Homophobia in Uganda

How does this not have a thread?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euXQbZDwV0w

I'm guessing I don't want to watch that.

we talked about it a little on the politics thread, I think. I like to think that ilx is a somewhat better board than the 1000 other internet boards where people think this is really hilarious instead of sad in several ways, and then in several more ways after people sit around laughing about it.

Call me callous, but I would be bothered much more by it if it originated from any country more worthy of taking seriously than Uganda.

I haven't actually watched this, but heard about it weeks (months?) ago. Would sort of like to watch it or google it, but don't want to leave "eat da poo poo" on my bosses' Google search keywords cache.

http://tokohbangsa.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/edward-said.jpg

"Not entirely sure what you mean by that, Corey."

I mean I don't think it is ha-ha funny as it is extremely brow-furrowing and bizarre.

"where people think this is really hilarious instead of sad"

it can be sad and funny at the same time though

Chekhov to thread?

most of the funny is surgically drained off by how racists flock to laugh at this like ants to sugar - click "show all comments" and "enjoy"

when countries that suffered the indignity of colonization wind up all fucked up, it's pretty hard to see the humor in it; if that makes me self-righteous worried oversensitive liberal dude, I'm ok w/that - moreover, when people who learned English only because they were forced by an occupying force to do so speak it differently, it's a little crass to get lols at how they talk, which I think is a fair amount of the laughing going on at this video -- "ha ha, 'eat da poo poo'!" well, all he's really saying is "these homosexuals eat shit, they eat shit": & that's not really funny to me; it's troubling

I hate to seem like aero's little helper, but there it is

Yeah this isnt funny, its fucking homophobic religous cuntism! I dont care what country is saying it!

Call me callous, but I would be bothered much more by it if it originated from any country more worthy of taking seriously than Uganda.

― orchestral manure in the dark (corey), Saturday, July 10, 2010 7:28 PM (25 minutes ago)

actual people live in uganda

If Uganda supports this institutionally then their standing in the international community is virtually negative. I am not sure about Uganda's ability to actually enforce this law or to prevent gays from leaving the country.

FYI:
http://www.inlookout.com/2009/11/25/c-street-family-behind-ugandas-death-penalty-for-gays/

http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=120746516

members have argued that no American associates support the bill, but you know

this isn't funny

Sometimes the internet is incredibly depressing to me, and finding out some internet people find this funny is one of those times. The last time I felt this bad about humanity was when I made the mistake of reading Encyclopedia Dramatica's entry on rape.

what's truly telling about the video is the excitability of the speaker, who almost treats the presentation as if he is doing standup comedy...and you know, not describing a NATIONAL BAN ON HOMOSEXUALITY.

for those who don't want to watch the video, let me summarize

"All gay people like to fist and it causes poop to come out. This is disgusting and shouldn't be tolerated. Therefore we're making it illegal."

No, really, the argument is essentially that stupid.

This is a comedy video. The Tea Party agenda is also funny.

Also, what kind of anti-sodomy taskforce uses a MacBook Pro?

Call me callous, but I would be bothered much more by it if it originated from any country more worthy of taking seriously than Uganda.

― orchestral manure in the dark (corey), Saturday, July 10, 2010 11:28 PM (Yesterday)

what the fuck

cuz y'know if history has taught us anything its the fact that persecution of homosexual men in countries with histories of intolerance, tremendous economic difficulties, and a massive dominant religious front leads to 100% hilarity.

i know that isnt yer point and maybe i am hairtrigger on stuff like this but A) peeps thinking this is funny B)followed by the idea that this sort of fucked up shit doesnt matter because lol who cares about what uganda thinks is such a willful way to ignore that it wouldnt be quite so hilarious if you were a gay dude living in uganda watching this video and already dealing with "anti-sodomy" laws that are frankly insane.

heres some more stuff that we can lol at re: ugandan laws that dont affect anyone we know from obscure source wikipedia:

Citations on the condition of homosexuals in Uganda also represent policies which have been directly condemned by nearly all progressive and democratic nations. One example of continuing discrimination came from Uganda, where President Yoweri Museveni ordered the Criminal Investigation Department to locate and arrest homosexuals in that nation. On July 5, 2005, by a vote of 111 to 17 with three abstentions, the Ugandan parliament approved a proposed constitutional amendment stating that ‘marriage is lawful only if entered into between a man and a woman,’ and that ‘it is unlawful for same-sex couples to marry.’ A parliamentary spokesman said that specific criminal penalties will be enacted later when the Ugandan penal code is revised.

"Uganda already imposes draconian prison sentences on people who engage in homosexual conduct," said Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch.

Same-sex sexual relations are criminalized in Uganda under a sodomy laws inherited from British colonial rule. Punishments were substantially strengthened in 1990. Section 140 of the Ugandan penal code criminalizes ‘carnal knowledge against the order of nature’ with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Section 141 punishes ‘attempts’ at carnal knowledge with a maximum of seven years’ imprisonment. Section 143 punishes acts of ‘gross indecency’ with up to five years in prison. Both in Britain and Uganda, these terms were long understood to describe consensual homosexual conduct.

I really love the disingenuous blogger dialogue of like "Look, this is actually really incredibly sad, but someone made a WACKY YOUTUBE REMIX and we don't want to throw away that precious Google traffic! So, this is sad, but REMIX!"

http://perezhilton.com/2010-06-03-eat-da-poo-poo-gets-remixed

http://videogum.com/189271/eat-da-poo-poo-remix-obviously/webjunk/

Also, there was some "vlogger" i stumbled across who did a wacky, quirky takedown of the preacher and was all pro-gay rights but seemed totally psyched to do an totally racist african voice and say "EADAPUPUUUU" like half a dozen times

Difficult to not make the "pu pu platter" joke, regareding the remix...

But, yeah, we're still living in the dark ages.

Its the kind of thing Nathan Barley would find hilarious, thats for sure.

there's an article in the new Harpers, not online yet, about the "American roots of Uganda's anti-gay persecutions" - I have a number of difficulties with the articles, not the least of which is a thread I want to trace through Naipaul about how the bad guys get depicted/cast in these narratives & what that's all about, but it is for the most part a very sad and sobering description of 1) what's at stake within Uganda around this stuff, 2) who's helping out the evangelical churches who're pushing for draconian laws against homosexuality, and 3) how the state of play stands and what it means in human cost.

worth reading in my opinion.

Call me callous, but I would be bothered much more by it if it originated from any country more worthy of taking seriously than Uganda.

― orchestral manure in the dark (corey), Saturday, July 10, 2010 11:28 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark

Kind of glad I had a month without knowing someone on ILX wrote this.

I regret writing it. I don't know what I was thinking.

don't worry about it. we've all said stupid shit on here before.

controversial corey

:(

http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFTRE69S0V820101029

depressing things I did not want to read

fuck

He says it was not his intention that members of the public would attack the people featured in the newspaper, despite publishing their addresses.

"We published the areas where they live so that counsellors could find them and help them," he says. "We want a death penalty introduced for homosexuals who are trying to brainwash children but we don't want the public to attack them."

eat shit

Uganda media can't publish identities of homosexuals, high court says

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/01/04/uganda.gay.ruling/

eat shit

― dayo, Monday, November 1, 2010 2:15 AM (2 months ago)

eat da poo poo

There was a news story recently that Ssempa (the guy in the video) was charged with blackmail for paying someone to say they were sodomized by a rival priest, but since the authorities are corrupt as fuck it'll most likely come to nothing.

Uganda gay rights activist David Kato killed

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12295718

was just about to post that story, whiney

man it's just a sea of sad news tonight :(

Just found out about Cato's killing. Really sick about this. Can someone change this thread's title?

Done.

Preacher at the funeral started telling gay people to repent. Classy guy.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/28/gay-activist-david-kato-funeral

there's a related story current in the uk -- one brenda namigadde, claiming asylum on the grounds that is not safe to be homosexual in uganda, is being deported after the home office ruled (!) she was 'not homosexual'. here is the bbc story, which is in some respects awful:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12311319

there is a petition at http://www.allout.org/en/brenda/ which may or may not do any good, but will only take you around five seconds to add your signature to

God, the clip at the start of the thread is just enormously depressing.

Not that the recent thread activity has been particularly uplifting either.

On a more positive note, Brenda Namigadde has won temporary injunction against deportation. She was set too be sent back last night and had apparently already been put on the plane in anticipation of departure.

Any US / UK organisation funding hardline evangelical movements in Uganda (and i understand there are quite a few) really need to be exposed over this.

Her lawyers have made the very cogent point that, were she to be sent back to Uganda, regardless of whether she is gay, she's going to be viewed that way now and is therefore under enormous threat.

Rowan Williams, head of the CoE, has put his weight behind the campaign for homophobia to be taken more seriously by asylum tribunals.

what's really upsetting about this is that it appears that American evangelicals are stoking the homophobia amongst the Ugandans. i may be out of place, but i can't imagine that even without such stoking Uganda isn't exactly the most gay-friendly place on Earth. but it's disturbing all the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BymeLkZ7GqM

http://www.starobserver.com.au/news/2011/07/21/ghana-cracks-down-on-gays/57436

also i refuse to watch the video that opens this thread

:(

According to a letter left on the Facebook page of Friends of Freedom and Roam Uganda (FARUG), the LGBT rights group had its office broken into on Saturday night. All of tis computer equipment and other supplies were destroyed, the phone lines were taken out, and the group's member database was stolen — perhaps the most worrisome detail.

According to the group, the police haven't even bothered to come check the crime scene yet.

http://www.towleroad.com/2011/08/burglars-vandals-steal-members-list-destroy-computers-phone-lines-of-ugandan-lgbt-rights-group.html

:/

having a list of members maybe not the best idea

Dunno if anyone's seen this photo essay on LGBT life in Uganda. Puts some faces to the miserable stories.

anyone in the LA area interested in this topic may want to check out this performance, running through sunday, based on conversations the artist has had with LGBT activists and sex workers in uganda

http://www.redcat.org/event/ntare-guma-mbaho-mwine-0

This interview is pretty good, and it lays the blame on American evangelists for the current, dire situation.

Ugandan LGBTQ activist @frankmugisha says the extreme anti-gay bill just passed by the country's Parliament reflects the influence of "extreme American evangelicals" who have helped to fan the flames of hate across Africa. pic.twitter.com/3ICyTzbG0d

— Democracy Now! (@democracynow) April 17, 2023