Back-Track on Bashing
on Blog From Beyond (Rwanda), 19/Dec/2009 16:49, 34 days ago
Thanks Alex for this link. Finally, some sense :)Gov’t cannot criminalise homosexuality- Minister“The government I serve and speak for on certain issues cannot and will not in any way criminalize homosexuality; sexual orientation is a private matter and each individual has his or her own orientation - this is not a State matter at all,” said Karugarama.Well done that man :)Hopefully puts an end to the question:Is Uganda's Antigay Fervor Spreading? An African Domino Theory, Examined.Still an awful lot of talk about America's 'Purpose Driven' Church influence andRick Warren.It's hinted at in an article in the Guardian:Anti-gay bigots plunge Africa into new era of hate crimesBut many suspect that it was outsiders who inspired this bill in the first place. In March, Bahati met several prominent anti-gay US Christian activists who attended a conference in Uganda where they pledged to "wipe out" homosexuality.It's a bit of a toughy for President Obama. Most people probably remember his campaign website during the elections which paid credit to all the different communities helping him to get elected - one major constituent being the American LGBT community. Getting too close to Mr. Warren may prove a very bad move.In December 2008, President-elect Obama chose Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration ceremony. -Wiki: Rick WarrenThe U-turn reminds me of the post I madelast Julyregarding the bill on sterilising disabled people and how, overnight, the story went from one of 'plans' to 'denial'.Similarly with this - we're not just talking about Church v. State. We're talking about whether or not to accept abill. A written piece of legislation.Somebody sat down and wrote it. People discussed it as a legitimate possibility.Who? Who paid them? Where'd the man hours come from?Most importantly - Why?As members of the Commonwealth, and after ratifying International Human Rights decelerations...why allow the paperwork to go as far as it has? Debate is one thing - bills are another.And given the type of embarrassment caused on the global stage every time a story like 'stop disabled people breeding' or 'ban the gays' hits - it seems a bit of a futile ridiculing you're putting yourself up for when your own laws already denounce such prejudice.It's good to see that in both cases someone finally looked at the rule book and said 'oh yeah, we can't do that' - but much better to know the rules first and say 'you can't write a bill that breaks fundamental human rights. End of.'*shrug*But maybe it's a learning process that'll works itself through. Hopefully in standing up against those two bills, fewer are likely to be commissioned.I mentioned in my lastpost comment- I think Kagame is treading a very delicate line (like leaders throughout history) between politics and the Church.Who knows what'll happen with Uganda. Hopefully Rwanda will set an example for them.