Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
The New York Times had a story on Monday about the role a group of American anti-gay evangelists played in spurring on the anti-gay legislation in Uganda that has gotten so much attention. The organizers of a conference that brought three of them to Uganda to rail against the evils of homosexuality and how easy it was to stop being gay helped write that bill.
Last March, three American evangelical Christians, whose teachings about "curing" homosexuals have been widely discredited in the United States, arrived here in Uganda's capital to give a series of talks.The theme of the event, according to Stephen Langa, its Ugandan organizer, was "the gay agenda -- that whole hidden and dark agenda" -- and the threat homosexuals posed to Bible-based values and the traditional African family.
For three days, according to participants and audio recordings, thousands of Ugandans, including police officers, teachers and national politicians, listened raptly to the Americans, who were presented as experts on homosexuality. The visitors discussed how to make gay people straight, how gay men often sodomized teenage boys and how "the gay movement is an evil institution" whose goal is "to defeat the marriage-based society and replace it with a culture of sexual promiscuity."
One month later, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009 was submitted in the Ugandan legislature by an obscure legislator who brags openly about his evangelical friends in the American government (he's a member of The Family, unsurprisingly). This has the same men who went to Uganda to rail against homosexuality on the defensive, trying to distance themselves from the fallout.
The three Americans who spoke at the conference -- Scott Lively, a missionary who has written several books against homosexuality, including "7 Steps to Recruit-Proof Your Child"; Caleb Lee Brundidge, a self-described former gay man who leads "healing seminars"; and Don Schmierer, a board member of Exodus International, whose mission is "mobilizing the body of Christ to minister grace and truth to a world impacted by homosexuality" -- are now trying to distance themselves from the bill."I feel duped," Mr. Schmierer said, arguing that he had been invited to speak on "parenting skills" for families with gay children. He acknowledged telling audiences how homosexuals could be converted into heterosexuals, but he said he had no idea some Ugandans were contemplating the death penalty for homosexuality.
"That's horrible, absolutely horrible," he said. "Some of the nicest people I have ever met are gay people."
Mr. Lively and Mr. Brundidge have made similar remarks in interviews or statements issued by their organizations. But the Ugandan organizers of the conference admit helping draft the bill, and Mr. Lively has acknowledged meeting with Ugandan lawmakers to discuss it. He even wrote on his blog in March that someone had likened their campaign to "a nuclear bomb against the gay agenda in Uganda." Later, when confronted with criticism, Mr. Lively said he was very disappointed that the legislation was so harsh.
But Lively, at least, is a guy who spews the most vile rhetoric imaginable about gays and lesbians. He doesn't just claim that homosexuality is wrong or that homosexuals can pray away the gay, he says they're part of a Satanic plot to destroy the world. Given such rhetoric, is it really any surprise that people take it seriously enough to seek to criminalize it and impose harsh penalties? Here's a sample of Lively's insane rhetoric:
There is a war that is going on in the world. There is a war that is waging across the entire face of the globe. It's been waging in the United States for decades, and it's been waging in Europe for decades. It's a war between Christians and homosexuals.This is a war you haven't seen yet. You've only seen a little bit of it, because Russia had been protected against the homosexual movement by the Communists. One of the few good things that the Soviet Union did is that it stopped the sexual revolution from infecting the Russian people. But all across the West, the sexual revolution changed the culture of the nations. The sexual revolution embraces the idea that there should be no limits on sexual conduct.
And this is the design of the Devil to destroy civilization, because civilization is based on the natural family. One man and one woman united in marriage bringing children into the world and training them to replace them in the next generation. That's the foundation of civilization and the heart of Christian living.
And as Jim Burroway points out, it was Lively who suggested to the Ugandans that they should continue to criminalize homosexuality but instead of putting gays in prison, they should put them into forced "therapy."
Lively, by the way, is the same nutcase who wrote a book claiming that the Nazi holocaust was actually caused by gays. Seriously.
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There is a lot of scrambling going on, which means a lot of lying. For example, Scott Lively is claiming that the death penalty in Uganda's proposed law was only for "aggravated homosexuality", which they defined as pedophilia, deliberately giving someone AIDS, and similar horrific acts. The reality is much, much uglier.
Posted by: xebecs | January 5, 2010 10:38 AM
Posted by: Modusoperandi | January 5, 2010 10:55 AM
The proposed legislation also provide prison sentences for failing to report a known homosexual (even if a family member) to the police and for landlords renting to homosexuals. This will be the start of a wholesale witch hunt. It could lead to great danger for individuals who are being routed out by their neighbors, landlords, employers, clergy and even siblings. It will also mean that those of currently doing development work in Uganda may not be able to continue least we put our Ugandan partners at risk of prosecution for associating with us.
Posted by: Holly Ladd | January 5, 2010 11:03 AM
When you are the author of a book called The Pink Swastika, you don't get to plead moderation. The Kool-Aid has already been well drunk by that point.
Posted by: James Sweet | January 5, 2010 11:27 AM
I'm guessing there is a catholic priest in Lively's past or a closet in Lively's present. What a tool.
Posted by: MikeMa | January 5, 2010 12:07 PM
Scott Lively on criminalization of homosexuality and compulsory therapy
http://wthrockmorton.com/2009/03/13/brief-post-scott-lively-on-criminlization-of-homosexuality-and-compulsory-therapy/
Posted by: Owen | January 5, 2010 12:25 PM
And, incidentally, against the Christian movement too.
Posted by: konrad_arflane | January 5, 2010 12:26 PM
At least when comfortable Americans Christians scream "Persecution" we can point to real persecution.
Posted by: Blue Nine | January 5, 2010 2:50 PM
James: How about if he renamed the book "The Fabulous Pink Swastika?" And what color was the kool-aid?
Posted by: Raging Bee | January 5, 2010 3:47 PM
This disingenuous and incomplete article (click my name for link) appeared in today's local paper. Comments by "harv1" underneath are helpful in filling the gaps.
Posted by: diakron | January 5, 2010 4:33 PM
Rachel Maddow has been covering this issue on her MSNBC show for about a month now.
Posted by: Alan | January 5, 2010 6:04 PM
Well, when you consider that Heinrich Himmler was gay, there is a small amount of truth there, but I don't think we're going to be able to apply his attitude to gays in general.
Posted by: Dave | January 5, 2010 6:12 PM
@Dave | January 5, 2010 6:12 PM
Fuck off.
Posted by: Owen | January 5, 2010 7:07 PM
Posted by: llewelly | January 5, 2010 7:09 PM
So what you're saying is that, now, he'd be a Republican?
Posted by: Modusoperandi | January 5, 2010 7:50 PM
http://frank.mtsu.edu/~baustin/homobg.html
The above explains the Nazi regime's treatment of gays. They were one of the targets for extermination and specifically singled out by Himmler as such. BTW, Himmler had a wife AND a mistress. If he was gay, not only was he self-hating, but he was also extremely and effectively closeted. For Lively et al to blame the Holocaust on gays is loathsome. And Dave, how about a little research before shooting off your mouth as you did?
I'm glad these scumbags are squirming. It's only a tiny bit of what they deserve.
Posted by: T. Bruce McNeely | January 5, 2010 8:09 PM
Well, they blame gays for the holocaust...which included gays as victims, and they blame Darwin for the Nazis...who banned Darwin. I can only conclude from this that Hitler was sneaky.
Posted by: Modusoperandi | January 5, 2010 8:15 PM
On the last Sunday before Christmas, after mass I took my children down to the nearest beach. After they had finished playing, I took one of them up to the toilet block to wash the sand off her feet before getting in the car.
Inside the toilet block were two middle-aged white men rogering an aboriginal teenager.
Its vile and disgusting and I'm with Uganda on this one.
Posted by: Vince Whirlwind | January 5, 2010 8:24 PM
Why yes, Mr. Whirlwind! Just the other day, I took my kids to the drive-in movies and right in the next car was a young guy and his girlfriend steaming up the windows!
Damn heterosexuals - kill 'em all!!!
Posted by: T. Bruce McNeely | January 5, 2010 8:45 PM
Also known as a Republican congressional junket.
Posted by: Dr X | January 5, 2010 9:06 PM
Vince, we should meet sometime, so you can tell me to my face I deserve to die for what some people who happen to be gay were doing on your beach.
Posted by: paul | January 6, 2010 12:09 AM
Just fyi -- we wrote a column yesterday about the battle for gay rights in Uganda and Malawi on our website Border Jumpers called "Human Rights Battle in Uganda Hits Close to Home" at www.borderjumpers.org.
Here it is @ http://borderjumpers1.blogspot.com/2010/01/human-rights-battle-in-uganda-hits.html
Uganda, like most of the countries in Africa, is full of contradictions.
While everyone we met in Uganda was friendly and helpful, going out of their way to assist us when we needed directions, a Wifi hotspot, or a place to find vegetarian food, the country also has some of the most restrictive laws against human rights on the continent. While we were there, the "Bahati Bill" was introduced in parliament. The Bahati called for life in prison -- and in some case the death penalty -- for people found “guilty” of homosexual activity.
As gay marriage laws are passed around the world, including most recently in Mexico City, it's hard to believe that lawmakers would punish people for being gay or having HIV/AIDS. The Bahati bill also punishes anyone who fails to report a homosexual act committed by others with up to three years in jail, and a prison sentence of up to seven years for anyone who defends the rights of gays and lesbians.
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, due to mounting pressure from governments such as the United States, across Europe, and in Canada, said that he opposes the measure, and would attempt to try and soften the bill. According to a recent story in Reuters, “the president has been quoted in local media saying homosexuality is a Western import, joining continental religious leaders who believe it is un-African.” With a national election looming in 2012, politicians seem to be using hatred against gays as a scapegoat for rising corruption and the weakening of civil liberties and freedom of the press.
Yet, even the possibility that a watered-down version of the proposed law could be passed, is an alarming sign of a dangerous trend of prejudice all over Africa. In Blantyre, Malawi, for example, a gay couple was arrested last week after having a traditional engagement ceremony.
Homosexuality is punishable by 14 years in jail in Malawi
However, human rights advocates continue to fight. In Latin America, they hope that the success of legalized marriage in Mexico City will spread to Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, and other places. Uruguay permits gay parents to adopt and Columbia grants social security rights to same sex couples.
In the United States, gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgender rights is one of the most import civil and human rights battles we currently face. Despite recent setbacks in California, New York, and Maine -- recent success in places like Iowa, DC, and New Hampshire -- means that during next decade the battlefield for LGBT rights is not only in Africa but also right here at home.
All our best, Danielle Nierenberg and Bernard Pollack
Posted by: Border Jumpers | January 6, 2010 12:46 PM
Here is a great deal more from Jim Burroway:
http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2010/01/06/19081#comments
Posted by: TomTallis | January 6, 2010 7:33 PM
I just sent Lively's organization "Defending the Family" hate mail. Useless, I know. Gratifying, yes.
Posted by: Leni | January 6, 2010 8:02 PM