Barry Duke, the Angry Atheist

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   You get drivel about aliens, abduction etc from all sorts of people, not just Christians – there are atheists, agnostics…

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   […] last time I had had occasion to write about Rowan County clerk Kim Davis, above, was three years ago…

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   Whatever is presented on the BBC, and I must admit I do not watch the TV, the fact is that…

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   “The curriculum had already drawn tensions among the county’s religious parents, with some worrying about appropriateness and arguing the material…

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   As someone who produced dozens of nativity plays as a teacher and a Sunday School leader, that title ‘A Gay…

SSEMPA, who has been pushing unsuccessfully for years to have death sentences imposed for homosexuality in his country, is now suggesting that “that “rehabilitation” centres be set up for “to “cure” LGBT+ people.

Ssempa, a sufferer of Christian-induced chronic imbecility, was reacting to news that a draconian anti-gay bill had been rejected by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni for further consideration.

According to The Guardian Museveni has returned the bill back to parliament for reconsideration and “improvement.”

The bill in its current form imposes capital and life-imprisonment sentences for gay sex, up to 14 years for “attempted” homosexuality, and 20 years in jail for “recruitment, promotion and funding” of same-sex “activities”.

Writing for The Guardian, Simon Okiror said that was not immediately clear whether the proposed changes would make the proposed law even tougher, although a spokesperson said the President had asked lawmakers to consider “the issue of rehabilitation”.

Ssempa, a key supporter of the bill, is quoted as saying:

It’s a good step forward to include in the legislation an amnesty for those giving up sodomy voluntarily.

He claimed that the establishment of “gay cure” centres would be “human and legitimate.”

The bill, which the UN human rights head, Volker Türk, last month described as “shocking and discriminatory”, was passed almost unanimously by 389 MPs on March 21.

Mixed reactions

The decision to return the bill to parliament prompted mixed reactions, with human rights campaigners calling for it to be shelved entirely.

Image via YouTube

Adrian Jjuuko, above, of the Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum in Kampala, said Museveni’s decision offered another chance to defeat the bill, but warned that the President’s ambiguous comments about rehabilitation and “psychologically disoriented” people were still troubling.

He seems to only want to exclude from punishment persons who come out as gay and seek rehabilitation. This would have the impact of turning some LGBTI persons against others as the one who reports first and plays victim in a consensual relationship would get away scot-free.

Agnès Callamard, the secretary general of Amnesty International, said the “deeply repressive” bill should be dropped.

Instead of persecuting LGBTI people, the Ugandan authorities should protect their rights by aligning their laws with international human rights law and standards.

According to Wiki, In October 2012 Ssempa and five other other were convicted in Buganda Road Court of conspiring to tarnish a rival pastor’s reputation by falsely accusing him of engaging in homosexuality.

The guilty verdict stemmed from a May 2009 incident in which Ssempa and the others engaged in a conspiracy to coerce church members at Robert Kayanja‘s Rubaga Miracle Center Cathedral to claim that they had sexual relations with Kayanja.

A year later Ssempa caused outrage when, in promoting Uganda’s first anti-LGBT+ bill, showed his church congregation hard-core gay porn.

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If you spot any typos in this report, please alert me via email: freethinkered@aol.