This post has the potential to be a more formal article, but for now, I am getting some thoughts together which are in addition to what I wrote at Crosswalk.com and the Christian Post about the topic.

In the earlier article, I noted that the Director of the AIDS Prevention Research Project at Harvard University, Edward Green, said that effective work with marginalized populations (e.g., glbt people) requires that health care workers develop trust with those they want to reach. Dr. Green said that, as law, this bill would drive gays and lesbians into hiding. While that would be tragic and have an impact on AIDS rates, the primary driver of AIDS in Africa is not homosexuality. Because of that, the rates of AIDS may not change much, although any change would not be beneficial. However, what might drive people away from interventions and/or treatment is the threat of being considered homosexual.

In the recent radio interview on Premier Christian Radio, Dr. Martin Ssempa said South Africa had the “highest HIVAIDS in the whole world” and attributed that to legalized homosexuality there. He also said that Uganda doe not want another source of HIV. In a recent article, David Bahati, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill co-sponsor, said that homosexuals spread AIDS three times more than straights. Does this public health argument work?

Not so. I asked Dr. Green about the AIDS rates and he said while South Africa had the largest number of AIDS cases in the world, there AIDS rate is lower than some of their African neighbors where homosexuality is illegal. For instance, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Swaziland have higher AIDS prevalence rates than South Africa (over twice as high) but homosexuality is illegal in these countries. The legal status of homosexuality, while important for human rights issues and practically, to fight AIDS in that population, does not seem to play much of a role in the overall AIDS rate in African nations.

Then, what does?

Dr. Green told me that 90% plus of HIV is transmitted by heterosexual behavior. Thus, focusing on gays misses the mark. If an African country does not address multiple concurrent partnerships and fidelity, not much good will happen.

So why do I believe this bill will turn the clock back on AIDS progress?

One, since politicians (e.g., Bahati) and ministers (e.g., Ssempa) are framing this Anti-Homosexuality Bill as a part of the fight against AIDS, I believe straights will shy away from getting educated, tested or treated because of the increased stigma of having AIDS. More than the stigma would be the fear of being reported to the police.

Two, I think straights may assume that HIVAIDS is a gay disease and believe that straight sex will be safer somehow. Given the fact that AIDS is really a straight disease in much of Africa, any movement in that direction would be devastating for the progress in Uganda. When supporters of this bill say they favor it for public health reasons, they are not working with all the facts.

The Anti-Homosexuality Bill will create more stigma surrounding AIDS which in my view will prevent people from seeking treatement, education or testing. This cannot be a good thing.

Some fun for the weekend. This picture was taken by Marcia Brennan of nearby Pittsburgh while she was in Washington, D.C. for a rally opposing the House health care bill. She sent this around and gave me permission to post.

Now let’s think up a caption for this beauty. I say it is a contest, but there really isn’t a prize. Or maybe I’ll send out a Throckmorton band CD for the winner.

Yesterday morning my time, I was on the Premier Christian Radio Network (UK) to discuss the Anti-Homosexuality Bill currently being considered in Uganda. Also on the show was prime supporter in Uganda, Martin Ssempa.

You can listen here (If audio is down, try this…).

Some Christian leaders in the UK are speaking out about a proposed law in Uganda which would introduce the death penalty for gay people.

The British government’s already announced it’s unease at the idea.

It’s already illegal to be homosexual in the African state, but the new bill would introduce more strict punishments.

Pastor Martin Ssempa is a Ugandan who supports the new law.

Dr Warren Throckmorton is associate professor of Psychology and Fellow for Psychology and Public Policy at Grove City Christian College in Pennsylvania. He’s campaigning against it.

I felt the interview went well and brought out the relevant concerns about the bill.

This ad was in Uganda’s Monitor on Sunday:

Note the ad in the red oval. When the link is clicked it goes to this ad:

Two homosexuals, Namutebi Ruth and Hilda are wanted by the police, anyone who sees them and has information leading to their arrest should report to the nearest police station for the safety of our country. A big reward waits.

Since this is a sponsored link, anyone could have placed that ad. There may be a Ruth and Hilda but whether they are gay or not is not the point. What seems clear is that someone, perhaps an enemy of Ruth and Hilda, wants to cause problems for these two people. If the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009 passes, one may expect many more such ads. The bill has the following provision:

14. Failure to disclose the offense.

A person in authority, who being aware of the commission of any offence under this Act, omits to report the offense to the relevant authorities within twenty-four hours of having first had that knowledge, commits an offense and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty currency points or imprisonment not exceeding three years.

 Can you imagine the results of this requirement?

UPDATE: The page has now been altered and the want ad and poll are gone. Here is what it looked like prior to being removed.

Here’s a treatment of the bill which quotes all sides.

Not sure when this article was researched but this section seems to contradict another statement of a Bishop from the Anglican Church of Uganda.

The Bill has the support of various religious groups in Uganda, who have been battling the gay movements. Some of the leaders in the Pentecostal churches in Uganda have been accused of practising homosexuality.

Religious leaders from the Orthodox Church, Pentecostal Church and Islam, in appearing before the Parliamentary and Presidential Affairs Committee, say the law against homosexuality was timely, but they were opposed to the death penalty.

Reverend Canon Aaron Mwesigye Kafundizeki, the Church of Uganda provincial secretary, tells IPS: “It is an important law, but the provision related to the death penalty may prevent this law from being passed, because death should not be accepted as a punishment. Therefore propose another form of punishment instead of death.”

Kafundizeki said pushing for extra territorial jurisdiction would be counter-productive.

“The Church of Uganda is saying we need to limit ourselves to the Ugandan territory, instead of extra territorial jurisdiction, because the Ugandan constitution is very clear on protocols and ratifications. Going beyond the borders will be counter-productive,” he says.

Here the Canon said the Church of Uganda had not taken a position on the bill.

From the Rev. Canon Aaron Mwesigye
Anglican Province of Uganda
November 6, 2009

The Church of Uganda is studying the proposed “Anti-homosexuality bill” and, therefore, does not yet have an official position on the bill. In the meantime, we can restate our position on a number of related issues.

Perhaps the Canon means the church has not taken an official position. He seemed to be favorable toward the bill if the death penalty and extraterritoriality were removed.

(What it Might Have Been Like for Victims)

by David Blakeslee

I got up. I got dressed. I hugged my children. I called a friend. I went to work. I packed my bag for a prolonged business trip. I went to lunch. I then went to the doctor’s office for a final check on my health and then, to get my teeth cleaned.

I was traveling for my work to a place where it might be hard to get medical attention. I sat down in the waiting room. I found a magazine, Sports Illustrated, to read. I flipped the pages and I looked around the room. I saw some friends from other parts of the company, smiling and talking to each other. Every few minutes a person left the room and every few minutes a new person came in the room. It was a strange feeling, not knowing all of them, but being bound by similar work and a similar mission.

I glanced down at my magazine, the Raiders continue to lose and look terrible. The Phillies are behind in the World Series, I know better, they already lost.. Pop…Pop Pop…Pop…Pop. Scream, crash. Pop…Pop…Pop, Pop, Pop. I know the sound. I am on the ground. I look in the direction of the Pop sound, a man with two guns commands the attention of the room. He is dressed like me. He looks like me. I look to others dressed like me, some are groaning, some wailing, some are whimpering, curled up in the corner as he approaches. Pop…Pop…Pop. I am panicked now. While his attention is turned I jump and run farther from him and push a small table down as a barrier. I realize that most of my co-workers have huddled in the far corner with me. Some are escaping through another door and down a hallway. Pop…Pop…Pop…Scream. Whimper. Moan. I know I am alone. I know this uniform he is wearing says I should trust him…I lunge…Pop. Pop Pop Pop.

This is what it may have been like for many of the victims yesterday at Ft. Hood.

Many words will be written about the events of yesterday and the overwhelming majority will be about the middle-aged man who knew where to find a group of trusting colleagues and then systematically betrayed them and murdered them. Many “explanations” or hypotheses will be written. Here is one: a narcissist, narcissistically wounded, acts out his wound in the most terrifying and humiliating way on people completely unprepared to defend themselves and trained to trust him. And he enjoys it. For a brief few minutes his subjective feelings of being small and a “victim” are extinguished in a gratifying hail of bullets and moans and death. It goes just the way he planned and he enjoys it.

Narcissism is rampant in this culture.

It is time to make it’s victims real, three dimensional. To narrate their motivations, their lives, to interview their friends and family and to hear what obstacles they overcame and how much they loved their country. They are small, unimportant people in this culture of celebrity. But they are deeply loved, deeply loved. And right now, everyone they loved is feeling destroyed.

Utterly destroyed.

That is what narcissism can do.

(I spent the early years of my career at a small Air Force base as the base psychologist. It was humbling to see how hard everyone worked and how devoted to the mission they were. I learned there how many different kinds of people were better than me, stronger than me and kinder than me. For a medical officer to betray his troops is the worst kind of evil).

–David Blakeslee, Psy.D. is a psychologist in West Linn, Oregon.

Something is not right here:

MP Warned against witchcraft

By Francis Emorut

MEMBERS of Parliament have been warned against witchcraft and corrupt tendencies.

“You should not consult witchdoctors for success but instead seek help from God,” Dr. Fred Hartley, the president of the College of Prayer International, said.
“I know witchcraft is a big problem in Uganda but as MPs, you should be exemplary,” he said.

Hartley was speaking during a prayer meeting for parliamentarians at Fairway Hotel in Kampala on Tuesday.

The MPs underwent a two-day training on how to pray with impact.

“You have to confront the enemy, Satan, using God’s authority,” Hartley told MPs.

The legislators were told to seek first the Kingdom of God before seeking earthly materials and forgive one another irrespective of their political affiliation.

Hartley explained to the MPs that the Kingdom of God involves righteousness, joy, peace and the Holy Spirit. He told the MPs that if they prayed in line with the Kingdom of God they would be able to cast out demons.

“True signs of wonders will follow if you pray in truth. The blind will see, the lame will walk and the deaf will hear,” he said.

During testimonies, Soroti Woman MP Alice Alaso (FDC) testified that Apostle Julius Oyet prophesied in 2000 at Lugogo stadium that she would win elections in 2001.

“Indeed, I won elections without spending money and I will continue doing so,” Alaso said.

MP Benson Obua (UPC) testified that he prayed for a pregnant woman who had spent three days in labour and was about to undergo caesarean section and she gave birth normally.

After the prayer meeting, eight MPs were selected to be in the servant leadership team for Parliament for three years.

They included Ruth Tuma, Alice Alaso, Beatrice Lagada, Moses Ntahobari, Capt. Grace Kyomugisha, Benson Obua, David Bahati and the East African legislative assembly MP, Maj. Gen Mugisha Muntu.

Benson Obua and David Bahati are the two sponsors of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009.

Read the bill here.

Join those who are speaking out in opposition here.

h/t BarthNotes via the Facebook group.

The Facebook group keeps growing, now over 3000 from around the world.

The Christian Post reports on the group, Speak Out Against Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill here.

The Christian Post published my op-ed this morning regarding the deleterious effects of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill on AIDS work. I was able to interview Edward Green, who is the Director of the AIDS Prevention Research Project at Harvard University. Green is widely known respected among AIDS researchers and prevention specialists for his work in primary prevention. As noted in the op-ed, Dr. Green worked with Martin Ssempa to craft policy which emphasize abstinence and fidelity. I didn’t add in the op-ed that Stephen Langa was also a co-author.

About the bill, Dr. Green told me:

The bill sounds dangerous and completely inhumane. As a practical matter, such a bill is unenforceable and would only drive homosexuality underground, terrorize gay men and women and their loved ones, and justify witch hunts.

I also was able to interview Karen Moul of the Catholic Relief Services. CRS has received millions to prevent and treat AIDS around the world. She noted that their efforts are hampered by stigma now; this bill will make the situation worse.

Also, go on over to Christian Post and read this article…

Adding D to ABC: How a Proposed Ban on Homosexuality in Uganda Will Undo AIDS Progress

Relevant to AIDS relief work, there is no exemption in the bill for professionals.

Tue, Nov. 03, 2009 Posted: 07:23 PM EDT

——————————————————————————–

Since 2003, the United States has provided 1.2 billion dollars to the East African nation of Uganda through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Instigated by President George W. Bush, PEPFAR’s results have been striking. According to a 2009 Annals of Internal Medicine research report, an estimated 1.2 million lives have been saved. The AIDS rate has dropped dramatically. PEPFAR funds three components of AIDS education and prevention: Abstinence education, Be faithful in marriage or to one partner, and Condom usage (ABC).

However, a bill proposed in the Ugandan parliament in early October may add a D to this policy and compromise Bush’s good work. The D stands for the death penalty for homosexual offenses, including multiple homosexual acts and engaging in sex while HIV positive.

Introduced by MP David Bahati, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, 2009 would impose the death penalty on some homosexual behaviors, and maintain life in prison for others. Even touching someone of the same sex could be considered an offense if the intent is sexual. Homosexuality is already illegal in Uganda but this bill cracks down harder on offenders as well as anyone with any relationship to a homosexual. The bill requires persons in authority (pastor, teacher, missionary, physician, parent, etc.) to report any knowledge of any offense covered by the act within 24 hours upon pain of 3 years in jail or a hefty fine. Thus, parents could be expected to turn in same-sex attracted children. Relevant to AIDS relief work, there is no exemption in the bill for professionals. If a patient reveals homosexual behavior in the course of AIDS treatment or education, then those hearing the revelation must report.

As might be expected, the bill is receiving condemnation from human rights groups, including those within the AIDS prevention and treatment community. However, the bill has divided two former collaborators on AIDS policy in Uganda – Martin Ssempa and Edward Green. The story of this divide illustrates the complexity of developing a workable AIDS policy when cultures clash.

Martin Ssempa is a Pentecostal pastor from Kampala and Dr. Edward Green is Director, AIDS Prevention Research Project at Harvard University. They worked together to craft AIDS prevention policy in 2004. At the request of the Uganda AIDS Commission, they and four others authored a paper detailing evidence for what worked in prevention and developed a plan for implementing those strategies in Uganda. In an email, Green explained,

In various forms, the ABC approach has been implemented in Uganda since the mid-1980s. By 2004, there were condom strategies but no fidelity strategies. Ssempa and I (and 4 others) just laid out the evidence of what worked and made plans to include some of that in a package of otherwise ineffective medical services masquerading as AIDS prevention.

Ssempa received a Masters of Arts degree in counseling from Philadelphia Biblical University and boasts on his website that he is “a passionate voice in the global fight against HIV/AIDS.” His DVD on sexual abstinence is promoted by Wait Training, a Colorado-based abstinence education organization. However, he is actively campaigning for the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Ssempa told me in an email, “I am in total support of the bill and would be most grateful if it did pass.”

According to Harvard’s Green, Ssempa’s support for the bill and the ramifications to AIDS prevention and treatment efforts are deeply troubling. Green said, “The bill sounds dangerous and completely inhumane. As a practical matter, such a bill is unenforceable and would only drive homosexuality underground, terrorize gay men and women and their loved ones, and justify witch hunts.”

AIDS workers on the ground in Uganda agree. In practice, such a law will create ethical conflicts for pastors, health care providers and educators, and heighten stigma for patients. Spokesperson, Karen Moul of a major PEPFAR grantee, Catholic Relief Services, told me that if the bill becomes law, it could dramatically inhibit patients presenting for treatment and/or to discuss risky behavior of any kind. “It will only make it harder to get services. The stigma of AIDS is bad enough. Anything that increases stigma will make getting treatment harder. Patients may avoid coming in altogether,” Ms. Moul said.

The bill directly contradicts the approach to primary prevention of AIDS advocated by Dr. Green. Writing in a professional journal, Green summarized the principles in working with stigmatized groups, saying,

Working with marginalized, high-risk groups in any meaningful way involves accessing such people, gaining their trust and developing some level of sympathy for their plight. These groups are often looked down upon, perhaps despised, perhaps more openly in the tradition bound and/or religious societies in the less developed world.

Somehow what seems obvious to Green and Moul is not registering with Ssempa and supporters of the bill. Despite the draconian restrictions and requirements, the bill seems likely to pass due to support from religious leaders like Martin Ssempa. Ssempa told me, “This bill seeks to put Africa and Uganda to be custodians of values and family knowledge as handed down from our fathers and our faith.”

Policy makers in the US and elsewhere will need to confront this impulse. Adding D to ABC in Uganda will not reduce HIV/AIDS and may make matters worse. For the sake of human rights and a working AIDS policy, ABC is enough.

___________________________________________________

Warren Throckmorton, PhD is an associate professor of psychology at Grove City College and fellow for psychology and public policy with the Center for Vision & Values. He can be reached via his blog, http://www.wthrockmorton.com/.

This appeared on the website of the Independent.

At Uganda Talks we welcome guest blogs from our readers. Today, associate professor of psychology at Grove City (a Christian college in the U.S.), Warren Throckmorton, writes about Uganda’s anti-homosexuality bill.

Put down the stones

Christians believe that when Jesus was confronted by the religious leaders of His day, He had just the right response. However, I fear that many of my Ugandan brothers and sisters now doubt that Jesus was correct in His example. Let me explain.

In the 8th chapter of the Gospel of John, the Pharisees and teachers of the law brought a woman to Jesus for Him to judge.

They said, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” The woman expressed no repentance, no remorse; she was coerced to this degrading situation by the religious leaders who used her as a scapegoat and example.

Jesus did not speak but instead wrote in the dirt on the ground before He spoke. We don’t know what He wrote, but we do know what He said: “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

No one tossed so much as a pebble. They all walked away, leaving the woman untouched by the wrath of men. Rather, she had been touched by the mercy of her Benefactor.

Jesus asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, sir.” “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

We do not know whether or not she left her life of sin. The Bible does not say. However, we do know that Jesus prevented this woman from being stoned to death. She had sinned and was free to go.

Was Jesus wrong?

As I read the Anti-Homosexuality Bill proposed in Uganda by MPs David Bahati and Benson Obua, I wonder if perhaps these gentlemen think Jesus should have picked up a stone. Instead, Jesus intervened on behalf of the woman, was He wrong?

Clearly, He did not believe adultery was proper. But He signaled a new way of dealing with sin, one which emphasizes mercy and freedom, rather than coercion and death. People must choose to follow the teachings of Christ, not be coerced by Pharisees or government officials. The human heart cannot be changed by laws, but through the freely chosen grace of Christ.

Brothers and sisters, jailing or killing gays or those suspected of being gay or those who know gays cannot create a righteous people, and in fact may further a self-righteous people. One may disapprove of homosexuality, and still treat homosexuals as you would want to be treated. Who among us could stand if our private sins were judged in such a manner as the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009?

I urge my brethren in beautiful Uganda to follow the example of Jesus. Please, for the sake of Christ, put down your stones.