Hey, if I pay you big bucks, will you become gay? Isn't this a stupid question?
This is what the anti-gay forces in Uganda want you to believe, that 'minority groups' are recruiting students to be gay by paying them 800,000 Ugandan Shillings ($340).
Here is how a tabloid in Uganda reported it on April 6, 2011:
It may sound bizarre, but Makerere University students are being lured into homosexuality by minority groups. Parliament heard yesterday that they are being paid an attractive monthly allowance of Shs800,000. Derrick Waiswa, a student leader at Makekere University, yesterday petitioned Legal and Parliamentary Affairs committee chairman Stephen Tashobya in his office at Parliament demanding that the House expedite debating the Homosexuality Bill 2009 so that it is passed into law to save the situation.
“Mr Chairman, I am a concerned Ugandan citizen because I know that, in the near future, I will become a parent and I am worried that my children will be recruited to be homosexuals. If the Bill is not debated and passed, I am worried that the future of Ugandan children is at stake,” said Waiswa.
Waiswa, who heads the Coalition of Concerned Youth Against Homosexuality at Makerere University, wondered why Parliament was taking so long to debate the Bill – two years after it was tabled on the floor of the House and less than a month before the Eighth Parliament expires.
“Mr Chairman, I have evidence that you are under pressure from the gay groups and donors not to pass the Bill. I have seen emails from the pro-gay activists threatening MPs not to pass the Bill. Is that why you have taken long to debate and pass the Bill?” asked Waiswa.
It may sound bizarre, but Makerere University students are being lured into homosexuality by minority groups. Parliament heard yesterday that they are being paid an attractive monthly allowance of Shs800,000. Derrick Waiswa, a student leader at Makekere University, yesterday petitioned Legal and Parliamentary Affairs committee chairman Stephen Tashobya in his office at Parliament demanding that the House expedite debating the Homosexuality Bill 2009 so that it is passed into law to save the situation.
“Mr Chairman, I am a concerned Ugandan citizen because I know that, in the near future, I will become a parent and I am worried that my children will be recruited to be homosexuals. If the Bill is not debated and passed, I am worried that the future of Ugandan children is at stake,” said Waiswa.
Waiswa, who heads the Coalition of Concerned Youth Against Homosexuality at Makerere University, wondered why Parliament was taking so long to debate the Bill – two years after it was tabled on the floor of the House and less than a month before the Eighth Parliament expires.
“Mr Chairman, I have evidence that you are under pressure from the gay groups and donors not to pass the Bill. I have seen emails from the pro-gay activists threatening MPs not to pass the Bill. Is that why you have taken long to debate and pass the Bill?” asked Waiswa.
Waiswa said that last semester he received two cases of students who were successfully lured to join gay groups and has been urging fellow students to keep alert as the numbers seem to be growing. He did not disclose names of the already recruited students.
All these claims remain unsubstantiated. Who are the minority groups? Who has been "recruited?" Given the unbelievably hostile anti-gay sentiment in Uganda, who can possibly accept these "recruitment" claims? The implication is that common Ugandans are so greedy for material benefits, they will sell themselves to these mysterious minority groups, even when this could result in incarceration, discrimination— yeah, right. I'm sorry, I give the average Ugandan more credit than this.
No one can be recruited into "homosexuality" any more than you can be recruited to change your race. How absurd to continue using the scare tactic that claims that gays are out to recruit your children.
Ask any gay person if they were recruited and they will laugh in your face at the stupidity of the question. From childhood, and even before puberty--they will tell you--they knew they were 'different' because they found themselves attracted to individuals of their own sex.
They will also tell you that they prayed to God to make them 'normal' and to fix the problem. They will tell you that despite all their efforts to conform to society's binary definition of sexuality, they were not able to change their orientation. And finally, they will tell you that being gay is the last thing they would wish on anyone, including their enemies. Though I'm sure many gays fantasize at the thought the David Bahati and Pastor Ssempa will one day be exposed for being gay, which given the vitriolic rhetoric, it would not surprise a lot of people. Many outspoken anti-gay persons have been known to fight their own 'demon' by first attacking those who they wish not to be like. But I digress.
I challenge all Ugandans to Google and read the Yogykarta Principles, and begin discussing GLBT issues as mature, open-minded persons who respect the basic human rights of all. Put aside your dogma based hatred and help build a more compassionate society for you and your children.
Lisa Salazar, Canada
All these claims remain unsubstantiated. Who are the minority groups? Who has been "recruited?" Given the unbelievably hostile anti-gay sentiment in Uganda, who can possibly accept these "recruitment" claims? The implication is that common Ugandans are so greedy for material benefits, they will sell themselves to these mysterious minority groups, even when this could result in incarceration, discrimination— yeah, right. I'm sorry, I give the average Ugandan more credit than this.
No one can be recruited into "homosexuality" any more than you can be recruited to change your race. How absurd to continue using the scare tactic that claims that gays are out to recruit your children.
Ask any gay person if they were recruited and they will laugh in your face at the stupidity of the question. From childhood, and even before puberty--they will tell you--they knew they were 'different' because they found themselves attracted to individuals of their own sex.
They will also tell you that they prayed to God to make them 'normal' and to fix the problem. They will tell you that despite all their efforts to conform to society's binary definition of sexuality, they were not able to change their orientation. And finally, they will tell you that being gay is the last thing they would wish on anyone, including their enemies. Though I'm sure many gays fantasize at the thought the David Bahati and Pastor Ssempa will one day be exposed for being gay, which given the vitriolic rhetoric, it would not surprise a lot of people. Many outspoken anti-gay persons have been known to fight their own 'demon' by first attacking those who they wish not to be like. But I digress.
I challenge all Ugandans to Google and read the Yogykarta Principles, and begin discussing GLBT issues as mature, open-minded persons who respect the basic human rights of all. Put aside your dogma based hatred and help build a more compassionate society for you and your children.
Lisa Salazar, Canada
