If this is righteousness, what then, is sin?”
