There is much pressure from the international community to stop Uganda from participating in the 2014 Commonwealth games in Glasgow. This is because Uganda has undermined human rights by denying gay people the power to marry whomever they choose. Furthermore, gay Ugandans have been subjected to imprisonment, tortured and some even murdered. Under the Commonwealth charter, the organization advocates that all its members adhere to the spirit of trust and openness. In addition, the members ought to ensure that they value human rights and be responsible in all their actions. While I strongly condemn the way gay Ugandans are being treated, I concur with the view that homosexuality is unafrican and should be abolished. Hence, the pressure ought to be for President Museveni to stop the way homosexuals are tortured in Uganda and not to allow homosexuality to continue.
Passed on 24th February, 2014, the controversial Anti- Homosexuality Act was signed by President Yoweri Museveni to prevent same sex relations in Uganda. In fact, the first bill was dubbed,’ Kill the Gays bill’, in the media. This was because it mostly proposed that the people caught in the act should be murdered. The proposal of the legislature would further broaden the criminalization of this act to include gay Ugandans living abroad. The legislature suggested that they should be extradited back to Uganda to face their charges. Based on the findings from various human rights legislations, there are approximately 500,000 gay Ugandans out of the total population of around 31 million. Any gay person found can be jailed for a period of 14 years according to the act. It is said that the law is a remnant of British colonialism that was created to punish unnatural sex amongst the Ugandans. Hence, most human right groups are demanding that this law that emanated from the colonial era be eradicated.
In the African as well as Christian society, homosexuality is seen as a taboo or an abomination. The term homosexuality can be traced to the Greek and Latin words homo which means same. This connotes members of the same gender having sexual relations. In the Christian context, this act is deemed to be perversion and something that is intolerable to God. From the biblical teachings, it is right to say that God deemed homosexuality as a very serious sin that would incur his wrath. It is an act against nature itself and on this parameter one can argue that it is unethical. These are the grounds that most African leaders stand on while arguing about the morality of this act. For instance, President Mugabe compared this act to bestiality and commanded his police officers to raid any building or office that was inhabited by gays and lesbians. In Namibia, president Nujoma declared Namibia a nation state that will never permit homosexuality (Boykin, 2001). He asserted that homosexuality was against the will of God and portrayed the devil’s work in his nation.
With that background, I believe that Uganda and any other nation state should not be banned from participating in the 2014 Commonwealth games. This is because the nation states are sovereign and have the right to enact laws that they consider would protect the African heritage as well as values that are core in the society. Based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations Assembly in 1948, marriage was designed to be for people of the opposite sexes. Under article 16, marriage is based on a man and woman of full age who have the right to marry and have a family without any restriction of race or religion. The article goes on to fight for the family institution by arguing that the family is not only a basic and natural unit but also something that ought to be defended by the state as well as the society. Furthermore, the French Declaration of Man and of Citizens of 1789 does not deem gay marriages as a right. While I do not support the murders and torture, I believe that allowing homosexuality to prevail will affect the family unit and bring confusion in the society. Hence, it is imperative that the lives of the homosexuals be respected as they too were created in the image and likeness of God. However, such respects should not translate into condoning an act that will affect future generations and the society at large.
Sources:
Sharlet, Jeff (September 2010). “Straight Man’s Burden: The American roots of Uganda’s anti-gay persecutions”. Harper’s(Harper’s Magazine Foundation) 321 (1,924): 36–48.
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“There is much pressure from the international community to stop Uganda from participating in the 2014 Commonwealth games in Glasgow.”
That is not true, and not what your link to the BBC article is saying. The article is just describing one individual’s grandstanding in support of his vague petition that unspecified Ugandan politicians should be shunned at (or somehow dis-invited from) the Games. It is true that there is another, even more stupid petition, by a Scottish non-entity calling for Uganda to be banned from the Games. When you look at the constitutions of the Commonwealth of Nations, and the Games Federation then it is clear that the actions called for in the two petitions are impossible to implement.
Now, I have to say that I completely disagree with Uganda’s newly enacted legislation. However, as is pointed out in this article it is a sovereign country and it is not fair for the First World to be meddling with its affairs. Scotland has already indicated that guests from Uganda and other homophobic countries of the Commonwealth, with a combined population of about 2 billion (cf Scotland 5 million), are going to be ambushed in Glasgow with government sanctioned propaganda and facilitated demonstrations pushing their own self-righteous views on LGBT issues. Personally, I would like to see some sort of retaliatory action from Uganda et al, such as boycotting occasions when the Scottish can potentially ambush them, or even boycotting the Games completely.
“Based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations Assembly in 1948, marriage was designed to be for people of the opposite sexes.”
That is interesting, and I must pursue that. With same-sex marriages becoming legal in First World countries, does it look like there are any moves by them to change the wording “opposite sexes”?
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