Scary Sexual Practices in Uganda:
This article is found on Times Online, the article is written by Tristan McConnell who is an international correspondent that currently resides in Nairobi. The article titled “Ugandan MPs debate Bill proposing death sentence for gay sex” was published on December 18, 2009. Here is a link for the article : http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article6960920.ece
Shocking. That is the one word that comes to mind after being ambushed by this article. I was caught totally off guard by this article and the bill that was being proposed in it. In Uganda there is in the process draft legislation for a law that will enact the death penalty for any citizen caught in a homosexual act. The bill goes even further by citing the consequences of individuals known to be aiding and abetting individuals partaking in such acts. The bill has come to light in Uganda for multiple reasons both of which are very notable and important on a global level. The first reason, main reason why Ugandan politicians are pushing the bill is because of the evangelical Christianity push in Uganda. The bill as one unnamed politician says is aimed too, ““strengthening the nation’s capacity to deal with emerging internal and external threats to the traditional heterosexual family”. Although the evangelical Christianity is an important factor in the radical and by some considered “inhumane” bill it is not the whole side. How this article relates to History of Epidemic Diseases has to do with not only Uganda’s but Africa’s HIV/Aids population. Over the course of the last 30 years a lot has been learned about HIV/Aids and a lot of stereotypes have been formed about the topic. A very common stereotype that has been associated with HIV/Aids individuals is their sexuality; particularly their sexual orientation. The Bill calls for mandatory testing for HIV and forced disclosure of HIV status of infected individuals. The Bill proposes the death penalty as a possible punishment for the “willful transmission of HIV to others”.
Overall as an article I find it informative if not mostly because I was completely unaware that it was happening. The article cites people from both sides of the argument and really cements the fact that evangelical Christians are a big part of the debate. Personally I find the idea inhumane and think that it is just flat out wrong. On a world level the law is seen in a similar light with some countries expressing such distaste that they are threatening to cut foreign aid to Uganda. I choose this article for shock value and that it is a subject that is very radical, or at least from an American point of view seems so. I also choose the article because it not only highlights HIV/Aids but does it in an area where the disease is problematic. Not only problematic, but I feel as though to a degree the disease is almost associated with Africa unfortunately. Furthermore HIV/Aids has been easily one of the biggest players as far as epidemic diseases since its arrival in the early 1980’s, in retrospect to history it is a very new and still puzzling disease. Is Uganda right about this law? If the law eventually passes how will other countries that currently give Uganda aid react to it? What about the thousands of homosexuals living in Uganda, is this an invasion of right? Basic sexual orientation? I’m curious of any and all points of view
-Tim O’Sullivan
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I agree with Tim, this is really shocking. I feel like the Ugandan goverment can't be properly educated on HIV/AIDS based on them wanting to propose the death sentence for homosexual sex. HIV/AIDS is trasmitted through, among other things, heterosexual sex and shared needles. does this mean that they will outlaw heterosexual sex too? I'm really interested to see where this goes.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting article, Tim! Although I found this article kind of shocking too, I also see very valid points made by the Ugandan Government. It is extremely sad that we live in a world in which our own brotherly human beings would knowingly transmit a deadly virus to one another. I really like the wording the article uses and that you picked out when they said "The willful transmission of HIV/Aids." As sad as it is, if you are a person with HIV/Aids, and you have unprotected sexual intercorse with another person, you are potentially killing them. In some respects, this is why I do not completely disagree with the Ugandan Bill proposing death as a potential punishment for homosexaual intercorse, because in a way, should't the people potentially facing death considered murders as well? This is not to say that I believe in the death penalty 100 percent or that it is fair in all situations, I am simply saying that it doesn't come as a full surprise to me that some people would feel this way and I can see the governments reasoning as to why they proposed this bill.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very shocking article! Good choice Tim. I think this article has a bad but, also a good side. The bad obviously is that Uganda is trying to pass a law that could make homosexuals get killed. I think this is ridiculous and a horrible idea. I think that Uganda has to take a step back and really look at the situation. Clearly they are trying to be more advanced and have a advantage over other countries by trying to make AIDS/HIV less in their country. However, they are proposing to kill thousands of people in order to decrease the cases of a disease that kills thousands of people in their country. There is really no gain! Also they are not helping their country be "one" and happy under one religion if they are trying to kill homosexuals.
ReplyDeleteThe good part of Tim's article is that Uganda is proposing to have mandatory HIV testings. This is a great idea. This will really cut down on the amount of people who get HIV. Also Uganda thinks that homosexuals are spreading the disease, but if they all get tested then they will know whether or not they have AIDS or HIV. I look forward to seeing what the government decides.
Good choice tim. This article is very unsettleing to me. The thought of people willingly transmitting this deadly disease to others show me one of the ugly sides of the human race. I am sure that many people in Uganda fell threatened about this known fact, and that is why they see it fit to employ the death penalty. this could be a very effective way of punishment because it may decrease the future amount of people infected with the disease, but I do not believe the death penalty is that necessary. There are other ways to help protect the population, and I fell that other steps should be deployed inorder to prevent this problem. I do not know what kind of steps they are willing to take seeing how I am not fighting on the front of the battle, and am only a bystander. I hope they can work it out without using the death penalty.
ReplyDeleteI am very shocked by this article mainly because I had no idea any of this was happening. i do agree that the "willful transmission of HIV/AIDS" is wrong and should be a punishable crime, but I do not agree with the idea that a homosexual act deserves the death penalty. I think its great that Uganda is propsing mandatory HIV/AIDS testing, but I think it is a bit ignorant of the government to think that only homosexuals are spreading it. I think that the death penalty is way to extreme for a homosxual act, and instead I think that the government should spend money on teching safe sex and information about HIV/AIDS, instead of trying to eradicate the problem completely by ostrasizing a certain group.
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