Well, at least they take exception to the death penalty. Instead, "let us coerce them into a normal life."

I particularly like point 7:

"We the Council of Presidents of the Inter – Religious Council of Uganda, therefore, advise government, and all well-meaning groups and individuals to take remedial measures against this evil that has crept into our society by:
a. Exposing the people and organizations funding homosexuality in the country;
b. Providing enough information on recruitment and funding to the public in the interest of transparency and accountability;
c. Establishing facts on homosexuality and gay activities in Uganda and publishing a brochure which IRCU can distribute through its structures;
d. Emphasizing our core cultural and religious values and undertaking moral education in schools; and
e. Counteracting the distortion and misrepresentation of the debate on homosexuality by the media."

Y'know, this could be the listening process at last -- give the gay organizations a fair hearing, and they might just soften enough hearts.

Incidentally, I wonder if those incurable middle class religion haters will be putting on an atheist conference in this part of the world any time soon, having declared victory here in Melbourne (AUS). It'd be quite something to see Richard Dawkins up against the very thing he so voluminously condemns.

"Exposing the people and organizations funding homosexuality in the country;"

Hey! I didn't know anyone was paying people to be gay. How much do they pay and where can I sign up?

Well I suspect the scarcity of out non-theists in Uganda and nearby areas would make it difficult to have a big conference. There have been several Humanist conferences such as Kampala 2004 which approved the following:

"The General Assembly of the International Humanist and Ethical Union meeting in Kampala, Uganda on 27 May 2004 urges all African governments, and especially those of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Zambia, to respect the rights of all people to sexual autonomy and privacy, to eliminate all forms of discrimination against their citizens on grounds of their gender or sexual orientation, and to decriminalize homosexual activity between consenting adults."

The Uganda Humanists are also supporting several schools. http://www.ugandahumanistschoolstrust.org/

I suppose that in their warped understanding, every act of homosexual prostitution, constitutes "funding homosexuality" (we may expect the condemnation of the far greater *funding of heterosexuality" any minute then?)

One still gets the impression that these Ugandan religious leaders think that "homosexuality comes from the outside, *into* Uganda." AS IF Ugandan LGBTs *weren't their own children*, w/ no more exposure, on average, to non-Ugandan influences than any other Ugandan has? O_o

Lord have mercy!

The IRCU doesn't want to execute us, no siree! They just want to love us into cringing submission. What a load of tripe!
They really have fallen for "Love the sinner, hate the sin", haven't they, which is in reality sanctimonious hypocrisy: "I can't stand those loathesome deviant sinner f@##%ts, but I gotta love them anyway. Ain't I grand?"
I felt I needed to physically clean my hard drive after that article loaded in the Internet cache.
But, ... Thank God for Archbishop Tutu! Thank you, sir, for being a voice crying in the wilderness, for speaking "God is Love" to powerful groups.

This proclamation from religious leaders in Uganda, co-signed by Archbishop Orombi of the Ugandan Anglican Church, is the most compelling reason why I would never commit myself or my Church to any sort of Covenantal relationship with the Ugandan Church.

Despite their falling short of wanting Gays and their families to be executed or put in prison for life, these arrogant so-called 'Christian Leaders' are guilty of homophobia of the worst order - because they uphold an out-dated understanding of sexual differences that is contrary to modern scientific evidence and to the Spirit of Christ in the Gospel.

As Archbishop Desmond Tutu rightly observes, in his article in the Washington Post, the African Continent is in danger of subverting the cause of the Gospel by the intransigence of it's religious leadership. This is nothing less than a new form of Colonial Oppression of a minority in society. It is also a vastly mistaken understanding of what the Christian Gospel is really all about.

And as for the RC participants, they don't even reflect the summary of teachings relating to homosexuality, to be found in The Catechism of the Catholic Church.

I saw their line on "Love the sinner, hate the sin" and thought I'd send them a card to congratulate them on finally coming out. But something with a drag queen holding a starting gun with a caption about running the rest of the race with pride didn't seem quite appropriate...

I hope their families won't reject them because of being open about their hypocrisy.

It says something that, when I read about "need... conversion" etc, it appears as an improvement over the death penalty.

Why, in this age, do we need to stand up for minorities, anyway? How do people manage to be so unenlightened?

JCF says 'One still gets the impression that these Ugandan religious leaders think that homosexuality comes from the outside.' Of course this is classic method of how to make scapegoats. Defining some people as 'other' or 'alien' makes it easier to de-humanise them and thus to persecute or eliminate. This is exactly what the Nazis did with the Jews, gypsies, the handicapped and of course, people like me.

There seems to be a homosexual element in the story of the 19th century Uganda martyrs in which the homosexuality certainly wasn't 'imported'.

is Archbishop Lwanga related to S Charles Lwanga, who some say was martyred for refusing the sexual desires of his monarch? That could explain the Archbishop's position on all of this!

I continue to think that real problem here is a total mis-understanding of what homosexuality is, and what same sex relationships are like. I actually think some of them are trying against the background of a society where they just don't have any kind of rational understanding at all of what is going on.

We here all know plenty of gays, see stable gay relationships, etc etc. But if you do not? If nobody you know sees normal gay relationships? If the whole thing is wrapped in fear - of you are told be everybody that same sex relationships are evil, are promoted by some mythical 'gay pressure group' - I think it is hopeless to expect calm and understanding.

Hat off to Tutu - and not the first time - an exceptional man. But also a much more cosmopolitan man.

We will only make progress on this issue when we can leave anger behind and offer understanding.

A beautiful intervention from Desmond Tutu that should be read by everyone.

The Ugandan statement is a very positive development but still - as has been mentioned - is deeply homophobic, but still an advance if the Bill can be dropped which I earnestly hope and pray for.

"I continue to think that real problem here is a total mis-understanding of what homosexuality is, and what same sex relationships are like."

I wonder if it doesn't go even further than that, Rosemary.

Here in the . . . "Global North" (for want of a better phrase), we take for granted that "marriage" (or "partnership") means two ***CONSENTING ADULTS*** who have ***FREELY CHOSEN*** each other. But if you don't have that assumption? Rather, if you assume that "marriage" is something that will be chosen FOR you?

If one believes that even a pairing of your *own orientation* (in this case, heterosexual) will be "up to the stars" (the matchmaker, what your parents can pay in dowry, etc), how much more frightening would it be to consider that such a marriage could possibly be (however *improbably*, to our understanding!) OTHER than your own sexual orientation? [In other words, to be a straight man who thinks it's possible that your marriage might be arranged to another man? Don't even get me started on the *utter powerlessness* of so many *women*, all around the world, in their choosing their own marriages...]

There is a basic problem of *mutual incomprehensibility* going on here. Lord have mercy!

Usually the purpose of these official pogroms is to frighten people with a bogeyman (who conveniently can't fight back) in order to draw their attention away from something else.

"Never mind what we're doing here, look at that awful monster over there!"