Anti-gay bill in Uganda challenges Catholics to take a stand

This is very interesting, I am interested to follow this as time goes on and see what the African bishops have to say.

Homosexuality may be repulsive to many people but this is not the way to deal with it. If this is what Christianity in Uganda is like, God help that nation because it has gone beyond the compassion and mercifulness of Jesus. This new law sounds 'tribal' to me rather than coming from inspired direction from God after hours of prayer. This is tantamount to the way certain countries dealt with lepers in the unenlightened times of years ago. If I were a Catholic Ugandan, I would be ashamed to be part of this. It is arrogant. It is inhumane and it is not of God.

I guess we'll see how pro-life the Ugandan bishops are based on their actions on this absolutely medieval proposal. To criminalize sexual acts between consenting adults is bad enough but the death penalty? How can anyone call himself or herself a Christian and propose such barbarity? How can one profess to be a follower of Jesus and be involved in this evil?

Maybe they should jail, or cut off the male appendage when they find heterosexual men with HIV who force themselves on their wives or women friends or those they rape. Wouldn't that stop the spread of HIV among women as well as condoms?

Is it here pertinent to recall the martyrology of Ugandan Saint Charles Lwanga and companions, canonized in 1964?

The Breviarium Romanum at Lesson V of the Office of Ss. Matthias Murumba, Charles Lwanga and Companions reports one of the reasons why Ugandan King Mwanga was outraged against these Catholics was, as it is written in Wikipedia: "they refused to accede to demands to participate in sexual acts with him." According to the Dictionary of African Christian Biography in its article on Saint Charles Lwanga, he, himself a court page, protected other pages from the king's advances.

Elsewhere we read the king's alleged lifestyle was the fruit of foreign influence, as is alleged in this article. Leaving aside for now lascivious and perhaps libelous speculation of events of 123 years ago, let us pray for the continuing intercession and protection of this great Saint Charles Lwanga, whose feast we celebrate June 3. The Vatican archives mention his Anglican companions, while not themselves eligible for canonization, are "worthy of mention" for receiving the martyr's palm: "death for the name of Christ."

Laws like this are truly horrible! The death penalty should never be used for something less than the taking of a life in a particularly egregious manner. The Africans are very hypocritical when it comes to sexuality. There is an epidemic of heterosexual promiscuity in Africa.

That is the real sexual problem there not homosexuality. Some of it is unbelievable like the medicine men who "cleanse" widows by having sex with them. This is one example of how AIDS is tranfered in Africa. The Africans need significant cultural change to address their heterosexual problems. Then & only then will the AIDS crisis be brought under some semblance of control.

The African bishops won't say anything, for fear of the charge of 'hypocrisy' (over their several wives, many of whom came to Rome for the recent African Synod).

Hi John,

I think this is well written article with one exception. You say, "As time goes on, Catholic silence will be increasingly unsustainable, especially if the bill comes up for a vote." but you don't provide support for that statement.

In the US we have a long recent history of silent Bishops when it comes to matters that you'd think have passed any sustainability of silence. For example, Bishop Niederstadt of San Francisco has not commented on the scandal perpetrated weekly by the Speaker of the House.

It seems to me your definition of unsustainable seems to change with your political leanings.

The reaction of the African bishops will decide whether one of them would be considered to be the next Pope.

My first reaction: Catholic Uganda is facing the issue of homosexuality; Catholic U.S.A. has several bioethical issues, the most prominent being abortion. All of the issues have many subdivisions with many entanglements and implications. How to access the wisdom of Solomon, follow in the footsteps of the nonviolent Jesus, fulfill the mandates to love God with everything and our neighbor as ourselves? There are several reasons for which I've kept Uganda in my prayerful energy. This message adds more emphasis to these.

John Allen states: "More broadly, criminalizing homosexuality to such an extent runs the risk of driving it further underground, with especially worrying consequences for the treatment of HIV/AIDS."
This is nonsense. Pandering to the homosexualist lobby has worrying consequences for the future prospect of effective control of HIV/AIDS, robust anti-homosexualist legislation cannot. It flourished without suchmeasures.
But certainly the proposed legislation does go too far.

This proposed law is flawed on its face — first   singling out a culturally stigmatized minority population of people,   then   proceeding to demonize them alone as the primary source of all of society’s woes,   and finally   setting penalties designed to wipe them from the face of the earth.     It is no different than the methods of ethnic cleansing and racial discrimination wherever it raises its ugly head.     Bigoted religious zealots have always used as their war cry to “hate the sin; love the sinner” — which in practical application does nothing of the sort,   but is rather a lame attempt to justify cold-blooded stereotyping,   hatred   and   fear,   directed toward human persons.
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Closeted gay hierarchs are likely to do what the Biblical priest and Levite did…   “pass by on the other side”.     After all,   why risk exposing themselves to messy scrutiny,   and   heaven forbid they might become “ritually unclean” by association.     They survive their own internal self-loathing by projecting it onto others,   all while invoking the Name of God.     There’s no doubt that many of the hierarchy of any/all sexual orientation would qualify for the penalties of this law if truth were made public in a court of criminal law about their sad history of enabling sexual abuse of the vulnerable.     There is a reason why the Vatican has become a port of entry for amnesty against criminal extradition of favored clerics,   who have run out of options for stonewalling the courts in their country of origin.
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Considering the outright persecution of gays and their families by the Catholic Church hierarchs in the United States (note that 50 dioceses ganged-up to funnel hate money into Maine to revoke the law providing equal CIVIL protection for gay families),   this Ugandan law sounds like something that could have been written by those same bishops.     The quoted church-speak:   “that homosexual persons ‘must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity,’   and   that ‘every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided’” …is a load of hypocritical double-speak of faux-morality.     Look at Maine;   look at Washington DC.     Any time the words   “intrinsically disordered”   or   “intrinsically evil”   are used to describe a person or persons (directly or indirectly),   ‘respect,   compassion   and   sensitivity’ vanish into the cultural and ecclesiastical ether.
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For sure,   however the hierarchs opt to proceed or not,   it will be based as always on a self-serving calculation of risk versus benefit for their clerical club and its treasury.     We’ve seen this movie before.

"What will Catholic leaders in Uganda have to say?"

If that question wasn't so pitifully sad, it might be funny.

Is there the remotest possibilty that these "leaders" will parrott anything other then their religious and ethnic prejudices? Catholicism has a very poor track record of actually influencing actions for the good when it comes to matters sexual.

If you believe that these people will take a moderating to liberal approach, then I have a big bridge in San Francisco that I will sell you very cheaply.

Uganda is going to be one of the greatest countries in Africa if she can wage war against this universal plague that started from Sodom and reigning in the western world,but if she can review that of "Anyone who fails to report homosexuals to the police would face a prison term of three years".I thank God for the President and parliament for their thought for God and the humanity,never be frightened by the contaminated ones who are looking for prey.

Democracy is not the demonstration of craziness in any form.

Long live Uganda,long live Morality

Well, the intent of negative traditional views, religious and cultural, does seem clear, taken on the whole. As Harvard's Dr. Green says, "...drive homosexuality [which can be decoded to mean, ... drive queer folks ...?] underground", ... terrorize gay men, gay women, and their loved ones; ... and justify witch hunts. The burdens of showing fairness, human decency, and as the Augustinian trope grudgingly has it, ... love for sinners .... is now squarely on the believer sides of this increasingly nasty social and religious equation. Alas. If human rights is dismissable as a western-democratic colonialist ploy, we will end up having empty spaces and violence, exactly where the western democracies used to be. Typically as these things often go, dumming up meanness against queer folks is still a keen and useful test case, before the list gets further populated with the expendable who may be imprisoned and killed by state force, justified by religious allegiances, little protest and even less caution. Lord have mercy.

Would the liberal mantra "Keep the Church out of politics" apply in this case?. And when they say that Ugandans know best what is good for Uganda, not Canada or Britain, I am reminded of those who say that American Catholics know best what is good for America, not Rome (a recent exemple being the reaction of the LCWR regarding the visitation).
Being Canadian, and more specifically French-Canadian, I understand well the feeling of rebellion against outside interference. And as a Catholic, I would chose "interference" from Rome above that of dissidents like the LCWR, the UN or others.
Elise B.

What the "intrinsically disordered" crowd fail to recognize is that their stance is essentialy the first step on the slippery slope to the Ugandan death penalty.

Being a little homophobic is analagous to being a little pregnant.

Thank you John Allen for reporting on this important development. Catholic Bishops SHOULD speak out against this Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2009. It is a parallel of the round up of the Jews in Europe by Hitler. It is motivated by hatred, bigotry and violence toward a group of human beings who don't follow a proscribed set of values as laid out by Protestant Fundamentalists and other hate mongers. It is an example of the most shameful behavior and inhumanity to other human beings. The far right Anglicans who plan to come over to the Church of Rome, you know, the ones who can't accept women as equal members of the Body of Christ by ordaining them as priests and bishops, yes this group of Anglicans. The other part of the "Traditional Anglicans" motivation to become Roman Catholics is their hatred of homosexual persons. A gay priest was consecrated a bishop and the priest has a long standing committed monogamous relationship with another man. These are the same people who would happily support such a law in America if they could but fortunately most Americans have moved beyond expressing this kind of hatred. The Catholic bishops have caused a great deal of violence against homosexual persons by their false rhetoric over the past decade but I wouldn't hold my breath about our bishops getting any sense of moral ethics to stand against this hate filled proposed Act in Uganda. The Bishop of Rome and The Archbishop of Canterbury SHOULD HAVE ALREADY SPOKEN OUT AGAINST such a hate filled piece of legislation, but they have REMAINED SILENT. Benedict of course was a member of the Hitler Youth so this makes it even more imperative that he above all other Christian leaders should have spoken AGAINST this. Catholic leaders in Uganda will remain cowards by their silence also. The blood will be on the hands of all Christian leaders who remain silent.

Excuse me if I ask why there isn't such an article being published every time a Muslim is either gaoled or killed because they are discovered homosexual - those who live in Muslim Sharia Law countries of course.
It's just a beat-up by Western gay lobbyists because Uganda has so many Christians, Catholics especially.

By the way, has NCR gone over to the gay lobbyists?

Thank you for this thoughtful, incisive and challenging article, on an issue that is too often ignored: the on-going and active persecution of gay people in many countries around the world. John Allen is right - this is a test for the African bishops - do they really believe in justice, sensitivity, respect, compassion, and the ending of unjust discrimination for homosexual people? It is also, however, a test for the whole Catholic Church, and for this Pope. The Vatican, quite recently, rejected a motion at the United Nations calling for an end to criminalization, imprisonment, harsh punishments and the executions of gay people around the world - this rejection was shameful, but it did spark enough comment and outrage for the Vatican's spokesperson to publicly state that the Church opposes the criminalization of homosexual activity, and calls for the repeal of laws that order imprisonment and other harsh penalties for homosexuals. This Ugandan bill, without question, is exactly the kind of legislation that the UN resolution sought to prevent, and that even the Vatican agreed should not be allowed. Will the Pope and the Vatican now publicly - or privately - call for the rejection of this inhumane and unjust bill - will Benedict call on the Ugandan bishops - privately or publicly - and make it clear what he, and the Church expects of them (and it is no secret that African bishops, no less than most other Catholic bishops, look to Rome for guidance on many, many matters)? If the Church really does believe that gay people should be treated with respect, sensitivity and compassion, and that unjust discrimination, imprisonment and harsh penalties should not be used against them - then the Ugandan bishops, the Pope and the Vatican MUST speak out !! Justice and Charity demands it!

A glance at history and sociolody would show that homosexuality is hardly a Western aberration. Any study of the animal world shows how prevalent this is. Let's start any discussion from facts.

Very few people in the Roman Catholic community and virtually no one in the Anglican or Pentecostal communities is in a position to lecture the Ugandan government on gay rights. They all bear varying degrees of responsibility for the violence inflicted on gays and lesbians not only in Africa but South America and Asia. The United States may be marginally better but little of that is due to organized religions. Archbishop Akinola in neighboring Nigeria is probably as responsible as anyone for keeping the members of his church hostile toward gays. For the Roman Catholic church, this love the sinner and hate the sin nonsense has been a dismal failure. Tell your average uneducated thug on the street that gays are "intrinsically disordered" and he needs no more reason to go out a bash a few fags; intrinsically disordered being something even few psychiatrists believe any longer. Instead of pious lectures just stop the hatred and the interfering with civil & human rights and the fairy stories about the gay agenda.

Should this anti-gay legislation pass in Uganda, the entire homosexual
community world-wide will boycott Uganda. Such a bigotted and inhumane law
would certainly backfire on the supposed christian government.
For the most part, the homosexual community world-wide is better educated,
more politically savvy, and earns higher wages with which to spend or
invest its monies on vacation junkets and/or tourism, such as in Uganda.
The Ugandans should think twice before embarking on such a reckless course
of action. Moreover, they should seriously examine how the exodus of
baptized homosexual believers from traditional Christian denominations
have drastically drained church coffers world-wide.

As much as population and membership trends in the church tilt toward the global south, it is the global north that must lead the church and the world beyond so-called "values" that devalue human beings in the minority or who have less power historically, i.e., gays, women.

Formerly it was slavery, religious freedom, suffrage, racism. Now marital equity, and full affirmation of God's call of women to ordained ministry and leadership in the church are current tests. Bishops who defend "values" that devalue and discount the rights and gifts of their fellow children of God are destined to join those on the wrong side of history. Sadly, it will be future generations who craft the apologies on their behalf.

This would be an appropriate time for Catholic leaders to take a page from the LDS Church's recent playbook here in the States. Astonishingly, the Mormon Church, even though it is against the legalization of same-sex marriage, came out in support of an ordinance in Salt Lake City that would provide equal protection and prohibit discrimination against homosexual persons on the basis of sexual orientation.

This would be a reasonable place for the Church to start on the area of LGBT rights. It's understandable, however ignorant its judgment may be, that the Church currently considers homosexual marriage to be immoral. But if the Church really means what it proclaims when it says that it respects the "human dignity" of all individuals than this opportunity in Uganda, where this haneous, inhumane initiative has been proposed, would provide the perfect occasion for the Church to meet gay and lesbianp persons at the halfway point. It could mark the beginning of a new era of relations within the Church concerning the issue of homosexuality.

From this point, the USCCB could even imitate the wise and reasoned approach of the Bishops's Conference of Portugal, while opposing same-sex "marriage" (clearly, it's the word that they're upset about) but endorse civil unions for LGBT individuals. This would at least show, that the bishops aren't homophobic, but are just acting out of principal. However, as of right now, they're actions up to this point have proved the contrary. A new approach to the issue of homosexuality must be conceived!

John left out one very important aspect of this crisis. This attack on gays and gay rights has been heavily funded by rightwing groups in the US. The sentiments expressed here about western interference from the left are being made by people, like Anglican Archbishop Akinola, whose pockets are bulging with money from the Institute for Religion and Democracy and other rightwing political groups like the infamous "C Street Family."

The following link will take anyone interested to an NPR interview conducted with Jeff Sharlett who details the financial and political connections of Mr. David Bahati to the Family. http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=120746516

Wow. That is beyond the pale. Homosexual activity is obviously a very grave sin incapable in any way shape or form of being oriented toward any good end. Those afflicted with such a condition need compassion and healing. Executing rapists I could see, at least in theory, especially in subsaharan Africa since rape can often mean AIDS; Though I personally believe that there is virtually no reason to execute people in the modern world (the Church does leave that one to the state to a certain degree).
However, the last charge is ridiculous. Executing people because they have been incontinent in dealing with a terrible condition they have? That is just evil.
The Church should never be afraid of defending the dignity and rights of any individual, even those with a terribly broken worldview. Jesus defended sinners and lived among them. He called them to conversion, but at the same time did all he could to fend off those who attacked them in their weakness.

I don't see what the problem is with this bill from a Catholic perspective. Perhaps some of the measures are too harsh, but fundamentally there does not appear to be anything wrong with it. It is true, as John says, that the Catechism says we should treat homosexuals with respect and sensitivity, and that we should love them. But it does not say that they should not be punished if it is necessary to protect the common good within a particular society, but only that "unjust" discrimination should be avoided. As Christians we should treat all people with respect, compassion, and sensitivity, even a murderer or a rapist, so I don't see how this passage from the Catechism has any bearing on whether or not homosexuality should be outlawed.

Moreover, most of the measures contained in this bill, far from being a cause of concern, are actually something which I would have expected Catholics to support. I'm speaking firstly of the fact that the bill recognises that there is a particular gravity to homosexual acts when they are committed with minors, and secondly of the fact that it bans pro-homosexual advocacy and promotion of so-called "gay rights". In addition, using drugs or intoxicants to sodomise an unwilling victim is clearly an outrage, and I completely fail to see what the issue is with giving this fact legal recognition and punishing such wickedness in a court of law.

CCC 2242 states "The citizen is obliged in conscience not to follow the directives of civil authorities when they are contrary to the demands of the moral order, to the fundamental rights of persons or the teachings of the Gospel." From what is written above, none of the provisions of this bill appears to contradict the demands of the moral order or the fundamental rights of persons (it would be perverse to claim that there is some kind of "right" to engage in intrinsically evil acts), or the teachings of the Gospel. Hence, I fail to see why Catholics ought to protest against it. The death penalty is, I agree, probably not warranted, but it is probably a preferrable situation to that of the Western World where militant and predatory homosexuals are given complete impunity to seduce the young, and corrupt the morals of society by spreading their filthy propaganda. Perhaps the liberal intelligentsia in the USA should take the log out of their own eye before they start picking at the splinter in that of Uganda.

To make it clear, I am certainly not a supporter of the death penalty for homosexuals. To me, it seems unecessary, but states do have the right to use if THEY deem it to be necessary to protect the people from internal agressors, and the point here is, that neither I, nor John Allen, is charged with the responsibility for the common good of the people of Uganda. As there is nothing per se immoral in this bill, why not just leave it to those who are responsible for the Ugandan people, and instead of suggesting that they are somehow trying to "get one over" on the Western World, trust that they are doing it to protect the common good of their own people. That a relatively benign legislative measure should provoke such horror amongst the minds of our own self-appointed liberal elite is simply another indication of the cancerous moral decline that is eating away at the soul of America and Western Europe.

It's not easy: making abortion and homosexuality legal in the US has led to millions of deaths and a break-up of family values. On the other hand, legalizing bi-racial marriages has helped foster greater understanding of the races and lessened racial prejudice.

The point is, stick to your Jesus led, Christian values and you can't go wrong.

.” The Catechism unambiguously classifies homosexuality as “intrinsically disordered,” but adds that homosexual persons “must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity,” and that “every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.”

Isn't classifying homosexuality as "intrinsically disordered" unjust discrimination? After all, a hommosexual person is born that way and God does not make junk. The above quotation "intrinsically" contradicts itself. We, as the People of God, need to grow up in all of our teaching about sexuality. Will this happen in our lifetimes? Don't hold your breath...

It is very disturbing that while gay and lesbian individuals are experiencing unprecedented acceptance and freedom in the Western nations, our brothers and sisters in many parts of Africa face such intolerable persecution. I urge us all to pray that Catholic bishops in Uganda do all they can to defeat this bill, which, if anything does, calls for such unjust discrimination. It is understandable, given Uganda's history, that outside and Western influence are not welcome. However, it is a great crime to make gay men and lesbian women suffer such a harsh penalty for the sins of colonialism.

Mr. Allen,
I think you are right that the death penalty and threatening to send people to jail for not reporting homosexual acts should be taken out of the legislation. But I commend what the Ugandans are trying to accomplish with this bill - to further marginalize and condemn homosexuality.

I would add, what is wrong with making public advocacy of homosexuality illegal, as you seemed to imply? I see this as absolutely the correct position for a country trying to build a just society. To say that there should be no limits on "free speech" as many Americans do is the wrong notion altogether, and we see the evil fruits of it all over the west.

This is, indeed, a very thorny situation. Thank you, John Allen, for calling this to our attention. We need to pray for wisdom on the part of Ugandan Catholics.

What is the logical conclusion to laws of ignorance and hatred towards one's neighbor?

The "logical" conclusion to essentially scapegoat a defenseless minority group and define them as "disordered" according to one's narcissistic view or an ignorant bigot's interpretation and to attempt to socially and legally corral or control the "disordered" into a prison of one's darkened sense of logical conscience and consciousness is to cause the "disordered'" death or attempt to seek annihilation of the "disordered." And so it is with the law of logical ignorance and using it to enforce one's logical ignorance as the logical law of the land.

I find it unchristian to invite such a law against homosexuals in Uganda, as un-Christ-like and evil as anti-Semitism or slavery. But it is the "logical" conclusion or "final solution" inasmuch as anti-Semitism was the final solution against Jews in the last century. The same type of rationalizations & psycho-dynamics of thought occur in those "final solutions" when one looks into the deeper details and psychoanalytical dynamics of what occurs when people decide and dictate the fate and consciousness of others, who they deem "intrinsically disordered."

Uganda is in the spotlight now over this issue of ignorance against gays. The root of this ignorance comes from our own Catholic Church hierarchy's evil dogma as well as Christian Evangelicals evil dogma, both of which are rooted in Western ideas being supreme and superior to all, even over God. It is the divisive wedge issue of our time, in similar fashion to anti-Semitism of a century filled with bloodshed, death and destruction. The laws of mayhem beget only mayhem.

Even if one were to apply St. Augustine's "love the sinner, hate the sin" it would not have allowed those in the last century the true Christian way to find one's way out of belief and hatred towards one's neighbor which included Jews, homosexuals, gypsies or communist, socialist, the mentally ill, those not pure enough in one crazy sense after another, anyone deemed as "useless" - which in the end included anyone who did not agree with the powers of evil. One's idea of sin, if it is wrong and used to condemn others, allows for many injustices that create evil on a larger scale when allowed for by laws, one after the other, that grow like a malignant cancer.

The death penalty for gays is the logical conclusion to the false belief that gays are "intrinsically disordered." This belief is rooted in the misreading or false conclusions derived from literal & immature interpretations from the Bible. The root cause for the attempt to exterminate the Jews came also from the misreading or false conclusions derived from literal interpretations of the Bible.

Here we go again into this new century with another scapegoat, the homosexuals. The lessons of history are not learned by ignorance and hatred for the truth over and over and over again. Here we go again people. Are we People of God or are we to judge and condemn our neighbors?

Will we, as true followers of Jesus Christ, as some did in Europe hiding Jews in attics, creating Anne Frank's, or hiding slaves in hidden walls & basements, now have to create an underground railroad for gays?

If people with homosexual orientation struggle to live chaste lives like ALL Catholics are called to do then there would be no reason to go "underground" and fear. God bless the Ugandan bishops for taking a strong stand against the scourge of homosexuality as well as taking a strong stand against adultery, pornography and fornication.

When "Christians" propose measures such as these, we have no right to criticize Islam for stonings, decapitations, and defenestrations. Even if you consider homosexuality a perversion, is not this reaction far more perverse? What is the greater threat to society same sex coupling or murder and terror? Where are the voices of the "evangelical" leaders decrying this?

It is very dangerous when "culture" trumps theology. Jesus did not speak about homosexuality. He was not obssessed with sex the way we are and he did not let the culture of the day trump his message. Adulterers should be stoned. Afraid not Pharisees. Sickness indicates un repented sin. Afraid not Pharisees He did not cloak cultural norms in religious garb. Let's get back to Him and His message and not get into the cultural nonsense whether it is from the southern hemisphere, the colonials, the e treme right or tribal customs.

An excellent article, as we have come to expect from Mr. Allen. I have read reports on other blogs and news sites that the sponsor Bahati is tightly attached to "The Family", an evangelical conservative U.S. group. It appears that the arch-conservative movers and shakers here in the U.S. are stretching their tentacles (and the whole U.S. culture war) to Africa.

As an Anglican, I'm appalled at the comments of the Anglican clergy quoted by John in the article. Will the RC bishops show some true Christian charity? Sadly, I'm not optimistic.

I read a book by a an author named Jeff Sharlet. The book's title is "The Family." He did a very intense study of this group based in Washington, D.C. There is another article written by Mr. Sharlet that may shed some light on this situation in Africa. I very much recommend his book. This is a link to his article about Uganda:

http://www.nowpublic.com/world/us-fundamentalist-group-heart-ugandas-ant...

"Homosexuality has long been illegal in Uganda, as in most African societies, reflecting traditional African morality and a strong cultural emphasis on the family", according to John Allen. So, what specifically are the African views on the family?
Africa is a huge continent, made up of many ethnic and tribal populations. So, I doubt if we could speak of "traditional African morality and a strong emphasis on the family", as if this would uniformly apply to all of Africa and its peoples.
Allow me to relate what I recently learned from a young man visiting from Ghana. He told me about his family: his father had two wives and fathered 17 children. This young man told me that these children were the father's "property", not the mother's; this was, he assured me, according to Ghanian cultural/religious customs. But then his father had converted to Christianity, and was told to get rid of one of the two wives. And so it happened, with this second wife's children staying behind with the father: they were his "property". This dismissed wife was the young man's mother; he didn't know where his mother was, he hadn't seen her since she was forced to leave (so much for the application of "Christian family values".)
So, when Africans talk about traditional African "family values", we shouldn't assume that they talk about the same "family values" as we here in the West are accustomed to. We might also take note of the fact that a marriage between ONE man and ONE woman is obviously not a universal given; it never was (read the Old Testament for example). And studying the history of the family based on reliable sources (including the Old Testament), we would learn that a family as contemporary religious leaders like to define it as part of their anti same-sex marriage rhetoric, did not exist universally from the beginning of time, but evolved over time in different ways among different peoples; it still continues to do so in this day and age.
Having said all this (admittedly a bit off-topic): I hope and pray that catholic bishops and other Christian church leaders in Africa will have the courage and wisdom to speak out against these proposed draconian anti-homosexual laws. These laws aren't Christian, nor are they humane.

Catholic lay leaders in Uganda will parrot whatever their bishops say,
IF they want to continue being considered lay leaders.
What else is new, this goes on throughout the Catholic Church.

Dear John, you write, "Homosexuality has long been illegal in Uganda, as in most African societies, reflecting traditional African morality and a strong cultural emphasis on the family." Possibly correct, but you omit the biggest reason: the imposition of colonialist Anglo homophobia on Uganda. It is a matter of record that the most homophobic countries on earth are former British colonies -- from Malaysia and Singapore in Asia to Uganda and Zimbabwe in Africa to Jamaica in the westeern hemisphere. Even in Pakistan the law vs. homosexuality is not a result of Muslim sharia but a British colonial legal legacy as was the recently repealed proscription of homosexuality in India. I expect Ugandan proscriptions of homosexuality also originated in British colonial times. So, the Anglican prelate's blaming of homosexuality on colonialism (and denial of natural homosexuality among native Ugandans) is exactly backwards. Factually, it is homophobia that is the colonialist import, not homosexuality itself.

"Homosexuality has long been illegal in Uganda, as in most African societies, reflecting traditional African morality and a strong cultural emphasis on the family".

Rather, these proposed laws are reflective of colonial and, more recently, imported American evangelical morality.

"Anyone who fails to report homosexuals to the police would face a prison term of three years. The bill also bars the “promotion” of homosexuality, in language that would essentially outlaw pro-gay support or advocacy groups."

Sounds just like Hitler's DNA equivalent has mutated in Uganda from anti-Semitism to anti-gay persons. Replace the words "homosexuals" with Jews, "homosexuality" with Jewish and "pro-gay support or advocacy groups" with pro-Jewish support or advocacy groups..... Anyone else see this as a mutation of evil and scapegoating for another group of people in the minority?

"What will Catholic leaders in Uganda have to say?"

A better question might be, What will Catholic leaders everywhere have to say? Shouldn't they say that this is evil and not Christian in the least? Shouldn't Catholics address its own institutions homophobia and their desire to end any advocacy groups for gay persons? Shouldn't Catholics discuss the demonization of gays which feeds into this lust and frenzy for gay person's executions? Shouldn't Catholics meet with qualified persons and gay advocacy groups to discuss issues of sexuality?

Should one obey the authority of the Uganda government if this bill is passed? Who will be the first to cast the stone? Should the gay person's mother or father turn their child over to these murderers?

I know if I was the mother or father, sister or brother, cousin or neighbor of a person I knew was gay, would go to jail first before casting a stone against him/her or turning them in to these evil ones!!!

So under this law, if it passes, sex with someone who is disabled is punishable by death. What do they define as "Disabled?" Could someone like me, who is legally blind, go to Uganda, seduce someone of prominence there (i.e. a major backer of the law), have someone film our sex act, then go to the authorities? I'd almost be tempted to try to get a job in the US consulate there which would give diplomatic immunity, then cause as much trouble as I could.