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Gay Uganda's Blog Dealing with issues lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender and other sexual minorities in Uganda face. More Exposes of ?Gay Ugandans 09/12/2006
News about Gay Ugandans Sells!
I must say I am a humble person. Like Uriah Heap, I am given to trumpeting word of my 'humility' to all who can take it. (Well, as far as I know, they are few!) But I am humble enough to loath being seen in the newspapers. I do not think anything that I do is worth that! But there is one thing that the newsmedia in Uganda loves. And that is a scandal which has the whiff of homosexual sex or an affair. 'Sodomy' they call it. And when someone is accused of that, then all the better. The likes of Monitor (www.monitor.co.ug) and New Vision (www.newvision.co.ug) may avoid it as a matter of taste, and the fact that they are supposed to be a bit above that. But Bukedde (New Vision's sister paper and at the same website and in Luganda) and Red Pepper, and now Kamunye, which I was suprised to learn is owned by Red Pepper! Those rags do love a scandal. What has set me off is the story running in Kamunye and Red Pepper over the last couple of days. The headlines trumpet; revelations by a pastor about other pastors. Kamunye reports 'Pastor reveals names of homosexual pastors'. Sensational stuff. I hate to buy the stuff, but mate, I do want to read it. Once upon a time my name featured in one of the rugs. I was unhappy about it, but I lived through it! Maybe it was not explicit enough. Maybe I am small fry! When the Red Pepper listed its list of Fame earlier this year, they took a week advertising the coming revelations on the FM stations. I was realy worried. Nothing came of it again. So, when I first saw the story of the revelations of 'homosexual pastors' I was a bit worried. Not being one, I was not worried on my own account, but on that of the many other friends of mine that are gay and errrr, are also pastors. Such a revelation would realy hurt them. (I think I sometimes underestimate how religious our country is. I mean, gospel hits are sung in our bars! That is something.) But I do know and have many friends who are gay and are also pastors, and when this kind of scandal hits the papers, I know that something is going to happen. We all have to pull closer into the closet! The article is something of a sick thing. There is internecine fighting amongst the 'born again churchers and church leaders' on and off. They accuse each other of things like witchcraft and others. So, it should not suprise me that one of them has accused others of a host of things, including 'sodomy' Is it true? Who knows? I bet even the accuser, a Pastor Male, is not sure of that. And of course the editors of Red Pepper and Kamunye are hiding behind the cloud of not running foul of the laws on libel. They do not identify individuals, but try to hide behind innuendo and general descriptions which deceive no one in the know. And how will this affect me as a gay ugandan? My friends are outed and I am not affected? That is a dream. I am affected. Of course I think that the probability will be that I will also be outed, but if that occurs when I am nearing the end of my life, I will be gratefull. Yet there is nothing wrong with being gay, and a homosexual. That is something that is under siege. One pastor is accusing others of being homosexual, a sensational accusation thinking that it is a reflection of their moral worth. To me it is not. And it actually is a reflection on the pastor's ability and clearheadedness. He is a real sick man. And I have to factor in the fact that it continues and strengthens the stigma that surrounds being gay. More outings in Uganda. Old news. An old wound still capable of hurting us. Our prayers to all those who have been exposed, and touched with the tar of stigma. And I am not a prayerful man. gug 2006-12-09 16:53:21 GMT
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