OVO

Once again I have enjoyed the benefit of reading the words of those who are my enemies and of reading source documents as well as commentary on source documents.

Like many others, I have been reading about a proposed anti-homosexual law in the country of Uganda.  I have read consistently that the law would sentence homosexuals to death.  Then I read a press release from a group in England that supports the proposed law.  The press release made different claims:

In fact, the death penalty in David Bahati MP’s ‘Anti-homosexuality Bill’ is only for ‘aggravated homosexuality’; which is knowingly infecting others with AIDS, sodomy with minors and homosexual rape. Promoting homosexuality would however be punishable by a jail term.

It cannot be true that the proposed law both does and does not sentence homosexuals to death.  This was the benefit of reading the words of my enemies (Christian Voice, authors of the press release): I learned what I thought was true was instead in question.  One way to resolve this contradiction was to consult the source document, granting an equal mistrust to all commentators.  Here is what the source document says:

A person commits the offence of aggravated homosexuality where the (a) person against whom the offence is committed is below the age of 18 years; (b) offender is a person living with HIV; (c) offender is a parent or guardian of the person against whom the offence is committed; (d) offender is a person in authority over the person against whom the offence is committed; (e) victim of the offence is a person with disability; (f) offender is a serial offender; or (g) offender applies, administers or causes to be used by any man or woman any drug, matter or thing with intent to stupefy or overpower him or her so as to there by enable any person to ahve unlawful carnal connections with any person of the same sex.  A person who commits the offence of aggravated homosexuality shall be liable on conviction to suffer death. [PDF]

The press release of my enemies is more accurate than the commentary of my friends and the mainstream media.  The section of the proposed law quoted above speaks of homosexuality in the way some laws in the United States spoke of sodomy, as a catch-all for anything other than genital-to-genital sex between a man and a woman.  Homosexuality in itself is criminalized with a jail term (life), not with the death penalty.

I am against all laws pertaining to victimless crimes.  Sex between consenting and informed adults is nobody’s business, and that includes homosexuality.  The proposed anti-homosexual law is bad enough as it stands.  Homosexuality does not merit life in prison or extradition, as the law calls for.  I am against this law, and against those who support this law.  But there is no need to exaggerate how bad this law is by falsely claiming it threatens homosexuals with the death penalty exclusively due to their homosexuality.