Meet the U.S. Politicians Who Want to See Gay People Dead in Uganda

categories: International Gay Rights, Religion and LGBT Rights

Published November 25, 2009 @ 08:14AM PT

Congressmen Bart Stupak and Joe Pitts have a lot more in common than just working together to strip reproductive rights out of U.S. health care reform. The two are also tied through an evangelical network known as “The Family,” which has dubious ties to at least two Ugandan leaders who are championing draconian legislation in the country that would institute the death penalty for homosexuality.

Speaking yesterday on NPR’s Fresh Air, Jeff Sharlet – who wrote a best-selling book documenting the political influence of the family – noted that many U.S. politicians, straddling both sides of the political aisle, are involved with “The Family.” Sharlet spoke about how members of “The Family” have been quite active in Uganda, including Ugandan Parliamentarian David Bahati, who is a member of “The Family” and one of the legislators behind the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009.

“[Bahati] appears to be a core member of The Family. He works, he organizes their Uganda National Prayer Breakfast and oversees a African sort of student leadership program designed to create future leaders for Africa, into which The Family has poured millions of dollars working through a very convoluted chain of linkages passing the money over to Uganda,” said Sharlet.

Not only that, but The Family has long considered Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to be their key point man in Uganda, according to Sharlet. And President Museveni, it turns out, is one of the biggest advocates for killing gay people in Uganda. He also just met with a bunch of Ugandan youth and urged them to resist the forces of homosexuality.

That’s a pretty direct, not to mention abhorrent, connection between U.S. evangelical political leadership and Ugandan human rights abusers. Do U.S. politicians like Congressmen Bart Stupak really want to have on their consciences the murder and imprisonment of gay people in Uganda? Urge his office to condemn this proposed bill now.

The facts on the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill are clear cut. Here’s what the bill will do if passed into law: it will create a criminal violation known as aggravated homosexuality, and anyone convicted of it will be sentenced to death; it will send anyone supporting gay rights to prison, even if they’re straight; it will imprison parents of LGBT children if they don’t rat out their kids to the government; and it will sentence people to life in prison for talking favorably about same-sex marriage.

Maybe it’s all part of Uganda’s new tourism campaign: Come for the lush wildlife, stay for the brutal repression.

For Congressmen like Joe Pitts and Bart Stupak to have ties to politicians who want to murder gay people is earth-shattering. But the scary part is that “The Family” has a membership far beyond just these two politicians. Sharlet has documented a whole boatload of U.S. leaders involved in “The Family,” including Sen. John “How Much Money Will it Take to Keep My Mistress Silent” Ensign, Sen. Tom “Blackmail is the Best Way To Stay in Political Power” Coburn, and Gov. Mark “Buenos Aires is the Best Place for Adultery” Sanford. The list goes on: Sen. Mark Pryor, Sen. James Inhofe, Sen. Chuck Grassley, Sen. Mike Enzi, Sen. Sam Brownback, Rep. Heath Shuler, Rep. Mike McIntyre, and Rep. Zach Wamp. And that’s not an exhaustive list!

Do all of these folks want to see gay people murdered in Uganda?

If not, they sure better go on record condemning this bill. Rep. Tammy Baldwin has already urged the U.S. State Department to condemn the bill. What would be stopping these “Family” politicians from signing her letter as well?

The dangers of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill are obvious. Uganda historically is a country with tense political fault lines and a history of violence. This bill, if enacted, threatens to play out with catastrophic results.

And the blood of murdered gays and lesbians won’t only be on the hands of the Ugandan Parliament. It’ll be on the hands of Congressmen Bart Stupak, Joe Pitts, and the many other members of “The Family” who maintain such incestuous relationships with some of the fiercest anti-gay people in the world.

Take a moment to let Congressman Bart Stupak know that you want him to speak out against this bill now. There’s no reason for him to delay.

(Photo courtesy of house.gov.)

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Comments (16)

Yes, the blood of murdered gays and lesbians is also on the hands of Stupak, Pitts, and members of The Family (isn't that the same name as the Manson group?). These people are the lowest form of life. No bigot or theocrat belongs in public service. While the nation is stuck with these people, they should be exposed, opposed and ridiculed until they go back to their caves. Rev. Bookburn - Radio Volta

Posted by Rev Bookburn on 11/25/2009 @ 03:08PM PT
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Bart Stupak is obligated to give a statement against the very intolerant bill in Uganda and cut all ties with the intolerant "Family". The people who are involved with that intolerant organization are intolerant conservatives who have an incorrect view of LGBT rights, including James Inhofe. It's a shame that so many of those people are in Congress and have ties to an organization that's against human rights in a country which isn't well developed but has an intolerant President. That bill must be vetoed.

Posted by Edwin Bonilla on 11/25/2009 @ 04:33PM PT
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People like these do not represent all the people and need to be run out of Congress.

Posted by B K on 11/25/2009 @ 06:26PM PT
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You hit the nail on the head Barbara. If they truly don't want gays in Uganda killed they should not have anything to do with a country that supports killing Gays.

Posted by Martin Martinez on 11/25/2009 @ 08:16PM PT
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Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Kommunist.

Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat.

Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten,
habe ich nicht protestiert;
ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter.

Als sie die Juden holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Jude.

Als sie mich holten,
gab es keinen mehr, der protestierte.

    * When the Nazis came for the communists,
      I remained silent;
      I was not a communist.

      When they locked up the social democrats,
      I remained silent;
      I was not a social democrat.

      When they came for the trade unionists,
      I did not speak out;
      I was not a trade unionist.

      When they came for the Jews,
      I remained silent;
      I wasn't a Jew.

      When they came for me,
      there was no one left to speak out.

Friedrich Gustav Emil Martin Niemöller (14 January 1892 – 6 March 1984) was a prominent German anti-Nazi theologian, and Lutheran pastor. He is best known as the author of the poem “First They Came…”

Every politician in Congress has an obligation to humanity to condemn such atrocities. If they fail to do so, they too have blood upon their hands.

Posted by Bryan D. Freehling on 11/25/2009 @ 09:20PM PT
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Signed and shared on face book.

Posted by Reverend Boony on 11/26/2009 @ 02:14AM PT
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Bart Stupak and Joe Pitts along with all those assholes who are part of te Family are a bunch of sick fucks. No one who isn't a sick fuck would champion the genocidal legislation in Uganda. Given their being rabid right-wingers, it isn't too surprising.

Bryan, I agree. If Uganda starts murdering GLBTQ people, the blood of those people will be on the hands of Bart Stupak, Joe Pitts and the rest of their buddies. If a person is being killed and you cheer it on or do nothing to try to stop it, IMO you are just as guilty as those doing the killing.

The bastards are beneath contempt.

Posted by Ioan Lightoller on 11/26/2009 @ 08:43AM PT
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Yep but contempt is all that I would willingly offer them...Well, that and maybe a boot up their asses.

Posted by Reverend Boony on 11/27/2009 @ 05:41PM PT
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Why does it bother them so much as to want to exterminate us and start in a poor country? Are they jealous? What is their beef? I don't get it! Would all this killing cure their hunger for blood? What is their reward for all this madness to be reincarnated as a dog?

Posted by Peter S. T. on 11/27/2009 @ 03:21PM PT
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Apparently the bible thumpers are terrified of anything thats different from them and...No...Their insane lust for blood wouldnt be satiated by killing off the G.L.B.T. community.

If anything...It would just be whetted, then they'd start in on the pagans, "false" christians and everyone else they feared and hated.

Posted by Reverend Boony on 11/27/2009 @ 05:44PM PT
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Reverend Boony, What do does he think is his reward? Does he actually think that God could possibly approve this Fundamentalist insanity of an idea? I guess so, otherwise, he won't have put this idea into action!

Posted by Peter S. T. on 11/27/2009 @ 06:03PM PT
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Correction delete do

Posted by Peter S. T. on 11/27/2009 @ 06:52PM PT
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Mike, I would argue that you have the headline wrong once again. You have it as "Meet the U.S. Politicians Who Want to See Gay People Dead in Uganda" - shouldn't that read "Meet the U.S. Politicians Who Want to See Gay People Dead." They don't care if it is in Uganda, South America or here. I understand that they belong to an organization that is promoting the criminalization of being born LGBT in Uganda, but do you not think for a minute that if they could get away with it here that they wouldn't attempt the same thing? I would bet my last cent they would.

Posted by Dave Hershey on 11/27/2009 @ 06:24PM PT
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You would be rich, if they would let you keep it! Hahahahahaha

Posted by Peter S. T. on 11/27/2009 @ 06:51PM PT
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Yep but that would be one bet I wouldnt mind losing.

Posted by Reverend Boony on 11/30/2009 @ 03:59AM PT
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I would think this politicans who support the killings of the GLBT community should be arrested under the new found law of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act which was passed into law on October 22, 2009 and was signed into law by President Barack Obama on October 28, 2009 as a rider to the National Defense Authorization Act for 2010 (H.R. 2647).

Because these politicans are supporting another politicans acts to kill GLBT people.

Just a thought

Posted by Lara Nunes on 01/17/2010 @ 08:54AM PT
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Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He is the former Communications Director for the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, as well as the former Director of Communications for Pax Christi USA, a national Catholic peace and justice organization. Mike is a graduate of Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and he is also a proud sketch comedy writer.