We will be hearing more about the African nation of Uganda in the future than we ever thought we would-at least since they got rid of Idi Amin. That's because the Ugandan parliament has passed legislation making homosexuality a criminal offence punishable by life in prison. The country's president, Yoweri Museveni, an evangelical Christian in a country that is 84% Christian, has stated in signing the bill, that homosexuals "are disgusting". Thus, the news media is abuzz, and our government is rethinking our relationship with Uganda, a nation that has been important in combating extremist forces in the region.
I heartily concur that this is a shocking abuse of human rights, and the US would be correct to distance itself from any nation that would be so draconian in an area of personal freedom that we don't consider a crime to begin with. Foreign aid? That's a good place to start. Personally, I don't want our money going to any country with such practices.
At the same time, I would like to see our media and our government equally outspoken about the treatment of gays in other countries, such as Iran, where they are hanged. There are plenty of countries around the world where gays are severely persecuted. Uganda is a convenient target because they are predominantly Christian. If the US is going to stand up for gays around the world, which we should, let us be uniform in our indignation.
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It is an outstanding feature of the 21st century that conservatives are standing up for gays. Who'd a thunk it?
Of course in the days when conservatives persecuted gays, many conservatives WERE gay in private. Hey, where do you think those Ugandan Christians learned it from?
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