The Pocono Record commends the faith leaders who held vigil Tuesday in Washington, D.C., to support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people in far-off Uganda.
The Bishops and Elders Council convened by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force highlighted their concern that some religious leaders in our own country are actively promoting anti-gay rhetoric in Uganda at the very time that African nation is considering passage of an "Anti-Homosexuality Bill." The bill would make homosexuality punishable by life imprisonment or even death. Such a law could also inflame already dangerous sentiments of anti-gay individuals, who are sometimes prone to violence.
Just about a year ago on the other side of Africa, a mob unearthed the body of a gay man in a cemetery in Thies, Senegal, spit on it, then dragged the corpse to the home of the dead man's elderly parents. Someone filmed the awful scene on a cell phone. The video, passed from phone to phone and ultimately sold at market, panicked many gay Senegalese men. Police began rounding up suspected homosexuals. Some were beaten. Some fled to Gambia, whose president then decreed they had 24 hours to leave or face beheading.
Even in the United States, gays and lesbians often are victims of verbal, physical and sexual abuse. One national study of 9,000 gay high school students showed nearly a quarter of the male students were victimized at least 10 times a year over their sexual orientation. Last year President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard Act into law, expanding the federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. The law helps protect all minorities from violence.
Gays and other minorities in other countries, including Senegal and Uganda, aren't so lucky. So it does not help when some U.S. religious leaders send their own condemnatory, dangerous messages to Africa. One of them, Lou Engle of "TheCall" organization of Kansas City, Mo., is holding a scheduled rally today in Uganda, calling for gays to repent and stressing the evils of "witchcraft" and "homosexuality and increased immorality."
It's one thing to actively support anti-homosexual messages. It's another to hold huge stadium rallies, as Engle plans, with the potential to whip people into a frenzy over others they consider "different."
The Bishops and Elders Council comprises more than 20 communions and networks and more than five million Christians who support the core values of Christian faith — love of God and neighbor, including gays, lesbians and transgendered people. The NGLTF
and the Bishops and the
Council focus on tolerance
and kindness. Their Tuesday vigil offered a positive
response to the suspicion
and hate that can endanger the lives of victims here and abroad.
This troubled world needs more oil on the water and fewer calls for condemnation and division.
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