"It's not an inborn orientation, it's a behaviour learnt - and it can be unlearnt. That's why we are encouraging churches and mosques to continue rehabilitating and cousnelling these people (gays)
- David Bahati, proponent of the new Anti-Gay Legislation in Uganda.

This is further evidence of the stone-age mentality of certain African politicians, and Church officials in Africa and elsewhere - who continue to ignore modern scientific research and evidence from homosexual people whose orientation is nothing of their own choice, but an inherent part of their natural human being.

To impose any sort of criminality label onto those who are intrinisically lesbian, gay, bi-sexual or transvestite in character and behaviour is to perpetuate the sort of injustice which the Christian Gospel is radically opposed to.

Thank goodness the President of Uganda is open to the counsel of other heads of government on this issue, which threatens the United Nations Accord for Human Rights. As a signatory to the Accord, Uganda needs to uphold it's clear principles and refrain from persecuting those who, through no fault of their own, happen to be LGBT persons, or friends, or families of them.

I note that finally Integrity Uganda has been short listed as one of the allegedly notorious organizations which majority Ugandan leadership false witness claims is by definition devoted to some straight African religious fantasy of 'gay recruiting.' This is scary indeed, if any African straight person sincerely believes that some bad juju could magically 'train' them into being a queer person.

Not only do real queer people not really exist - they are all defined prejudicially ahead of time as straights behaving very badly - but an even sillier notion is that in some vague manner, a straight citizen can be recruited to be gay - even in the toxic Uganda social-cultural climate which now clamors for a death penalty.

This is so far beyond the realms of common sense; a flat earth bit of really scary nonsense that parallels the old folk tale that since nobody thought they were raising queer folks in their extended families, it must be some outside mojo that was was affecting them.

Notable, too, is how readily some shining beacons of Anglican leadership who know better are persuaded to go to dim setting, fast; faced with just this toxic prejudice stuff.

If President M has a veto in his pocket, a whole lot of very frightened people will have been scared to death over nothing much. A rather obvious clue about how this sort of fear and prejudice truly operate. Guess that thang bout spiritual warfare is a glimmer of truth, after all? The closer our planet functionally becomes, gathered into a single big tent diverse neighborhood, the more painful this particular folk prejudice vexation will no doubt become.

The best Rowan's Covenant can promise is that everybody will be conformed into a grand silence. Not really all that much help. I suggest that the covenant be tagged, The Ostrich Covenant. If we Anglicans stop acknowledging that queer folks exist, and negatively sanction anybody in church life who dares to talk up, then surely we have resolved our hot button differences? No?

It is not only church leaders of the world, but government leaders, the United Nations which need to speak out loud and clear that was is being proposed in Uganda is against all human undrstanding of humanity. It takes not only Uganda, but the world back to the ignorant ages of suspicion. But we forget that in ancient and aboriginal tribes the Shaman or Holy Man was more often than not a homosexual person. We often like to forget the history of the past, both aboroginal, and the early church. Love of a person is God given, not created.

Fr John

If the news from Uganda as regards the anti-gay legislation had come from a European country it would not have taken but a minute to get a response from those who have been so slow to react to this genocidal bill. And we thought Idi Amin was bad.