The blatant title is the source of a ridiculously blatant hate speech performed by Ugandan pastor Martin Ssempa. Known by the worldwide YouTube community as "Eat Da Poo-Poo", Ssempa does a presentation of "what gay people do in the privacy of their bedrooms", in hopes of turning even more Ugandans against the LGBT community. The presentation is chockful of hysterics, simmers with fundamentalist Christian ideals and sprinkled with pictures of gay porn as Ssempa describes the act of annilingus, or anal-licking. By the end of the two-minute clip, we don't know whether to laugh at his hysterics, pity his ignorance, or cry in shame of the hate our African brothers and sisters hold in their hearts.
At first glance, we laugh. But those of us who choose to watch the entire 40-minute documentary about the anti-gay bill in Uganda end up doing all three. To make a long story short, Uganda proposed the "Anti-Homosexuality Bill", which would drastically raise the penalties for sodomy. Instead of imprisonment and/or exorbitant fines, the accused and most likely convicted would face either life imprisonment, or if they are repeat offenders--death.
Like in most African countries, the LGBT community has always faced some stigma, and there is always denial that such cultures existed before the arrival of the Europeans. Yet, they are wrong. In tribes such as the Hausa, it was common for some men to not only perform the domestic duties of women, but also them to be sold as male prostitutes. Male homosexual activity was considered to be normal in adolesecence and preadolescence.
These societal practices were considered normal until the arrival of the European missionaries. So if anything, the Europeans taught that homosexuality was wrong, not right and history is repeating itself. As mentioned before, there was always stigma against the LGBT community in modern Uganda, but it got worse when white American Evangelicals such as Rick Warren went to Kampala (the nation's capital) to preach "pro-family" values, which usually translates as "anti-gay". Ever since then, it has become a witch hunt. There are newspapers, such as The Red Pepper, which are dedicated to outing gays and subjecting them to harrassment from their neighbors.
Fortunately, the bill was recommended for removal, thus ending the pending genocide against LGBT Ugandans, the last thing the African continent needs. The supporters of this bill claim that this bill would also protect people against HIV/AIDS, because of the common misconception that gay men spread the disease. Well, it's very hard for them to get treatment if they can't admit their sexual orientation in public, now can they? How can those LGBT people seek treatment if they can't reveal their sexual history? Not to mention that most HIV patients are women, and they get it from rape.
****
What kills me more than anything is that a huge percentage of the anti-gay population in Uganda are those aged 18-25, which is my age group. It's like Bizarro World. Yes, there are some fucked up issues with gay marriage here, but as far as I know, the government would not past such a genocidal law. I'll put it to you like this--I go to a private, liberal arts school, where we hold events such as Safer Sex Night and Drag Ball. If those students came to my school, they'd either faint from shock, try to kill us, or we'd kick them off campus because we don't go for that. At least the surrounding conservative areas have the decency to jeer at us from afar.
AND...obviously, not all gay men perform anal licking. Straight people do anal-licking as well. There's LOT OF STUFF that straight people do that gay people would deem disgusting and wrong (Cunniligus, fellatio, donkey punch, etc.). I would love to see a gay person do a parody of Ssempa's speech titled, "Don't drink da jizz juice." Seriously. But I do not eat da poo poo. I most definitely will not eat the hate speech poo-poo or any other poo-poo like it.
I could go for the obvious and say Ssempa's the one who eats da poo-poo because we all know those who scream "NO HOMO" are nine times out of ten HOMO. This has happened many times over. But I will say that he and all those follow him, not just Ugandans, but anyone who harbors hatred against LGBT people...they eat da poo poo of the fundamentalist Christians, the Evangelicals and those who simply have nothing better to do. I love my LGBT friends simply because I do, and I could not imagine them being ripped away from me.
And usually, those who are repulsed by something, they avoid it completely. Ssempa went headfirst when he looked for the gay porn for his presentation. That's all I'm saying. Hopefully people like him will come to the light and see that Christianity isn't about hate, it's about love. Stop making my religion look bad and stop corrupting my fellow African people.
No comments:
Post a Comment