The One With The Law

Uganda has been in the world news quite a bit in the past several months because President Museveni has signed a bill into law outlawing homosexuality, and those found guilty of “aggravated homosexuality” (whatever that is) earn a life sentence in prison. Unfortunately, the law has seen the unprecedented support of Ugandans.

In a historical context, Uganda has never seen a peaceful transfer of power. As a citizen of a country who has seen peaceful transfer for over 200 years, that is hard for me to imagine. Museveni has been in power for more than 25 years with no indication of ever stepping down. In fact, he has said that it will take guns to remove him from office. Don’t get me wrong, Uganda does have democratic elections, but even Ugandans know that the elections are probably corrupt. When the bill was introduced, many Western nations who provide aid to Uganda balked and threatened to withdraw support. The law was so popular in Uganda, however, that Museveni’s choice became whether to please the people under his rule, or to deny his people hundreds of millions of dollars of aid money. We know what choice he made. He decided that his own power and popularity was worth millions of dollars of aid. Worse, it came at the expense of the persecution of an entire group of people.

I don’t want this blog to be about whether or not I agree with homosexuality or the legalization of gay marriage. I do believe that this law is cruel and unnecessary. The one thing I will say about homosexuality is that I believe Christians should place the emphasis where God places the emphasis. The Bible only mentions homosexuality three times (never once was it mentioned by Jesus), compared to the hundreds of times the Bible mentions pride, lying, deceit, self-love, and idolatry. The chief calling of Christians is love those who aren’t like them. To paraphrase Jesus, if you love those who are just like you, what good is that? Everyone in the world loves this way. That is the easy way, not the Christian way.

In my research and news reading, I've found that homosexuality is outlawed in all African nations, except South Africa. In the Sudan and Mauritania, the penalty is death. In Kenya, the penalty is life imprisonment, like Uganda, and many other nations include a prison sentence. So, my question is, why Uganda? According to the US State Department, all of these other countries still receive US aid money. So why is aid being removed from Uganda when all other nations outlaw homosexuality as well?  I don’t have the answer to this, but I thought I would make you aware of the situation in Africa.

Museveni has stood his ground, however, taking "screw your aid" response. It is worth noting that Uganda is 70% financially independent. So, they are experiencing a 30% loss. Honestly, not nearly as bad a cut as I thought. Still, only time will tell which NGOs (non-government organizations, or charities) will suffer in the next years due to this law.  

On a more humorous note, Uganda also tried to pass a law outlawing miniskirts. Thankfully, that one didn't pass but I found an awesome local store that carried this t-shirt. Yeah, I bought it.