New York Times nails it on Ugandan bill,Maddow to continue investigations

When Cliff Kincaid claimed that the "controversy" over Kevin Jennings was growing, he was definitely out of his depth.

If you want to see how a controversy is really growing, check out the situation regarding the Ugandan anti-gay bill. On the heels of a recent New York Times article is an editorial which kicks serious ass:

Uganda’s government, which has a shameful record of discrimination against gay men and lesbians, is now considering legislation that would impose the death sentence for homosexual behavior. The United States and others need to make clear to the Ugandan government that such barbarism is intolerable and will make it an international pariah.

Corruption and repression — including violence against women and children and abuse of prisoners — are rife in Uganda. According to The Times’s Jeffrey Gettleman, officially sanctioned homophobia is particularly acute. Gay Ugandans are tormented with beatings, blackmail, death threats and what has been described as “correctional rape.”

The government’s venom is chilling: “Homosexuals can forget about human rights,” James Nsaba Buturo, who holds the cynically titled position of minister of ethics and integrity, said recently.

What makes this even worse is that three American evangelical Christians, whose teachings about “curing” gays and lesbians have been widely discredited in the United States, helped feed this hatred. Scott Lively, Caleb Lee Brundidge and Don Schmierer gave a series of talks in Uganda last March to thousands of police officers, teachers and politicians in which, according to participants and audio recordings, they claimed that gays and lesbians are a threat to Bible-based family values.

Now the three Americans are saying they had no intention of provoking the anger that, just one month later, led to the introduction of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009. You can’t preach hate and not accept responsibility for the way that hate is manifested.

We don’t have much hope that they will atone for their acts. But right now the American government, and others, should make clear to Uganda that if this legislation becomes law, it will lose millions of dollars in foreign aid and be shunned globally.

And now I hear that Rachel Maddow is not going to let the situation rest:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Hat tip to Goodasyou.org for the Maddow link.

Sally Kern goes after divorce, Scott Lively likes Ugandan anti-gay bill, and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Scott Lively: Uganda’s Anti-Gay Bill “A Step In the Right Direction” - Lively no doubt does not regret any trouble he caused in Uganda.

Till political death does she impart - Sally Kern attacks divorce.

Iowa conservatives concede no chance of gay marriage ban this year - Good news at least for this year.

RI lawmakers plan override vote on gay rights bill - The veto was hateful. Will the override be successful?

Rights groups laud end of US HIV/AIDS travel ban - This ban needed to go.

If You Feel the Need to Include Wingnut Talking Points In Your Prayers… - This is a hot mess!

Cliff Kincaid: Outcry against Ugandan bill a conspiracy to save Kevin Jennings

Cliff Kincaid of Accuracy in Media knows who to blame for the recent controversy over the Ugandan anti-gay bill:

the media and Obama appointee Kevin Jennings:

. . . the controversy over Jennings, which had been growing since his appointment in May, has been skillfully deflected by some journalists and commentators who have been attacking the government of Uganda for considering a law that would toughen laws against homosexual behavior that threatens public health and children. "Uganda wants to execute people for being gay," lesbian commentator Rachel Maddow asserted on her MSNBC program on December 2. She called it the "kill-the-gays bill" and demanded that Christians in the U.S. denounce it.

Jumping on the story, the New York Times has claimed the bill would "impose a death sentence for homosexual behavior."

These claims are flat-out disinformation.

Dr. Scott Lively, who visited Uganda in March of 2009 to encourage efforts to protect traditional family values, says the proposed death penalty in the bill, just one of many provisions, is for "aggravated homosexuality," which is actually pederasty, pedophilia, homosexual parent/child incest, homosexual abuse of a disabled ward, and knowingly spreading AIDS. Dr. Lively is the author of The Pink Swastika and the president of Abiding Truth Ministries.

 So "aggravated homosexuality" is actually pederasty, pedophilia, and knowingly spreading AIDS? Thanks for the clarification.

I don't know if Kincaid  and Lively realize it or not, but their attempts to explain  the bill gives us more insight into the blatant homophobia which led to its creation.