South Africa: Gay Teens Starved, Tortured, Killed At Camp

Gay Star News reports:

Three ‘gay and effeminate’ teens have died after being starved, tortured and killed at a camp that promised to turn them into ‘men’.
A picture of Raymond Buys, 15, taken in April 2011 showed a skeletal, emaciated figure fighting for his life.
Just 10 weeks before, the teen’s parents signed him up to the Echo Wild Game Rangers training course in South Africa in perfect health.
In hospital, Buys was severely malnourished, dehydrated, his arm was broken in two places and there were burns and wounds all over his body. He lay in intensive care for four weeks until he died.
And now, the course ‘general’ Alex De Koker, 49, and employee Michael Erasmus, 20, are on trial for charges of murder, child abuse and neglect, along with two cases of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm in relation to Buys’ death.
The teen’s death is alleged to have been the third among the Afrikaans children who attended the R22,000 ($2,400, €1,900) courses, which have been advertized since 2006.
‘I sent my son on this course to make him a better man, to give him a better future,’ Buys’ mother told The Daily Telegraph. ‘I trusted Alex De Koker with his life.’
Last week, the Vereeniging District Court heard the testimony of a boy who had shared a tent with Buys, the Daily Maverick reports.
Gerhard Oostuizen, 19, claims Buys was chained to his bed every night, was refused permission to visit the toilet and on one occasion was forced to eat his own faeces.
He also said he would be beaten with planks, hosepipes and sticks when he failed to carry out manual labor tasks.
Oostuizen alleged further he saw De Koker tied Buys to a chair naked with his head covered in a pillowcase, and would electrocute him with a stun gun.
Gender activist Melanie Nathan has said the three young men were all perceived as ‘gay and clearly effeminate’.
In reference to ‘gay conversion camps’, Nathan writes: ‘With a little bit of digging [into the story], the gay reparative undertones start to emerge.’
Eric Calitz, 18, and Nicolaas Van Der Walt, 19, had both died after being enrolled at the Echo Wild Game Rangers camp four years earlier.
When Calitz requested to leave, De Koker reportedly told him he ‘wasn’t a moffie [gay] and he would make a man out of him’.
Calitz’s family was informed of his death via text message, saying he had died of a heart attack.
Afterwards, doctors said the cause of death was from a seizure, dehydration and found bleeding from the brain.
Van Der Walt was also claimed to have died from a heart attack, but doctors said he had appeared to have been choked with a seatbelt.  
Both De Koker and Erasmus have pleaded not guilty to the charges. The case continues.

SOMALIA: Gay Teen Stoned To Death In Somalia In Front Of “Horrified” Village

Joe.My.God. reports:

Identity Kenya reports: 

A gay man was allegedly stoned to death as punishment for homosexuality, a gay Muslim group has said Saturday.  According to Somali Gay Community, the young man, Mohamed Ali Baashi ,18, was buried in a hole up to his chest and then pelted with rocks by members of the Al Qaeda link group Al Shabaab on Friday, March 15, in Barawe, about 50 miles from the capital, Mogadishu. The group, through its Facebook page, Somali Gay Community, posted three photos of alleging they were from the stoning. However, Identity Kenya could not independently verify this claims or the alleged stoning and efforts to reach the group have not been successful.

Gruesome photos of the alleged execution are here, if you dare.

RELATED: In recent years US aid to Somalia has been primarily focused on international humanitarian reliefs campaigns involving food and medicine. However two months ago the United States officially recognized the government of Somalia for the first time in 22 years after the election of a moderate president who has denounced the Al Qaeda-backed group that once controlled much of the nation. 

“There is still a long way to go and many challenges to confront, but we have seen a new foundation for that better future being laid,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday in a joint news conference with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who stood beaming at her side.Even as they were fighting extremists, the country’s leaders were working to create a democratic government, and have done so — with a new president, a new parliament, a new prime minister and a new constitution, she said. Mohamud was elected president in September. Clinton noted that the United States supported the changes, providing more than $650 million in aid to the African Union mission in Somalia, more than $130 million to the country’s security forces, nearly $360 million in emergency humanitarian aid over the past two years and more than $45 million in development-related assistance to help rebuild the economy. In addition, U.S. largesse has provided more than $200 million in aid for Somali refugees throughout the Horn of Africa, she said.

SOUTH AFRICA: Oscar Pistorius Removed From It Gets Better Project

Joe.My.God. reports:

The It Gets Better Project is set to launch in South Africa this week andorganizers say they will not be using a video message recorded for them by Olympian track star Oscar Pistorius, who stands accused of murdering his girlfriend. 

• The campaign, which is to be launched at the Cape Town Holocaust Centre at 7pm, has the support of numerous celebrities, including models Shashi Naidoo and Kerry McGregor, Mr Gay World 2011 Francois Nel, television presenters Sade Giliberti and Jo-Ann Strauss, and struggle hero Ahmed Kathrada. In his video, which will no longer be included in the campaign, Pistorius said: “Just remember that you’re special. You don’t have to worry. You don’t have to change. Take a deep breath and remember ‘It will get better’.”

Sweden: Gay Couple Marry After Fleeing Their Native Uganda Fearing Persecution 

The Local reports:

A couple who claim to be the first Ugandan men to be legally married face an uncertain future after recently tying the knot in a Swedish church, with one facing possible deportation that the other fears could result in his husband’s death.

Last weekend, Lawrence Kaala and Jimmy Sserwadda were all smiles as they exchanged vows in a crowded church in the north Stockholm suburb of Järfälla.

“It feels great,” Sserwadda tells The Local after the wedding, which was attended by more than one hundred guests – including Sweden’s EU Minister Birgitta Ohlsson.

“We had been separated in such a hostile environment; we didn’t know if we’d ever see each other again.”

The ceremony was supposed to be a fairy-tale ending to an improbable story for the two men who found themselves reunited in Sweden years after their relationship had been cut short due to persecution in their native Uganda.

“Uganda is about the worst place in the world to live as someone who is openly gay,” Sserwadda explains.

But while Sserwadda’s asylum application has been approved, Kaala learned just days before the ceremony that his application had been denied, meaning he will have to leave Sweden in two weeks if he doesn’t file an appeal.

“If they put him on a plane to Uganda now, they will be sentencing him to death,” says Sserwadda.

The two men had been in a long-term relationship in Uganda until one day in 2008 when Sserwadda suddenly fled the country shortly after being arrested and beaten for “promoting homosexuality”.

“I didn’t tell Lawrence. I know he would have insisted on coming with and that would have put our lives at risk. So I left him behind,” he recalls.

Sserwadda ended up in Sweden and was granted asylum on account of the risks he faced as a gay man if he were to return to Uganda. He became active in the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights (Riksförbundet för homosexuellas, bisexuellas och transpersoners rättigheter –RFSL), helping other LBGT asylum seekers with their cases.

In the summer of 2011, Sserwadda’s story was featured in Kom Ut, a magazine published by RFSL, as part of a piece which compared LBGT asylum cases to a lottery due to inconsistencies and a lack of knowledge on the part of officials at the Swedish Migration Board (Migrationsverket).

Unbeknownst to Sserwadda, a copy of the magazine landed in the hands of Kaala, who had also fled the increasingly threatening atmosphere in Uganda.

Through chance, Kaala also ended up in Sweden and was dumbfounded to see his former lover’s picture plastered on a magazine cover three years after Sserwadda fled.

Kaala phoned Sserwadda who was equally surprised to hear from the man he assumed he’d never see again.

“I was shocked. I thought it was a joke,” Sserwadda recalls.

“When we finally met in person, Lawrence said, ‘Yes, darling it’s me!’ As we hugged he then asked me why I had left.”

Sserwadda explained why he kept his plans to flee Uganda a secret and was soon forgiven for leaving his lover in the lurch. The two rekindled their former relationship, and began talking about having a wedding.

“If we could have gotten married in Uganda if we would have and when we found each other again here in Sweden it felt natural to go ahead with it,” he says.

Despite learning that Kaala’s asylum application had been rejected just days before the two were to walk down the aisle, they refused to allow the setback to dampen their spirits.

“We decided to focus on the wedding and worry about the possible deportation later,” Sserwadda explains.

He adds he’s frustrated that despite both he and Kaala being gay men from Uganda, where same-sex relationships are illegal and could be punishable by death under a proposed bill currently up for debate, their asylum cases have been treated differently by migration authorities in Sweden.

“They don’t believe his story,” he explains, despite Kaala having scars on his body that both claim came as a result of beatings suffered by Kaala because he is a homosexual.

According to RFSL chairwoman Ulrika Westerlund, the Migration Board has a long way to go in how it handles asylum applications from people claiming persecution on account of their sexual preferences.

“They haven’t succeeded in ensuring that everyone who works on asylum cases involving LGBT applicants has the right knowledge and competence,” she tells The Local.

While no official statistics exist on LGBT asylum cases in Sweden, RFSL provides assistance in around 60 to 70 cases a year, which the Migration Board estimates represents roughly one-third of the total, according to Westerlund.

“A lot of the rejections are strange. It’s as if they have no concept of what LGBT asylum seekers face back home,” she says, explaining that the success or failure of LGBT asylum cases often depends on the case worker assigned to review the application.

Officials at the migration agency claim they are playing close attention to the situation in Uganda and that the agency continues to work on a strategy for increasing workers’ competence on gender and LGBT issues. 

Westerlund adds that the wedding of Sserwadda and Kaala constitutes “new circumstances” which will be grounds for a planned appeal of the deportation order.

“News of the wedding has spread around the world, including to Uganda so it’s much more dangerous there now,” she explains.

While Kaala could now re-file his application to receive a Swedish residence permit on the basis of being married to Sserwadda, who is due to receive Swedish citizenship later this year, doing so would require to return to Uganda to file the required paperwork.

“He can’t go back there. He’d be arrested immediately,” says Sserwadda.

The couple now has until February 11th to file an appeal with the Migration Board.

“We haven’t had time for a honeymoon. We’ve been working around the clock since the wedding to get things in order,” he adds.

David Landes

Uganda: Gay Youth Worker Joseph Kaweesi Arrested For “Recruiting” Teens Into Homosexuality

Gay Star News reports:

On New Year’s Eve, Joseph Kaweesi, LGBT youth worker and advocate, was arrested by Ugadan police and charged with crimes relating to homosexuality.
According to reports from Uganda, Kaweesi, one of the founder of the LGBT group Youth on Rock Foundation, is being held at Kawempe police station, in Kampala, capital of Uganda.
Frank Mugishu, of the Sexual Minorities of Uganda (SMUG) charity, confirmed that Kaweesi was arrested yesterday (31 December 2012) by police officers.
According to Mugishu he was charged with ‘carnal knowledge (homosexuality)’ and ‘recruiting youth into homosexuality’.
LGBT rights advocate Melanie Nathan told Gay Star News that she received information that attorneys have spoken with Kaweesi and that plans are being made to try and bail him.
Speaking with GSN Nathan, who is from South Africa but based in the USA, said: ‘it would seem to me that the police are preempting the Anti-Homosexuality Bill (also known as The Kill the Gays Bill) which has been introduced into this parliament and has yet to pass.
‘The arrest may be political as anti-gay catalysts for the Bill try and drum up more support for its passage.
‘Although there is an existing law which people can be charged under for “carnal knowledge or defilement,” there is currently no law that speaks to the so called “recruitment” of homosexuals.
‘While we all know such is impossible to do, the Ugandan AHB seeks to make the misnomer a crime.
‘If Kaweesi’s charges are pursued the facts may be difficult to prove and certainly the aspect of “recruitment” could be thrown out by a competent court of law’.
Earlier this week, the office of SMUG was broken into and vandalized, with much its equipment having being stolen.
Activists stated that the information stored on some of the computers, containing addresses and telephone numbers of LGBT Ugandans may now put them at risk.
Both male and female homosexual activity is illegal in Uganda - under its penal code ‘carnal knowledge against the order of nature’ between two males carries a potential penalty of life imprisonment.
According to a 2007 Pew Global Attitudes Project, 96 percent of Ugandan residents believe that homosexuality is a way of life that society should not accept, making Uganda the fifth most homophobic state out of 45 countries surveyed.
In November 2012, the speaker of the parliament of Uganda promised to enact a revised anti-homosexuality bill, providing for harsher penalties against suspected LGBT people and anyone who fails to report them to authorities, including long-term imprisonment and the death penalty for what the law terms ‘repeat offenders’.
The bill is due to be put to the vote early this year when parliament reconvenes.

Countries Where Atheism Is Punishable By Death

Let’s be grateful that we live in the west, and speak out on behalf of those who are silenced.

Christmas to me is like Thanksgiving. A chance to gather together with family and friends, enjoy their company and love, and usually full of drama. I totally draw the line with their pagan traditions. 

Uganda May Vote On “kill The Gays” Bill Bill Today

Joe.My.God. reports:

Earlier this month we learned that Uganda’s infamous “Kill The Gays” bill was being pushed to a vote as a “Christmas gift to Christians.”  Alerts went out yesterday that the bill may be voted upon as soon as today.  This morning the BBC reported a claim the the death penalty has been been dropped from the legislation. 

A committee of Ugandan MPs has endorsed the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill but dropped the death penalty provision, an MP has told the BBC. MP Medard Segona said “substantial amendments” had been made to the bill but said he was not allowed to reveal further details. Speaker of parliament Rebecca Kadaga recently said the bill would be passed as a “Christmas gift” to its advocates. Homosexual acts are illegal in Uganda - this bill increases the penalties.

Foreign donors have threatened to cut aid if gay rights are not respected. The bill, tabled by MP David Bahati, proposes longer jail terms for homosexual acts, including a life sentence in certain circumstances. In its original form, those convicted of “aggravated homosexuality” - defined as when one of the participants is a minor, HIV-positive, disabled or a “serial offender” - faced the death penalty. Such offences would now be punished with life imprisonment, it is understood.

The original bill also prohibited the “promotion” of gay rights and called for the punishment of anyone who “funds or sponsors homosexuality” or “abets homosexuality”. Mr Bahati has previously said that the death penalty provision would be dropped but this has not been confirmed until now. Mr Segona, who is on the Legal and Parliamentary committee of Uganda’s parliament, told the BBC: “I can confirm it has been dropped.”

Box Turtle Bulletin blogger Jim Burroway is suspicious of these claims because Ugandan legislators have lied about that in the past.

WBS Television in Uganda late yesterday posted another report on YouTube featuring statements by members of the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, which is charged with marking up the Anti-Homosexuality Bill with recommended changes. There are a few troubling aspects to the report. First, the reporter claims that the death penalty has been removed for “homosexuality acts with minors,” which sounds very suspiciously like several other previous reports, later proven to be false, that the death penalty had been removed. The last time we heard that line, we would quickly learn that the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs committee, in fact, had not removed the death penalty from the bill, but instead had simply obfuscated the death penalty’s presence in the bill. A complete explanation can be found here.

All Out’s petition campaign against the bill has over 160,000 signatures already.  Add your name.

Anonymous Threatens Uganda Over “Kill The Gays” Bill

Gay Star News reports:

Cyber activists are threatening Ugandan officials after the country’s Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga promised to pass the ‘Kill the Gays’ bill as a ‘Christmas gift’.
The so-called ‘hacktivists’ from Anonymous New Jersey sent a stark warning to lawmakers, urging them not rubber stamp the draconian legislation which would mean gay Ugandans could face life imprisonment or even the death penalty.
With the message, the secretive campaigners also released the names and contact details names of members of the African nation’s Committee on Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.
‘The “Kill the gays” bill has been reintroduced into the Committee on Legal and Parliamentary Affairs in Uganda,’ Anonymous posted in Pastebin.
‘Let them know that we will not let this bill pass. And if it does they should expect us.’
On Monday (12 November), speaker Rebecca Kadaga said the anti-gay bill will become law by December 2012 since most Ugandans ‘are demanding it’.
Referring to the law as a ‘Christmas gift’ to the population, she spoke of ‘the serious threat’ posed by homosexuals.
Her comments have sparked outrage from the international community and a petition launched in protest has already garnered more than 1.5 million signatures.
The appeal to Ugandan President Museveni, members of the Review Committee, parliament and governments which provide aid, reads: ‘We stand with citizens across Uganda who are calling on their government to withdraw the Anti-Homosexual Bill and to protect the universal human rights embodied in the Ugandan constitution.
‘We urge Uganda’s leaders and donors to join us in rejecting persecution and upholding values of justice and tolerance.’
The law will broaden the criminalization of same-sex relationships by dividing homosexuality into two categories; aggravated homosexuality and the offense of homosexuality.
‘Aggravated homosexuality’ is defined as gay acts committed by parents or authority figures, HIV-positive people, pedophiles and repeat offenders. If convicted, they will face the death penalty.
The ‘offense of homosexuality’ includes same-sex sexual acts or being in a gay relationship, and will be prosecuted by life imprisonment.
Originally put to government in 2009, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill had been temporarily shelved because of international criticism.
Several European countries have threatened to cut aid to Uganda if it passes, with the UK government warning Uganda it would face severe reductions in financial help.
US President Barack Obama has described it as ‘odious’, and Canadian politician John Baird has said it is ‘vile, abhorrent, and offends decency’.

Nigeria: Government Moves To Ban Gay PDAs

Joe.My.God. reports:

Yesterday Nigeria’s House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill making any public display of affection by homosexuals punishable by up to ten years in prison. The bill also calls for a 14 year sentence for gay couples that marry. 

“It is alien to our society and culture and it must not be imported,” House majority leader Mulikat Adeola-Akande said during debate, referring to same-sex marriage. “Religion abhors it and our culture has no place for it,” she added. House minority leader Femi Gbajabiamila said the bill represents “convergence of both law and morality.” He said that same-sex marriage “is both illegal and immoral.” Nigeria’s senate in November 2011 approved the bill that would make same-sex marriages punishable by up to 14 years for the couple and 10 for anyone abetting such unions. It also set out a 10-year sentence for “any person who … directly or indirectly makes public show of same-sex amorous relationships”. Gay organisations would also be made illegal, leading some to raise concerns over whether funding channeled through non-governmental organisations in Nigeria for AIDS treatment would be put in jeopardy.

The bill has already been approved by the Senate and will go to the president after a final House review. Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation.

Uganda Poised To Pass “Kill The Gays” Bill As “Christmas Gift” To Christians

Joe.My.God reports:

The Associated Press reports that according to Parliament Speaker Rebecca Kadaga, Uganda’s long-pending “Kill The Gays” bill will be passed by the end of the year.  Local clergy have petitioned the government, demanding the bill’s passage as a “Christmas gift to Christians.” 

• Ugandans “are demanding it,” she said, reiterating a promise she made before a meeting on Friday of anti-gay activists who spoke of “the serious threat” posed by homosexuals to Uganda’s children. Some Christian clerics at the meeting in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, asked the speaker to pass the law as “a Christmas gift.” 
• “Speaker, we cannot sit back while such (a) destructive phenomenon is taking place in our nation,” the activists said in a petition. “We therefore, as responsible citizens, feel duty-bound to bring this matter to your attention as the leader of Parliament … so that lawmakers can do something to quickly address the deteriorating situation in our nation.”
• The anti-gay activists paraded in front of Kadaga, with parents and schoolchildren holding up signs saying homosexuality is “an abomination.” The speaker then promised to consider the bill within two weeks, declaring that “the power is in our hands. Who are we not to do what they have told us? These people should not be begging us,” Kadaga said of activists who want the bill to become law.

While the above-linked AP report claims that the bill “originally mandated death for some gay acts,” in fact the bill does continue to call for the death penalty for “serial offenders.”Box Turtle Bulletin notes that according to Clause One of the act, a “serial offender” is defined as a someone who has “previous convictions of the offence of homosexualityor related offences.” In other words, a second conviction brings the death penalty.  And those “related offenses” include renting a room to a gay person or failing to inform the government that someone they know is gay, meaning that a straight person could also suffer the “gay death penalty.”

In 2009 the European Parliament threatened to end aid to Uganda should the bill pass.  Last year (soon to be former) Rep. Barney Frank said that the United States should do the same: “If the bill before the Ugandan parliament becomes law, it must be the policy of the United States government to oppose any aid to Uganda from the World Bank, the African Development Bank, or any other international financial institution of which we are a member.”

Merry Christmas from God’s Gentle People.

RELATED:  Although the Family Research Council continues to deny it, the Wayback Machine proves that in 2009 Tony Perkins issued a radio address in which he denounced President Obama for opposing Uganda’s “Kill The Gays” bill.  In his message, Perkins characterized the bill as one that “upholds moral conduct.”

UPDATE: Towleroad tips us to this clip in which Speaker Kadaga was given a “hero’s welcome” by Ugandans upon returning this week from a conference in Canada where she vowed to pass the bill. Kadaga says that “Uganda can survive” without international aid after the bill passes.

Malawi Suspends Anti-Gay Laws

Joe.My.God. reports:

Finally we get some good news out of Africa. 

Malawi has suspended legislation against homosexuality which was among the hot button issues that forced donors to withdraw support last year, Minister of Justice Ralph Kasambara has disclosed. Kasambara, who is also Attorney General, said government wants to encourage debate and decide on whether laws against same- sex relationships should continue to be criminalized. “There is a moratorium on all such laws, meaning that police will not arrest or prosecute anyone based on these laws. These laws will not be enforced until the time that Parliament makes a decision,” he said. In legal parlance, a moratorium is used when the Executive arm of government, which is mandated to enforce laws, decides to temporarily suspend enforcement of a legislation, especially when it raises controversies that require its review.

This news is especially surprising because in September the president of Malawi publicly recanted her election promise to decriminalize homosexuality. 

Egypt & Libya: Riots At US Embassy After Film Depicts Mohammed As Homosexual

Joe.My.God. reports:

Egyptian protesters today overran the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and tore down the American flag after seeing clips from an anti-Islam film produced by Florida-based Pastor Terry Jones.[SEE UPDATE BELOW] The movie apparently depicts Mohammed as a homosexual and child molester.

Nearly 3,000 demonstrators, most of them hardline Islamist supporters of the Salafist movement, gathered at the embassy in protest over a film deemed offensive to the Prophet Mohammed which was produced by expatriate members of Egypt’s Christian minority resident in the United States. A dozen men scaled the embassy walls and one of them tore down the US flag, replacing it with a black one inscribed with the Muslim profession of faith: “There is no God but God and Mohammed is the prophet of God.” Demonstrators also daubed part of that slogan - “There is no God but God” - on the walls of the embassy compound. A US State Department spokeswoman confirmed the incident.

The Cairo embassy has issued numerous tweets denouncing Jones, but not by name.The Atlantic has some information about the movie.

The movie is called Mohammed Nabi al-Muslimin, or Mohammed, Prophet of the Muslims. If you’ve never heard of it, that’s because most of the few clips circulating online are dubbed in Arabic. The above clip, which is allegedly from the film (update: Kurt Werthmuller, a Coptic specialist at the Hudson Institute, says he’s confirmed the clip’s authenticity) is one of the only in English. That’s also because it’s allegedly produced by Florida Pastor Terry Jones (yes, the asshole who burnt the Koran despite Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates’ pleas) and two Egyptians living in the U.S., according to Egyptian press accounts. The Egyptians are allegedly Coptic, the Christian minority that makes up about a tenth of Egypt. [snip] Other scenes in the above clip seem to portray Muslim Egyptian characters, who for some reason all have strong New York accents, as immoral and violent, particularly toward the Christians whom they pursue with near-genocidal fervor. A number of Islam’s founding figures, including the prophet, are accused of homosexuality and child molestation. 

Terry Jones has just posted a new clip on YouTube.

UPDATE: The violence has now spread the American consulate in Libya.

An armed mob has attacked the US consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi and set fire to the building, witnesses reported, in what they said was a protest at a film they said offended Islam. A little earlier, Libya’s deputy interior minister Wanis al-Shari, told AFP the crowd had attacked the building and that information was confirmed by the US embassy in the capital Tripoli. “There are fierce clashes between the Libyan army and an armed militia outside the U.S. consulate,” Abdel-Monen Al-Hurr, spokesman for Libya’s Supreme Security Committee, said to Reuters, adding that roads had been closed off and security forces were surrounding the building. A U.S. embassy source said there had been “an attack” on the diplomatic office in Benghazi, but gave no further details.

RELATED: In April 2011 eleven people were killed in Afghanistan, including some United Nations employees, after riots erupted when Jones burned the Koran outside his Florida church.

UPDATE II: Mitt Romney has issued a statement denouncing the president.

“I’m outraged by the attacks on American diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt and by the death of an American consulate worker in Benghazi,” the statement read. “It’s disgraceful that the Obama Administration’s first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks.” The assertion that the administration sympathized with attackers was derived from a statement by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo — before the compound was breached — criticizing an anti-Muslim film that “hurt the religious feelings” of others. Even after coming under attack, the Embassy spent much of the day defending and reasserting the statement on Twitter. Whether Obama deserved the blame for the Embassy’s messaging is a point of debate; what was not was the news value of Romney’s harsher-than-expected statement.

UPDATE III: Contrary to the reports first linked above, US-based Pastor Terry Jones did NOT produce the film, he has merely been promoting it.

UPDATE IV: US Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed in Libya:

The attacks occurred Tuesday night in the eastern city of Benghazi by protesters angry over a film that ridiculed Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, according to Libya officials. Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed when he and a group of embassy employees went to the consulate to try to evacuate staff as the building came under attack by a mob guns and rocket propelled grenades. Three other Americans were also killed. The State Department identified one of the other Americans as Sean Smith, a foreign service information management officer. The identities of the others were being withheld pending notification of next of kin. Obama called Stevens a “courageous and exemplary representative of the United States.” “I strongly condemn the outrageous attack on our diplomatic facility in Benghazi,” Obama said in the statement. The four Americans, he said, “exemplified America’s commitment to freedom, justice, and partnership with nations and people around the globe.”

Kenya: Police Extort Gay Men

Gay Star News reports:

An investigative reportpublished today by Identity Kenya magazine present findings that Nairobi police officers routinely target gays, bisexual and closeted married men for extortion.
Sexual acts between men are illegal under Kenyan statutes and carry a maximum penalty of 14 years’ imprisonment.
The report reveals how several police officers stationed in, or operating from Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD) police extort money from gay men under the threat of arrests and prosecution.
Last week, Nelly, an Identity Kenya contributor who runs a movie business was arrested by six plainclothes police officers who alleged he was peddling and selling gay porn.
‘They asked me for KShs 100,000 (€944, $1,187) and told me to call my friends to contribute,’ Nelly told Identity Kenya.
Nelly only had a fifth of demanded sum to hand the police officers and was released.
He was told that the police knew his identity from a website he uses to sell his merchandise and also from the Facebook where he advertises his business.
Anthony Oluoch, the former Legal and Human Rights Officer based at the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya (GALCK) told Identity Kenya that police blackmail and extortion is main crime report to the organisation by married men, accounting for over 30% of the cases.
Oluoch said that most blackmailers are straight masquerading as gays or gay men. Police officers routinely use socially networking and dating sites, such as Gay Kenya, GayRomeo, Gaydar and ManJam where men use to arrange for dates.
Last month a Catholic priest was blackmailed via this method. After arranging to meet a man on a dating site, police burst into his hotel room and handcuffed both men, and to the priest to a police station.
The priest, nicknamed as Jackob was asked KShs 850,000 (€8,014 $10,000) after giving the officers KShs 10,000 he was released. The man the priest arranged a date was apparently not arrested and disappeared, which led Jacob to suspect he was involved in the set up.
Speaking with Gay Star News, Denis Nizoka, editor of Identity Kenya and author of the report said: ‘I was a witness when Jacob was being dragged and forced into a waiting car to be taken to a police station.
‘The stories of blackmail I have reported show that the police and other blackmailers are using the law as an excuse to further violate the rights of LGBT persons. I hope that the police can be reformed to make it more LGBT friendly and enable victims to seek justice.
‘Most activists I have discussed the report with are afraid of engaging in cases of blackmail by the police for two reasons.
‘One, is where can this be reported to when the officers from the police itself are engaging in such crimes?
‘Secondly, there are fears that if the police are made aware that they are being watched it may lead to further undesirable consequences. Issues of safety are also a concern with many fearing they may be further targeted and with extra-judicial killings that are common in Kenya.
‘I therefore understand these concerns and it is also a risk I am taking along with Identity Kenya in reporting the routine misconduct of elements within the Nairobi CBD police.’
Blackmail and extortion targeting LGBT people in Kenya is a very common crime. In June GSN reported on criminal gang which is using dating sites and Facebook to meet closeted LGBT people in Kenya, who they then blackmail.
Names of the victims in the article have been changed in order to protect their identity.

Anonymous Hacks Ugandan Government In Protest At Their Anti-LGBT Policies

Pink News UK reports:

Anarchic ‘hacktivist’ group Anonymous hacked into two of the Ugandan government’s websites yesterday in protest at their homophobic policies which include the Kill The Gays bill which is currently being deliberated.

That bill would make homosexuality punishable by death. Anonymous attacked the websites of the prime minister and Justice Law and Order Sector and issued following statement:
“Today’s hack and deface of the Ugandan Prime Minister’s site was the latest in a long list of actions against the government and infrastructure of Uganda for crimes against LGBT people.
“We will not stand by while LGBT Ugandans are victimized, abused and murdered by a ruthless and corrupt government. #TheEliteSociety and #Anonymous will continue to target Ugandan government sites and communications until the government of Uganda treats all people including LGBT [people] equally, with respect and dignity and immediately ends the arrest and harassment of LGBT [people].
“The government of Uganda will not stop us or LGBT people from standing up to their hatred and fighting against their abuses … Equal treatment for ALL people, or you can expect us again.
Another message, which featured an image from Uganda’s recent Pride celebration appeared on the Office of the Prime Minister’s website:
“You have been warned, repeatedly, to expect us. Your violations of the rights of LGBT people have disgusted us. ALL people have the right to live in dignity[,] free from the repression of someone else’s political and religious beliefs.
“You should be PROUD of your LGBT citizens, because they clearly have more balls than you will ever have.
Real Ugandan Pride is demonstrated in standing up to oppression despite fearing the abuse, torture and murder inflicted on LGBT [people] at the hands of the corrupt government.”

United Nations Condemns Proposed Anti-Gay Legislation In Liberia 

Via The Christian Post:

The new legislation makes homosexual acts, including sodomy and lesbian acts, a second degree felony, the punishment for which includes a fine and up to five years in jail. Such acts, including “voluntary sodomy,” are currently classified as misdemeanors and carry a one-year jail sentence. Additionally, the amendments also impose penalties on anyone who “seduces, encourages, or promotes another person of the same gender to engage into sexual activities.” Despite calls from international agencies to decriminalize homosexuality, many in Liberia continue to stand by their conservative beliefs regarding homosexual behavior. In March 2012, Nobel Peace Prize winner and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf defended her country’s criminalization of homosexuality, telling Britain’s Tony Blair in an interview with the Guardian: “We like ourselves just the way we are […] we’ve got certain traditional values in our society that we would like to preserve.”

Back in April Joe Jervis reported that an Anti-Gay Christian group published a hit list in which they vow to track down every gay person for brutal punishment.

The fliers include this threat: “Let these individuals be aware that we are coming after them soon. We urge them to also begin saying the Lord’s Prayer.”

The fliers distributed over the weekend in parts of Liberia’s capital were signed by the Movement Against Gay’s in Liberia, or MOGAL. The group said those involved in promoting gay rights “should not be given space to get a gulp of air.” “Having conducted a comprehensive investigation, we are convinced that the below listed individuals are gays or supporters of the club who don’t mean well for our country,” the fliers read. “Therefore, we have agreed to go after them using all means in life.” No individual members of MOGAL signed the flier. But Moses Tapleh, a 28-year-old resident of the main community where the flier was distributed, said he was affiliated with the group and stressed that its threats should be taken seriously. “We will get to them one by one,” Tapleh said. “They want to spoil our country.” Asked what specific action might be taken against those on the list, he said they could be subjected to “dangerous punishments” including “flogging and death.”