Africa Is Burning: How Clinton's Speech Has Inflamed Nigeria And The Homophobia Exporters.

Being gay is not a Western invention; 

it is a human reality.

And Even Rick Perry got into the act.:

“Just when you thought Barack Obama couldn’t get any more out of touch with America’s values, AP reports his administration wants to make foreign aid decisions based on gay rights.

We can see the flames from Africa now, and they are not coming from bonfires declaring liberty for LGBTQ people. They are the flames coming from countries like Uganda and Nigeria. They are the flames of anger and vengeance being wreaked upon gay communities. Where the fires came from, however, is something that should concern everyone in America, because, like some perverted Prometheus, America's Christian Right gave Africa it's fires. Clinton was right to say being gay was not a Western invention, however, she should also have said that homophobia was certainly a Western invention, promoted in Africa by Christian Right leaders such as Scott Lively, Lou Engle and, to a certain extent, Rick Warren. 


The Christian Right's exportation of homophobia has been happening over a number of years, well ahead of the "Kill-the-gays" bill in Uganda. 

Think Progress has a good list of Christian Right reactions including Rick Santorum, Peter LaBarbera (Americans for Truth About Homosexuality), Peter Sprigg (Family Research Council), Matt Barber (Liberty Counsel) and Pat Robertson, who warned of God's wrath and claimed that it's really Christianity that's being persecuted (see below).

"I kissed a girl and liked it - 
and I got ten years in jail."


Nigeria has reacted so strongly to Clinton's speech that it purportedly added MORE offenses in its anti-gay bill. "To hell with them," said lawmaker Jakari Mohammed, referring to other denouncing the bill. It could  be argued that Nigeria has seen same-sex "marriages" for centuries (actually as part of a surrogate tradition, with a woman marrying another woman for her husband), but somehow traditions have a way of disappearing and appearing when according to expediency. 


According to the current bill, kissing in public would be an offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Anti-gay vendettas - like those in Uganda - will become rife in the most corrupt country in the world. 


And Nigeria has never been alone in its attitudes about gays. Here is a list of countries that could definitely be cut off from American aid:

     Algeria  Angola  Botswana  Cameroon  Egypt  Gambia  Ghana  Guinea*  Lesotho  Liberia  Libya        Malawi*  Mauritania  Mauritius   Morocco  Nigeria  Senegal   Sierra   Leone   Somalia  South Sudan Sudan   Swaziland   Tanzania   Togo  Tunisia  Uganda  Zambia   Zimbabwe  

*carry the death penalty for homosexuality.

THE SPEECH


Clinton's speech was concise and eloquent (a full transcript is HERE), and the group gave her a standing ovation, so what did she say in particular that inflamed so many Africans and "social conservatives" like Rick Perry? 

1. Many LGBT Americans have endured violence and harassment in their own lives, and for some, including many young people, bullying and exclusion are daily experiences.

Notice the inclusion of "bullying." Clinton has taken on the newest, most sensitive issue facing the Christian Right: it opposes anti-bullying laws unless dispensations are made for religious beliefs. And while Tony Perkins screams "we're not not the ones who cause teen suicides," people are beginning to note just how many cases are connected to "you're going to hell" accusations.

2. Now, raising this issue, I know, is sensitive for many people and that the obstacles standing in the way of protecting the human rights of LGBT people rest on deeply held personal, political, cultural, and religious beliefs. So I come here before you with respect, understanding, and humility.

It's the last part they can't stomach, because they don't believe the Left has anything but disrespect, ignorance and hubris when it comes to Christian Right dictums.

3. The third, and perhaps most challenging, issue arises when people cite religious or cultural values as a reason to violate or not to protect the human rights of LGBT citizens. This is not unlike the justification offered for violent practices towards women like honor killings, widow burning, or female genital mutilation.

How dare she compare discrimination against gays to hideous acts like widow burning! She's talking about pagan, anti-Christian practices!

4. I am also pleased to announce that we are launching a new Global Equality Fund that will support the work of civil society organizations working on these issues around the world.

Taxpayer money used to forward a perverted agenda!

We will be hearing about reactions to this speech for quite some time, with politicos screaming about how the Obama administration is pandering to gays and how this foray into world cultures will signal Armageddon.

Stay in your seats. The circus performances are just starting.

Poor Scott Lively? Poor David Kato? Poor Uganda? No: Poor America - Our Religious Right Got Just What It Wanted!

One of my recurring rants about the extreme Religious Right is that whatever demonizing they inculcate into the minds of people, someone is going to get killed. It's happened in the past: the demonizing of GLBT people has resulted in bashings, murders and suicides. They disavow any wrongdoing, of course, going against common knowledge - and common sense - but hiding beneath the glorious cloak of religion, they feel they can get away with most anything. The latest murder simply confirms the extent to which their aspirations in Africa will go: David Kato was a dreaded "homosexual activist" (the term made pejorative by Family Research Council's Tony Perkins) in Uganda and was one of the people featured in Rolling Stone's* front page expose headlined "Hang Them!" 

David Kato was viciously bludgeoned to death last Wednesday, amidst not only the shock and horror of Uganda's LGBT community, but of the rest of the world. Kato was also an LGBT human rights activist of some reknown. Ironically, his fame reached its height when his picture was published in that (now infamous) tabloid shot. 

KUDOS to CLINTON:

The name of David Kato was known by our own State Department and Hillary Clinton had this to say about the murder:

This crime is a reminder of the heroic generosity of the people who advocate for and defend human rights on behalf of the rest of us -- and the sacrifices they make. And as we reflect on his life, it is also an occasion to reaffirm that human rights apply to everyone, no exceptions, and that the human rights of LGBT individuals cannot be separated from the human rights of all persons....We honor David’s legacy by continuing the important work to which he devoted his life.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will undoubtedly receive a rhetorical slap in the face by Tony Perkins, who, if memory serves us correctly, enlisted the services of a lobbying group for $25,000 to stop the U.S. Congress from admonishing Uganda for its proposed "Kill the Gays" bill.

WHATEVER IT TAKES

Let the backpedaling and disassociating rhetoric begin**: Scott Lively, co-author of The Pink Swastika has stated repeatedly that he had nothing to do with the "Kill the Gays" bill in Uganda, bemoaning the fact that the bill had a death penalty. However, back in 2009, after his "successful" presentations and lectures in Kampala, Lively exuded hubris about his exploits.

From Scott Lively's Defend The Family Newsletter, Mar. 17,2009:

I'm writing from Kampala, Uganda where I am teaching about the "gay" agenda in churches, schools colleges, community groups and in Parliament. My visit here is being treated as an international crisis by the "gay" activists and their media toadies, who are spinning lies in their usual manner, but the Ugandan response has been resoundingly positive ...

He [Stephan Langa - a "ministry partner" in Uganda] said that a respected observer of society in Kampala had told him that our campaign was like a nuclear bomb against the "gay" agenda in Uganda. I pray that this, and the predictions, are true. [emphasis and parentheses mine]

I still want to send them my remaining stock of about 100 or so copies of Seven Steps, but I didn't raise any money toward this in my last appeal. If you would like to help, please make a donation at www.defendthefamily.com/help/donate.php.

The "nuclear bomb" phrase has been duly noted by many LGBT rights activists, and for good reason: militaristic rhetoric has permeated the Right for a very long time.  And note that his newsletter post ends in a request for donations to support his work and his writings. Lively's seminal work The Pink Swastika was panned by historians and sales were poor  - until he started to hawk the book through churches and organizations like the Family Research Council and American Family Association. It's still being touted in the Right Wing WorldNetDaily.com by uber-conservative Michel Farah. The Pink Swastika is a small but steady moneymaker Lively is loathe to be rid of.

A particularly chilling video of a speaking engagement in Russia chronicled by Huffington Post's Alvin McEwen shows Lively disingenously decrying the audience not to applaud and cheer whenever he mentions bashings or (in this particular case) the manslaughter of gays.  His story concerning the incident in Sacramento turned out to be entirely false  as witnessed by the people who were on the scene. Besides this video, here is actual footage (below) of Lively speaking in Uganda about the "gay agenda" and how he, above everyone else, knows the most about it. Please be advised that this footage is included here only to emphasize the sincerity of Lively's demonizing: this is how America's Religious Right views the LGBT community and presents their view to the rest of the world.

  

And by no means does this demonizing view extend only to figures like Tony Perkins, James Dobson, Pat Robertson or Bryan Fischer. Think of it: "Whatever It Takes" - the motto of Pastor Rick Warren - has a chilling sound to it these days: Warren has not come across as a friend of the LGBT community, taking so very long to denounce the "Kill the Gays" bill in Uganda and doing so only under pressure from liberal evangelicals. "Whatever It Takes" may serve to underline the demonizing attempts of people to enact a kind of genocide in the name of God. 

EXPORTING HATE

OK, that last perception came across as a bit strident. Please forgive me for being overwhelmed by the brutal reality of the Religious Right's determination. However, I am not alone in believing that certain forces were the cause of Kato's murder. According to AP interviews, the notion that Kato's death was only the result of a theft*** is not holding any sway with the LGBT community nor with many others: "David's death is a result of the hatred planted in Uganda by U.S evangelicals in 2009," said Val Kalende, a Ugandan gay rights activist. "The Ugandan government and the so-called U.S evangelicals must take responsibility for David's blood."

Whatever the views about the murder, one thing stands out above all others: America's Religious Right has exported anti-gay sentiment to Africa - vehemently.

And some say - murderously.

*absolutely no relation to Rolling Stone Magazine. 

** Don Schmierer, who co-authored, with Lively, The Pink Swastika and accompanied him to Kampala, Uganda, has stated: “Naturally, I don’t want anyone killed but I don’t feel I had anything to do with that.”

*** Deja Vu: Does anyone remember the pronouncement of Congresswoman, Virginia Foxx when countering the proposed passage of the Hate Crimes bill? With Matthew Sheperd's mother looking on in horror, Foxx recounted the brutal bashing as "... we understood it was a robbery!"