Second, why is Uganda at the center of controversy over homosexuals? Uganda is a homophobic nation, half of whose population is under the age of 15, and 15% of those children are orphaned. The nation is suffering an HIV/AIDS epidemic. There are no words to briefly convey the staggering loss of teachers, nurses and policemen (for example) who provide stability to the culture, protection and care for the communities and mentors and guardians for the children. I could not find statistics on how many children are raised by only a single parent in a culture overwhelmed by unemployment and utterly lacking income opportunities, paid welfare, paid health care or even free schools. It is common for households with children to have to choose between school for the kids or food for the family - child care or guardianship for multiple children while a single parent searches for work is nonexistent for many households in Uganda.
It is no secret that the Family Research Council spent $25,000 lobbying congress in 2010 with respect to their plans to pass a resolution condemning a poorly written bill in Uganda. (The bill did not become law.) Here is a Tony Perkins quote, from Family Research Council's website. The quote is no longer posted on their website. It was found on internet archives of March 15, 2010 (colors added for emphasis).
Hello, I am Tony Perkins with the Family Research Council. At the recent National Prayer Breakfast, President Obama took the podium calling for greater civility in Washington, which in my opinion is a laudable goal. However, his comments quickly turned to his preoccupation with defending homosexuality. The President criticized Ugandan leaders for considering enhance penalties for crimes related to homosexuality. The press has widely mischaracterized the law which calls for the death penalty, not for homosexual behavior which is already a crime, but for acts such as intentionally spreading HIV/AIDS, or preying upon vulnerable individuals such as children, which has been a problem in Uganda for years because the large number of orphans. The President said that "We may disagree about gay marriage, "but surely we can agree that it is unconscionable to target gays and lesbians for who they are." Mr. President as long as you characterize efforts to uphold moral conduct that protects others and in particular the most vulnerable, as attacking people, civility will continue to evade us.I have been told this quote is proof that Tony Perkins supported execution for gays and lesbians. When I read this quote, I saw that Mr. Perkins supported protection for children and prevention of the deliberate spread of a terminal disease (hereinafter referred to as "murder"). I do not see the connection between consensual homosexual relationships (which I do not believe should be criminalized) and pedophilia and murder (which I hope we agree are criminal activities).
If it's public record that FRC lobbied about the resolution to condemn the Ugandan bill, they must be either for or against the resolution, right? No, the political process is not black and white, which is why enacting new laws (or even non-binding resolutions) can be so complex in the American system. Does the lobbying form that discloses the monies spent tell us what the FRC lobbied for? No. So, who knows what the intent of the FRC was, while they were spending the money? The lobbyists know. What do they have to say about the topic?
The Tony Perkins-led FRC said it did lobby on the bill, but not to kill it - rather to change the language it contained and "to remove sweeping and inaccurate assertions that homosexual conduct is internationally recognized as a fundamental human right."There is no clear contradiction in the first and second quotes. It is possible they could both be true, at the same time. For those who say the first quote is a contradiction to the second, and therefore Tony Perkins lied, I would urge you to carefully reconsider. The logic of such a position is to equate gays and lesbians with pedophiles and murderers, and yet still uphold they should be a protected group of citizens. Such a position does more to harm the image of gays and lesbians than it does to help it.
"FRC did not lobby against or oppose passage of the congressional resolution," the group said. "FRC's efforts, at the request of Congressional offices, were limited to seeking changes in the language of proposed drafts of the resolution, in order to make it more factually accurate regarding the content of the Uganda bill."
"FRC does not support the Uganda bill, and does not support the death penalty for homosexuality - nor any other penalty which would have the effect of inhibiting compassionate pastoral, psychological, and medical care and treatment for those who experience same-sex attractions or who engage in homosexual conduct," the group adds.
My subsequent blog post will be about why it matters to me that supporters of alternate lifestyles spend words educating people on the hate speech of their opponents, and vice versa - homophobes educating people on the destructiveness of gay lifestyles.
