Now then...
They have gone and done it. The journalists of the world have, in a gross and deceptive conspiracy, decided to mis-characterize Uganda's new Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2014 as a law that punishes people for "being gay." (The law was previously referred to commonly as the "Kill the Gays" law, but a limited provision for capital punishment was removed before passage). Now, punishments can range from several years in the slammer (rather an ironic punishment, that) up to life imprisonment, but such sentences are reserved for actors who are HIV-positive, parents or authority figures, people assaulting minors, and so forth.
The promulgation of this obvious falsehood is designed to promote animosity and ill-feelings toward Uganda, whose current law is - like it or not - pretty much similar to other sub-Saharan countries and other Islamic countries with respect to acts of homosexual sodomy. In short, it's seriously against the law. You'll go to jail if caught engaging in the common forms of homosexual intercourse. Kinda like it was here in the U.S. a few generations ago.
But of course there is no penalty for "being gay," which is an entirely personal and private matter. Indeed, even under the current, harsher law, it would be possible for one to go through an entire life lusting after every man in the country (i.e., being gay), as long as you don't have anal or oral intercourse with them.
It is also possible to be a pedophile without punishment, as long as you don't act on your inclinations. And it is possible to lust after married women (or men), too, with nothing to fear from the Ugandan government. Or to really, really, really want to kill some one. As long as you don't act on it.
To equate "being gay" with committing acts of homosexual sodomy is a false equivalence indeed.
From Wikipedia: "According to human rights organisations, at least 500,000 gay people live in Uganda out of a total population of 31 million, though the government of Uganda contests that number as inflated." By my calculator, that's about 1.6% of the population - about the same as in the U.S., although one would never know it from the hubbub about such issues.
The Ugandan law even provides that if you leave the country and bugger someone elsewhere, you can be drug back to Uganda and prosecuted. These people are serious.
So if you are in the unfortunate position of being gay in Uganda, you can (a) remain celibate, (b) convert, (c) absquatulate - and renounce your citizenship, or (d) choose your friends very carefully and do your business in private. Just like in almost every other Islamic country.
One wonders if this little experiment will reinforce the premise that punishment is a deterrent to crime. I wonder how many people are actually prosecuted under these laws.
They have gone and done it. The journalists of the world have, in a gross and deceptive conspiracy, decided to mis-characterize Uganda's new Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2014 as a law that punishes people for "being gay." (The law was previously referred to commonly as the "Kill the Gays" law, but a limited provision for capital punishment was removed before passage). Now, punishments can range from several years in the slammer (rather an ironic punishment, that) up to life imprisonment, but such sentences are reserved for actors who are HIV-positive, parents or authority figures, people assaulting minors, and so forth.
The promulgation of this obvious falsehood is designed to promote animosity and ill-feelings toward Uganda, whose current law is - like it or not - pretty much similar to other sub-Saharan countries and other Islamic countries with respect to acts of homosexual sodomy. In short, it's seriously against the law. You'll go to jail if caught engaging in the common forms of homosexual intercourse. Kinda like it was here in the U.S. a few generations ago.
But of course there is no penalty for "being gay," which is an entirely personal and private matter. Indeed, even under the current, harsher law, it would be possible for one to go through an entire life lusting after every man in the country (i.e., being gay), as long as you don't have anal or oral intercourse with them.
It is also possible to be a pedophile without punishment, as long as you don't act on your inclinations. And it is possible to lust after married women (or men), too, with nothing to fear from the Ugandan government. Or to really, really, really want to kill some one. As long as you don't act on it.
To equate "being gay" with committing acts of homosexual sodomy is a false equivalence indeed.
From Wikipedia: "According to human rights organisations, at least 500,000 gay people live in Uganda out of a total population of 31 million, though the government of Uganda contests that number as inflated." By my calculator, that's about 1.6% of the population - about the same as in the U.S., although one would never know it from the hubbub about such issues.
The Ugandan law even provides that if you leave the country and bugger someone elsewhere, you can be drug back to Uganda and prosecuted. These people are serious.
So if you are in the unfortunate position of being gay in Uganda, you can (a) remain celibate, (b) convert, (c) absquatulate - and renounce your citizenship, or (d) choose your friends very carefully and do your business in private. Just like in almost every other Islamic country.
One wonders if this little experiment will reinforce the premise that punishment is a deterrent to crime. I wonder how many people are actually prosecuted under these laws.
