The NYT looks at the three Americans who participated in Stephen Langa's Uganda conference on homosexuality last March, and, by their discussions of "ex-gay" therapy, pedophilia, and dangers to traditional marriage, set in motion the process which ultimately led to the "kill the gays" bill:
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.
At this point it's such disingenuous bullshit for Holocaust-revisionist Lively and these other dangerous clowns to be saying they have no idea how their misinformed theories might hurt people.
The paper also features a companion piece on gays in Uganda and how they're suffering:
Anti-gay sentiments are one thing, and hardly unique to Uganda. But
what seems different here is the level of official,
government-sponsored anti-gay hate speech.“I detest gays in my
heart,” said Kassiano E. Wadri, a member of Parliament and the chief
whip of the opposition. “When I see a gay, I think that person needs
psychotherapy. You need to break him.”It's no surprise, then,
that many homosexual people here insisted on being interviewed
anonymously, including one car salesman who goes by Bob. He lost his
job working in a hotel a few years ago after the Red Pepper, a Ugandan
tabloid, published a list of names of homosexuals, including his.“When
your boss finds out you're gay, you get harassed,” he said. “Then you
start getting scolded in front of others. Then fired.”It is hard finding a boyfriend, he said, “because you don't know who to trust.”
He took a deep breath and looked down at his hands. “It's a very big mess to be gay in Uganda,” he said.
