When Homosexuality Hits Home

"I was devastated by the news my son is gay. But God isn't finished with him—or me—yet."
Shirley A. Rorvik

I pulled off the deserted highway onto a side road and stopped the car. Punching open the car's moon roof, I tilted the seat back and gulped clean, cold air. After a long while, I sighed. Okay, Lord, I give up. What do you want me to do? Switching on the map light, I picked up Tim's letter. This time I heard his pain: "I feel alone. I'm so afraid of my family rejecting me. … You're still my mom, and I still love you. I always will."
I had to hear Tim's voice, so I drove back to my apartment and dialed his number. When Tim answered, tears flooded my eyes. I told him I loved him, no matter what. But, I said, homosexuality is a sin. "You're not alone, Tim. I'm here and Jesus is too. God loves you. Remember Romans 8:38-39? Nothing can separate you from God's love in Christ Jesus. But you must renounce this lifestyle."
Tim sobbed, unable to speak. After a few moments I said, "I'll call you tomorrow. I love you, Tim." Sorrow filled my heart as I hung up.
Over the next few weeks, we talked on the phone or through letters. I needed answers. "Tim, why? Was it the war? Did something happen over there? Or when you were little?"
Eventually, he opened up. "Remember the older boy in my third grade class? The bully?" Tim said. "Well, he cornered me one day after school--" his voice broke. "After that, he told everyone I was a fag. Nobody wanted to be around me."
He told me of a couple more childhood incidents when older boys had threatened or bribed him into cooperating with their sexual indulgences. Then came another shock.
"Did I ever tell you about the time Dad took me to a gay community in Massachusetts right before I joined the Marines?"
The phone turned to lead in my hand. "No," I whispered.
"It was a business trip. When the business was done, that's where we went, to a town on Cape Cod. It's a gay community." He paused. "Well, maybe you didn't know. You guys weren't divorced yet, but Dad had moved out."
As Tim described the incident, it became clear his father had been to this place before. My heart raced. "Did anything happen? I mean--"
"No, Mom, nothing happened. Dad wanted to go to this gay bar. He laughed and joked with these guys. I kept my eyes glued to the TV and didn't talk to anybody. I didn't know what to do. I just wanted to die." Bitterness laced his words. "I don't think I've ever come so close to hating him."
I recalled other business trips when Tim was nine or ten. At the time, I was pleased my husband was spending time with this younger son. Did something happen then? I tried to question Tim, but he refused to talk about it. He didn't remember. He thought he'd had a happy childhood. I let it go.
I pulled off the deserted highway onto a side road and stopped the car. Punching open the car's moon roof, I tilted the seat back and gulped clean, cold air. After a long while, I sighed. Okay, Lord, I give up. What do you want me to do? Switching on the map light, I picked up Tim's letter. This time I heard his pain: "I feel alone. I'm so afraid of my family rejecting me. … You're still my mom, and I still love you. I always will."
I had to hear Tim's voice, so I drove back to my apartment and dialed his number. When Tim answered, tears flooded my eyes. I told him I loved him, no matter what. But, I said, homosexuality is a sin. "You're not alone, Tim. I'm here and Jesus is too. God loves you. Remember Romans 8:38-39? Nothing can separate you from God's love in Christ Jesus. But you must renounce this lifestyle."
Tim sobbed, unable to speak. After a few moments I said, "I'll call you tomorrow. I love you, Tim." Sorrow filled my heart as I hung up.
Over the next few weeks, we talked on the phone or through letters. I needed answers. "Tim, why? Was it the war? Did something happen over there? Or when you were little?"
Eventually, he opened up. "Remember the older boy in my third grade class? The bully?" Tim said. "Well, he cornered me one day after school--" his voice broke. "After that, he told everyone I was a fag. Nobody wanted to be around me."
He told me of a couple more childhood incidents when older boys had threatened or bribed him into cooperating with their sexual indulgences. Then came another shock.
"Did I ever tell you about the time Dad took me to a gay community in Massachusetts right before I joined the Marines?"
The phone turned to lead in my hand. "No," I whispered.
"It was a business trip. When the business was done, that's where we went, to a town on Cape Cod. It's a gay community." He paused. "Well, maybe you didn't know. You guys weren't divorced yet, but Dad had moved out."
As Tim described the incident, it became clear his father had been to this place before. My heart raced. "Did anything happen? I mean--"
"No, Mom, nothing happened. Dad wanted to go to this gay bar. He laughed and joked with these guys. I kept my eyes glued to the TV and didn't talk to anybody. I didn't know what to do. I just wanted to die." Bitterness laced his words. "I don't think I've ever come so close to hating him."
I recalled other business trips when Tim was nine or ten. At the time, I was pleased my husband was spending time with this younger son. Did something happen then? I tried to question Tim, but he refused to talk about it. He didn't remember. He thought he'd had a happy childhood. I let it go.
As the weeks went by, I felt ashamed and afraid. My prayers seemed inadequate. Desperate, I called my dear friend Dory, a nurse. Her nonjudgmental, no-nonsense voice offered strength. She told me about Barbara Johnson's book, Where Does a Mother Go to Resign? I read it and called Barbara. This dynamic woman shared hope, encouragement, and the names of two other women in similar circumstances. I wasn't alone.
I learned about Exodus International, a worldwide Christian ministry dedicated to helping men and women who want to overcome homosexuality and turn to Christ. From Exodus, I received the names of two Christian men in San Diego who had renounced homosexuality and were available to counsel others. Excited, I called Tim with the good news, convinced he would grab this opportunity to be free from bondage. I was wrong. He said he wasn't in bondage. He didn't want to be free from homosexuality. He said he was born this way, and Jesus knew.
How could he be so deceived? From the beginning, I'd taught him about Jesus, whom he had invited into his life at the age of five.
Through the years, I'd had no inkling something was wrong. Did Tim ever hint at trouble? Did I really listen? Were there dark secrets in our household? I don't know.
After Tim's letter in 1992, I regarded my adult son as a victim. "They" had caught and trapped him. "They" were faceless, nameless, evil people. Homosexuals. Enemies.
But God wasn't finished with me yet. That spring, Tim brought a friend home—a homosexual. The enemy had arrived on my doorstep. I was tense but quickly realized Tim's friend was even more nervous. I sensed his fear of rejection. Mothering instincts surged, and my heart reached out to him. He wasn't an enemy—he was a wounded soul.
My quiet times with the Lord changed from selfish pain and anger to genuine grief for Tim and others like him. Satan blinds them to the truth and deceives them.
The change in my attitude toward homosexuals was tested in my workplace where some of my colleagues apparently are gay or bisexual; I no longer avoid them. They're real people, just like me. The Lord's softened my heart, and I've learned to hate the sin while I love, or at least care for, the sinner.
Tim often brings homosexual friends when he comes to visit me and my new husband, Chuck. He once told me, "You guys are living proof to my friends that heterosexual marriage can work." Perhaps he, too, is seeking proof—and hope—for himself.
When Chuck proposed a few years ago, I told him about Tim and about my commitment to the Lord to be available to Tim and his friends. Chuck regards Tim as his own son and together we've opened our home to these wounded souls, many of whom have been rejected by parents and siblings. Tim never asks to stay overnight when he has a companion. Their conduct is above reproach in our home. Often an arrogant attitude masks their pain, but it soon dissolves. Some of them jokingly call me Mom.
If the opportunity arrives to present the gospel, I do, usually in the form of my own testimony. This opens the door for them to express their views of Christianity. I hear anger. These young men say they've been rejected by their own churches and therefore, they imply, by God. They've turned their backs and buried themselves in resentment and fear.
How can we reach these hardened hearts? For me, evangelism begins with friendship. I am one small part of God's whole plan—perhaps I can plant one tiny seed, and the next one will plant the garden, and others will nourish it. As I write, Tim seems resigned to being homosexual, but he gives clues that he's not a practicing homosexual. It's a fine line of distinction, perhaps even a rationalization. Only God knows the heart (1 Kings 8:39). Jesus, Tim says, is his best friend. I believe him. But I also know Jesus is more than a friend—he is the Savior and Lord. God heard that five year old's prayer inviting Jesus into his life. Even if Tim has strayed away, God hasn't moved. He'll be there when Tim chooses to resist the devil and listen to the Holy Spirit.
My heart still hurts. My son's life is far from happy, his future uncertain. The New King James version of Psalms 56:8 says God puts my tears in his bottle. My hope rests with the Lord. "They will return from the land of the enemy [Satan] . …Your children will return to their own land" (Jer. 31:16-17). In the meantime, God has called me to pray for and love Tim, and to be available.
Shirley A. Rorvik is a freelance writer living in Montana.

BUNYORO MP SODOMISES TWO BOYS

A top Member of Parliament from western Uganda is today exposed as a shameless legislator who derives maximum pleasure from cheerfully drilling the bums of young boys, The Red Pepper can today reveal. The vertically challenged sex pest who represents a nomadic area in Parliament has of recent been mercilessly shafting his male employees at his plush Hotel -cum-dungeon.The big bellied MP, we can exclusively reveal, is accused by his employees of failure to pay their salaries on top of sexually abusing their bum territories in a harrowing Nazi-like sodomy style. The defenseless young boys are living in untold fear after the powerful and highly connected MP in the ruling party threatened to pull out his gun and smash their brains if they dared expose his sordid sex secrets.
“That’s when we threatened to expose his dishonesty and stinking character traits. But he said no one would stay alive if any of his horrible sex scandals leaked,” one of the boys who was sodomised confessed. It’s an intriguing story of a powerful legislator who takes advantage of the young boys’ misery to satisfy his raging libido. It’s a harrowing tale of a married man who leaves his lovely wife at home to romp with the boys.“We were forced randomly to perform oral sex with him and until we talked to one another and found out that he had done the same with all the rest,” wept one of the boys whose bum was shattered by the sex pest.It emerged that the boys worked for the MP for full three years and never received even a single penny. In what appears as one of the highest profile scandals set to rock the house, the guys narrated to us how the horny MP would force them to suck his 7.9 inch whopper and during the steamy orgy, he would moan like a hungry lion. “That MP has a sexy babe at home but his love for the boys’ bums is unquenchable. He has shafted the bums of all of his employees and forced them to do his whopper.
He is an ardent fan of blow-job,” noted a source. In their painful confessions, the devastated hunks note that the MP’s whopper is too huge to contain and when he’s shafting them, they feel wild fire in their bu-butts.
“The MP’s whopper is like an anaconda. It even got to my intestines. It was very very painful,” added one of the victims. We are told the MP has hundreds of lubricants he uses in his hot sadomasochist sessions and that they last for five to six hours.As we write, the devastated boys have already lodged their heartbreaking complaints to a church leader in Buliisa who has advised them to rush to police.The exposure of the lurid sodomy orgy invokes memories of a sexy waitress who was fired by a minister from Namboole Stadium after she refused to wash the elnino-soaked bed sheets after the high ranking government official enjoyed a sizzling romp with a water-logged prostitute.

Episcopal Church Opens Door for gay Clergy

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Episcopal Church voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to open the door to consecrate more bishops who are openly gay, a move that is likely to send shock waves throughout the Anglican Communion, the global network of churches to which the Episcopal Church belongs.
The Episcopal Church’s first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson, at the convention Monday.
By voting to affirm that “any ordained ministry” is open to gay men and lesbians, the Episcopal Church effectively ended what many regarded as a moratorium on ordaining gay bishops, which the church passed at its last convention three years ago.
The moratorium was adopted in what proved to be a largely unsuccessful effort to calm conservatives in the Anglican Communion, which has torn itself apart in the last six years since the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire elected the communion’s first and only openly gay bishop, Bishop V. Gene Robinson.
The battle over homosexuality in the Episcopal Church has been watched closely by other mainline Protestant churches. They are looking to the Episcopal Church as a bellwether that could foretell whether their denominations can survive the storm over homosexuality intact.
Many delegates to the church’s convention here characterized the action not as an overturning of the moratorium, but as simply an honest assertion of “who we are.” They note that the church, which claims about two million members, has hundreds of openly gay laypeople, priests and deacons, and that its democratic decision-making structures are charged with deciding who merits ordination.
“It’s not an attempt to fly in the face of the Anglican Communion,” said Bonnie Anderson, who as president of the House of Deputies, which represents laypeople and clergy members, is one of the church’s two top officers. “It’s an attempt to deepen relationships with the rest of the communion, because real relationships are built on authenticity.”
But some at the convention warned that the Episcopal Church could pay a price for snubbing its global partners.
The Rev. Shannon S. Johnston, coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Virginia, who will take office as bishop on Oct. 1, said in an interview that he voted against it because “I thought we would be seen as uncooperative and not a team player in the Anglican Communion.”
Zack Brown, a youth delegate from the Diocese of Upper South Carolina, begged the House of Deputies just before their final vote, “Please don’t vote in a way that makes more conservatives feel the way I do now: like I’m the only one left.”
The vote in the Houses of Bishops and Deputies was more than two-thirds in favor and one-third opposed or abstaining.
The House of Bishops also took up a measure that would create a liturgy to bless same-sex couples. Such blessings are already being done in many dioceses, without official sanction. “It is time for our church to be liberated from the hypocrisy under which it has been laboring,” Bishop Stacy Sauls of Lexington, Ky., told his fellow bishops on Tuesday.
The Episcopal Church acted despite a personal address at the start of the convention from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, who as head of the Church of England is considered “first among equals” among the communion’s archbishops. “Along with many in the communion,” the archbishop said, “I hope and pray that there won’t be decisions in the coming days that will push us further apart.”
The resolution passed Tuesday was written in a way that would allow dioceses to consider gay candidates to the episcopacy, but does not mandate that all dioceses do so. It also emphasizes that the Episcopal Church has “an abiding commitment” to the Anglican Communion.
It says that many gay men and lesbians are already ministering in the church and that “God has called and may call such individuals, to any ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church, and that God’s call to the ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church is a mystery which the church attempts to discern for all people through our discernment processes acting in accordance with the constitution and canons of the Episcopal Church.”
Pamela Reamer Williams, a spokeswoman for Integrity USA, an advocacy group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members of the church, said: “The church has stated very clearly that all levels of the ministry in the Episcopal Church are open to the L.G.B.T. baptized. It is a change in the sense that it supersedes the effective moratorium.”
Conservative provinces in the Anglican Communion, especially some in Africa, broke their ties with the Episcopal Church after it consecrated Bishop Robinson.
The moratorium adopted three years ago urged Episcopal dioceses to restrain from consecrating bishops whose “manner of life” posed a challenge to the rest of the Anglican Communion. In fact, a few openly gay candidates were considered for election in the last three years, but none won sufficient support, and the moratorium was never tested.
In the end, the moratorium pleased no one: neither conservatives who observed that some in the church did not really intend to abide by it, nor liberals who saw it as a codification of discrimination and injustice to gay clergy members who otherwise were qualified to be considered as bishops. The moratorium also did little to forestall the fracturing both within the Episcopal Church and in the Anglican Communion. Conservatives in both bodies have formed their own alliances in the last three years, asserting that they represent the true Anglican tradition.
In the United States, four dioceses — Fort Worth; Pittsburgh; Quincy, Ill.; and San Joaquin, Calif. — have voted to split from the Episcopal Church (although some parishes within those dioceses elected to remain).
Last year, they joined with other disaffected parishes and groups that had splintered from the Episcopal Church over many years to form the Anglican Church in North America. That group held its first convention, in Texas, last month. They claim 100,000 members.
The new group says that Scripture clearly prohibits homosexual relationships. Church liberals, meanwhile, insist that the Anglican tent is large enough to tolerate multiple approaches.
The debates at the convention in Anaheim over the last few days have made it clear that the liberals increasingly have the upper hand within the Episcopal Church. At a debate over whether to develop formal rites for same-sex weddings, 50 people testified in favor and 6 against.
“It’s a clean sweep for the liberal agenda in the Episcopal Church,” said David Virtue, editor of VirtueOnline.org, a conservative Web site. “The orthodox are finished.”

Tanzania: Activists Petition UN Over Violation of Gays' Rights

Human rights campaigners have filed a report with the United Nations, complaining against Tanzania's violation of the rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT) persons .

The report submitted this month to the Human Rights Committee of the UN, seeks to highlight the social and legal obstacles that hinder the freedom of the groups with this type of social relations.

The report was filed by three non-governmental organisations: the Centre for Human Rights Promotion in East Africa, International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, and the Global Rights.

Mr Julius Kyaruzi, coordinator of LGBTI support unit in Tanzania; Ms Monica Mbaru, Africa Programme coordinator for IGLHRC; and Mr Stefano Fabeni, director for LGBTI Initiative for Global Rights, were behind the effort.

They hoped the release of the report would raise their plight and inspire Government attention.

The three NGOs argue that Tanzania still maintained laws that invade their privacy and create inequality.

"They relegate people to inferior status because of how they look or who they love. They degrade people's dignity by declaring their most intimate feelings unnatural or illegal," read part of the report.

Because of the criminalisation and stigmatisation, they said careers and lives had been destroyed, while promotion of violence and impunity was the daily suffering by the LGBT that drive them underground to live in invisibility and fear.

Among many petitions, the three bodies are pushing for amendment of the Penal Code decriminalising private, consensual, adult same-sex sexual activity as well as reviewing the HIV and Aids (Prevention and Control) Act, 2008, to provide "access to HIV preventive information and services"to LGBT.

However reached for comment, a spokesperson in the office of the Attorney General, Mr Omega Ngole, who admitted seeing the report, said the country's laws were meant to protect the right of all and safeguard their integrity.

And a section of religious leaders and the Centre for Human Rights, expressed mixed reactions on the report.

Auxiliary Bishop Method Kilaini of the Dar es Salaam Roman Catholic Archdiocese said lesbians and gays habits were unlawful and harmful to the society and that the practices should not be tolerated.

"A man should marry a woman and the two shall form a family, so says the Bible," stressed Bishop Kilaini. However, he said gays and lesbians were part of the community, and should be treated like any other people.

Mr Muhidin Hassan, head of Pilgrimage Department at the National Muslim Council of Tanzania (Bakwata), strongly opposed the presence of such groups of people in society.

But favoured the idea of extending HIV preventive information and services to such groups. Mr Francis Kiwanga of the Legal and Human Rights Centre, stressed that every person had the right to privacy as stipulated in the country's Constitution.

He said such people should be allowed to enjoy their freedom and the right of association.

Ssempa praises Red Pepper at Journalism Symposium

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The acclaimed anti-sodomy activist Pastor Martin Ssempa hailed the Red Pepper on Tuesday evening for its continuous exposure of evils in society. He hailed the mighty tabloid for being the whistleblower. He narrated how he escaped prison by a whisker because of the media exposure on the sodomy case which prompted the president to issue a statement.Ssempa also praised the only paper that talks sense for their balanced coverage on the IGG saga saying corruption would thrive after IGG Justice Faith Mwondha’s fall. He made the remarks while presenting a paper at a journalism symposium held at Imperial Royale Hotel. The man of God also praised the paper for making reforms that have improved the content run in the print media in Uganda. He noted that the lack of a firewall to crosscheck what the public consumes is lacking. He likened the clergy to the media because they are both trusted, believed though not well paid.

He said in each group like in other professions there are ‘ghosts’ so instead of criticizing the whole group, there is need for the emergence of ‘ghost busters’ to ensure authenticity. The Journalism Symposium was part of the 20 years’ celebrations of Mass Communication Department of Makerere University. This Saturday there will be a Walk from the Freedom Square, Makerere to Railway Grounds. The climax of the celebrations will be on Sunday when a Gala dinner will be held at the Serena Hotel and the First Lady, Janet Kataha Museveni is expected to be the chief guest. Tickets are on sale at Shs75,000 while the corporate table will be at Shs1m.

Boy, 12, Accuses Football Coach Of Bum-shafting Him

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A twelve year old boy has pinned his football coach for having ruthlessly shafted his bums in a Banana plantation.Yiga Suleiman a Primary six pupil at Universal Junior School tearfully revealed this sad story to the Red Pepper yesterday.He said insensitive Joseph Sempijja a football coach at Mess football club, in Nsambya humbly requested him to carry his luggage and accompany him promising to pay Shs3000. “As we reached a banana plantation he turned monstrous ordering me to remove my pair of shorts. When I resisted, he boxed and threw me down. He tore my shorts and inserted his mega gologo into my tinny bum,” the tearful Yiga revealed, as his mother who could hardly control her own tears soothed him. He added that when he tried to make an alarm, the heartless lumpen gagged his mouth. After painful monstrous act, shameless Sempijja told Yiga to always go for another round if he wanted to become the team’s captain.

He promised to introduce me to whites who would buy me a sports bike if I carried on with the societal vice.
Yiga said the act was so painful but the wicked coach sternly warned him not to tell any one. “I tried to keep it a secret for a few days but the pain forced me to tell my mother Aisha Nasozi. I had developed bloody diarrhoea plus some bruises in the butt,” he said. He was taken to Malcolm health centre in Kibuye along Entebbe road. Nasozi said she was forced to change to another clinic because the wounds failed to heal. She later reported the case to Kibuye Police and the suspect was arrested. Sempijja is facing charges of bum-shafting a minor.

Pastors silent on corruption, Loud against Homosexuality

In November, 1999, President Museveni ordered the police to arrest homosexuals after it was alleged that two gay men had wedded in a Kampala suburb. Religious leaders welcomed the president’s directive, insisting that homosexuality is not only against the biblical teachings but it goes against African culture and the laws of nature. But gay activists hit back saying that this precedent would worsen discrimination against them as a community.

The anti-gay group assemble at Kampala Central Police recently in a demonstration against homosexuality .  INDEPENDENT/ JIMMY SIYA

Homophobia is widespread in Africa as homosexuality is considered immoral, inhuman and unnatural in African culture. But many gays and their activists argue that homosexuality is a lifestyle that needs to be respected.

For the last few weeks, local media have carried stories of Pastor Robert Kayanja of Rubaga Miracle Centre accusing him of sodomising seven young men from his congregation. Among those accusing Kayanja of sodomy include Samson Mukisa, James Ntwatwa, Ronny Mutebi, David Mukalazi, Akansiime and Robinson Matovu. They all claim the incident happened while they served in his church. Police are investigating the matter.

Anti-gay activists claim that homosexuality is a dysfunctional lifestyle. They argue that that if it were so, then gays would not be actively recruiting people into it. Media have lately been reporting claims by anti gay activists that homosexuals are deliberately recruiting people to become gay, especially vulnerable members of society. But gays have since denied these claims.

There exists so much hate for homosexuality in Uganda and it is being crusaded mainly by religious leaders. For example many homosexuals operate secretly and even those sodomised fear to speak out because of social stigmatisation. So, on 9th June when the rest of Ugandans were celebrating the Heroes’ day, Pentecostal pastors united against sodomy. They say that victims of homosexuality who have decided to come out publicly to fight the vice by pinning their alleged abusers are the real heroes. Pastors Solomon Male, Martin Sempa and Michael Kyazze organized the parallel function. Ironically those accused of sodomy are said to be some of the leaders of the church flock.

Frank Mugisha, chairperson of Sexual Minorities in Uganda (SMUG), accuses the anti-gay pastors of contradicting the teachings of Christianity that call for embracing all people. He said the church is supposed to be a place of worship and welcoming to diversity. “The anti gay pastors have used a wrong platform to fight homosexuality. They are silently pushing away Christians who have been struggling with their sexual orientation, and making us question the teachings of the church.”

He argues that the pastors’ stance promotes hate towards homosexuals. He adds that is unfortunate to see people who call themselves men and women of God “abuse humanity by promoting homophobia, yet they know the dangers of their actions. I always say those who know will be asked more at judgment day. The pastors know these things, they know people are born gay, unless they have no faith and are here to uphold values we do not understand. But in true Christianity they should be embracing gay people who are a minority and vulnerable to larger society just like Christ did,” Mugisha told The Independent.

ACCUSED: Robert Kayanja

The pastors who are anti-gay say they are not fighting Kayanja as a person but the vice of homosexuality he is accused of promoting. They are now demanding for his resignation as leader of the Rubaga Miracle Centre to pave way for investigations.

“We are fighting homosexuality not Kayanja. Alex Mitala as head of the Pentecostal churches should ask him to temporarily step down as this is a universal standard done all over the world when such cases arise,” said Martin Sempa.

Following a few days of interrogation of the said sodomy victims, the police CID boss, Edward Ochom, announced in a press conference that Kayanja had no case to answer. The move surprised many. Instead, he turned tables on the five pastors and the seven alleged victims of homosexuality accusing them of framing Kayanja. Since then speculation of bribery and intimidation are rife. Pastor Kayanja enjoys a close relationship with State House. He is known for his charitable work in renovating police barracks. Sometime back Kayanja renovated the Old Kampala police station and recently offered to renovate the police CID headquarters in Kibuli. But his philanthropic offer to the police has come to scrutiny with some members of society opposing it arguing it might compromise the police in their investigations.

These pastors have since written to minister of Ethics and Integrity and the Inspector General of Police about their petition. They ask government to set up an independent commission of inquiry into sodomy allegations in the church claiming that the police have been compromised by Kayanja. “We are hurt that people who come out to speak against abuse of young people, children are instead harassed. Every right thinking member of society should stand up and condemn this vice,” notes Male.

President Museveni, through his press secretary, Tamale Mirundi, issued a stern warning regarding the way police was handling the investigations on the sodomy case involving Kayanja. He directed a separate inquiry into reports that some State House and other government officials are interfering with the investigations in favour of Kayanja. During the recently concluded Fire Conference organized by Kayanja, President Museveni, a close associate never attended. The savedees constitute a large support base for the NRM party when it comes to elections.

The five pastors are happy with the president’s directive but still insist on instituting an independent commission of inquiry into the matter since they doubt the competence of police to deliver thorough investigations. “Pentecostal leaders should not fear to come out loud and fight the evil spirit of homosexuality,” said Sempa, adding that, “you say you exorcise spirits but when it comes to homosexuality in church you are silent.” Some churches are sponsored by gay groups like the Other Sheep, a Christian gay organization.

It is hard to estimate the exact number of homosexuals in Uganda since they operate in secrecy partly because Ugandan laws criminalize it and strong society opposition to the practice. But Mugisha said some studies show that at least 3% of the adult Ugandans are homosexuals. The number is said to be rising and a few brave ones have come out in public to represent this community like in August 2007.

AGAINST: Martin Sempa.

But analysts question the basis of pointing accusing fingers on one sin in society and remain silent about others such as corruption, robbery, murder, envy, fornication, issues of governance and democracy, rigging of elections, dictatorship, torture in safe houses, and extra judicial killings yet these are also salient matters affecting society today.

They are wondering why the anti-gay activists especially the pastors have not come out to speak strongly against these vices especially corruption. In fact, it is emerging that some parents, who catch their children being molested by gays, opt for money from the offender instead of reporting the matter to police. But Pr Male argues that one first cleans their house before telling how dirty their neighbour’s house is.

“Sanity and sanctity in the church is important first. Politicians will ask us where you get the moral authority to speak against corruption when the church itself is filled with filth,” Male told The Independent.

There is an ongoing debate that people are born gay and so it is their sexual orientation. This is a view held by many gays. Some people argue one is born gay and link this to the scientific theory of evolution and claim that is why the vice has not been wiped out. “People are born gay,” says Mugisha, but adds there is a difference in their sexual orientation. Some are gays (males who are attracted to males), lesbians (females attracted to females), bisexuals (people who have sexual feelings for people of their own sex or opposite sex), and transgender (for example if a person is born male but inside he feels like a woman). Transgender people are not necessarily homosexuals.

Although it is not definitely known how and why people become gay, various reasons attempt to explain this. Mugisha stated that there is a genetic factor in homosexuality in addition to the environment and one’s upbringing.

“We know that homosexuality occurs through all the cultures of man. It also occurs amongst other animals and birds. We do not know why it occurs but we know that homosexuality is part of humanity,” he admits. Mugisha says also there are people who involve in same sexual acts as a source of income just like heterosexuals; “commercial sex workers”.

Dr Joseph Haumba, a lecturer at Makerere University’s Department of Biochemistry, told The Independent that the debate that there exist gay genes poses a challenge because of differing views. He says it hard to say that gene exists. But notes that the evolution theory would support existence of gay genes as it posits that things go on advancing so gay relationships would be taken as a high level of human evolution. However, Dr Haumba contends that “if we start interpreting everything genetically we would have problems. We would get a situation where thieves and drug addicts claiming they have narcotic or theft genes meaning that we would be disarmed in fighting the vices.” He goes on to say: “We have never seen children born to gay couples. They adopt implying their relationship is not viable for bearing unless they procreate. They orient those children into homosexuality yet genes are passed on by parents to off-springs.”

The opposition and contradictions to understand homosexuality are not new. In 1800s, psychiatrists treated homosexuality as a mental disorder. But by 1960s their opinions were divided. In 1973, the American Association of psychiatrists and psychologists removed homosexuality from the Diagnostic Statistical Manual 4 (DSM4) arguing that there was evidence that it was not a disease as the medicine never worked.

Homosexuality is said to be widely spreading in the country and rumours of deliberate recruitment are rampant. Schools, prisons and even in churches are the most targeted. “We need to fight it,” says Sempa, an anti-gay activist.

“If the homosexuals could restrict their practice to consenting adults, then maybe society would not be so angry,” said one commentator adding that “because that is not as bad as pouncing on young innocent fellows and destroying their lives.”

In places like hotels, bars and nightclubs, gays will be found curdling freely.

“Where shall we turn given that our children are now at the focus of gays?” Charles Ssemakula, a parent working with Centenary Bank, lamented. Homosexuality is a criminal offence in Uganda and is punishable by life imprisonment. The offenders may be charged under unnatural offences in section 140 of the penal code.

George Oundo, who claims to have been a homosexual and now turned an anti-gay activist, alleges gay activities are funded by the same donors funding the government. This was corroborated by Mugisha. He told The Independent that. “Our projects are funded by the very donors who fund, all other humanitarian, health, government institutes and civil society organizations in Uganda.”

He claims he was recruited into homosexuality at the age of 12 and recently abandoned the vice when he was 27 because he wants people not to go through the pain he experienced.

Mugisha says the state “sponsored” homophobia is not going to change homosexuals. “However, it is making us vulnerable to society and increases hate crimes towards vulnerable minorities, as well as limiting resources and programs to HIV/AIDS intervention and protection therefore making us the most at most risky to HIV/AIDS”.

Sodomy, school fires blamed on drug abuse

By Charles Ariko

THE increasing cases of homosexuality and fire outbreaks in schools have been attributed to drugs and alcohol abuse.

Robert Ojaba, the deputy head of the Anti-Narcotics Unit in the Criminal Investigations Directorate, has said many students are lured into taking drugs and alcohol which lead them to deviant behaviours such as homosexuality.

“Schools have become targets for the drug barons. Once students are lured into drugs, they get hooked and are used as couriers. These students are normally lured with promises of money,” Ojaba said.

He was speaking at the commemoration of the International Day against Illicit Drug Trafficking at Mulago Community Centre in Kampala.

The ceremony was organised by the Prevention of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, HIV/AIDS in Uganda.

Ojaba explained that because Uganda is one of the countries through which dangerous drugs, such as cocaine and heroin are trafficked, some of the drugs find their way into society, posing a high risk to the people, especially the youth.

“Our laws are not stringent. The highest a culprit can pay in fines once convicted by court is not more than sh2m.

Some of these traffickers smuggle drugs worth billions of shillings. That is why we have made proposals in a new Bill to have more stringent laws,” Ojaba said.

He added that marijuana was the most widely abused drug in the country.

Dr. David Basangwa, the acting executive director of Butabika Hospital, said the number of patients with alcohol-related mental illnesses was on the increase.

Basangwa said there were 150 patients at Butabika Hospital with alcohol and drug-related mental illnesses.

He urged the people to desist from abusing alcohol and drugs.

Report on suspected gay men arrested in Mbale- Uganda

Mbale report



Mbale is a district in the Eastern part of Uganda.  On 5th April, 2009.

Fred Wasukira aka Nabooza Margate  - Transgender man  and Brian Mpadde,

both residents of  Mbale district , were arrested, at the residence of

Fred Wasukira by the local councils and the police of  Namakwekwe village

in Mbale district Uganda. The two were arrested for being suspected to be

homosexuals.

The two were taken to, Kampala road police station, where they stayed for

one night, thereafter transferring them to Mbale police station.



After 11 days and nights locked up in the cells of Mbale police station

they were taken to court on the 17th of April, they appeared before grade

1 magistrate, Stella Apinyu, and were charged with carnal knowledge

against the
order of nature. An offense which carries a jail sentence of

life imprisonment if convicted. The two pleaded not guilty to this

offense. Case was referred to the chief magistrate for hearing, and the

two were remanded at Maluke prison in Mbale, until the 21st  April , 2009.



They appeared in court on the 21st April, 2009 , case was mentioned and

their remand was extended to 4th May 2009. On 4th May, 2009, chief

magistrate agreed to grant the two court bail, however the two did not

have substantial securities, the remand was extended to 20th May, 2009.

On 20th May,2009. Sexual Minorities Uganda – SMUG, organized legal aid and

court bail for the two, however it was difficult to process substantial

documents for Brian Mpadde because his family was uncooperative, who have

also disowned their son. SMUG was able to process court bail for Fred

Wasukira. Brian’s remand was extended to 4th June, 2009.  On 4th
June,

2009, the chief magistrate was not in court, case was mentioned and the

two were told to reappear in court on 10th   June, 2009.  On 10th and 11th

June, 2009, Brian was denied court bail the chief magistrate was not

satisfied with the securities, the remand was extended to 16th June 2009.

On 16th June, 200 9. SMUG successfully, arranged for the court bail of

Brian Mpadde and he was granted court bail. At court on 16th, the police

surgeon brought a medical report according to the examination he had

carried out on the two while in police custody. He claimed he had been

asked to carry out the medical examination on the  bodies of Brian and

Fred to find out whether they had scars. His report concluded that they

had pierced ear lobes, they had a sexually transmitted disease -

gonorrhea, and were mentally stable, HIV negative and that he recommends

them for treatment.



Brian and Fred will report back to court
on the 29th July, 2009, for court

hearing. SMUG is monitoring the two, as they receive psycho – social

support.



SMUG has been following up this case; find attached a full narrative case

study.  The two men’s rights were violated: invasion of privacy,

being detained in Police custody over the maximum period of time of

48hours as stipulated in the constitution of the Republic of Uganda.

Subjected to torture, degrade and in human ill treatment while in police

and prison custody on suspect of being homosexuals. SMUG has reported

these violations to the Uganda Human Rights commission and we await the

follow up.

Indian court rules gay sex legal

Elizabeth Roche

July 2, 2009

New Delhi's highest court issued a landmark ruling Thursday that decriminalised gay sex between consenting adults in India by declaring a colonial-era ban on homosexuality unconstitutional.

The decision by the Delhi High Court was hailed by gay activists here as a historic step in their struggle to achieve equal rights in a conservative society that largely regards homosexuality as a taboo illness.

The court ruled that the existing ban on homosexual acts was discriminatory and therefore a violation of individual rights guaranteed by the constitution.

Homosexuality has been illegal in India since 1860 under a statute introduced by British colonial rulers that banned "carnal intercourse against the order of nature." Conviction carried a fine and maximum 10-year jail sentence.

Although prosecutions were rare, gay activists said police used the law to harass and intimidate members of their community.

"We are all very thrilled and happy," said Anjali Gopalan, executive director of the Naz Foundation, a gay advocacy group that had petitioned the court to overturn the statute.

"This is just the beginning. The battle will continue till every member of this community gets all the rights that an ordinary citizen has," Gopalan told reporters.

While the ruling is non-binding outside the Indian capital, it effectively leaves the government with the choice of appealing to the Supreme Court or repealing the law nationwide.

The decision was criticised by religious groups, particularly leaders of India's Muslim and Christian communities who had staunchly opposed the move to legalise gay sex.

"This is absolutely wrong," Ahmed Bukhari, imam at the Jama Masjid in Delhi, India's largest mosque.

"We will not accept any such law," Bukhari said.

Father Babu Joseph, spokesman for the Catholic Bishops Conference of India, said the court's decision would make no difference to the Church's stand.

"While respecting the judgement of the court, we still hold that homosexuality is not an acceptable behaviour in society," he said.

In recent years, India's largely closeted homosexual community has raised its profile, organising gay pride marches in major cities such as New Delhi and Mumbai.

"I feel very proud to be an Indian today," said openly gay fashion designer Wendell Rodericks.

The Indian government has offered mixed messages on the issue, with some ministers speaking out in favour of the petition, only to be contradicted by others in the cabinet.

Law Minister Veerappa Moily declined to offer any immediate comment on Thursday's ruling, telling reporters at parliament that he needed to study the text properly.

Ashok Row Kavi, a prominent gay rights campaigner since the 1970s, told AFP from Bangkok, where he was attending a UN AIDS conference, that the court's decision opened a new era.

"I will return to India as a free gay man ... free from extortion, violence and blackmail from the police, free from discrimination and free to access all health services," Kavi said.

The UN AIDS agency had supported the petition arguing that decriminalising homosexuality would help India combat the spread of HIV/AIDS.

India has an estimated 2.5 million people living with HIV.

New York-based Human Rights Watch also welcomed the ruling, saying it was overdue.

"This legal remnant of British colonialism has been used to deprive people of their basic rights for too long," said Scott Long, director of the watchdog's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program.

"This long-awaited decision testifies to the reach of democracy and rights in India," Long said.

Bollywood actress and gay rights campaigner Celina Jaitley said the ruling was historic.

"I'm overwhelmed," Jaitley told AFP in Mumbai.

"It's great not to be criminalised for being a human being and what you do in your bedroom," she added.