Archbishop Desmond Tutu previously
compared elements of Uganda's anti-gay bill to apartheid.
The 82-year-old retired Anglican bishop
who gained notoriety speaking out against apartheid in 2011 penned an
op-ed arguing against passage of the measure which would increase the
penalties for being gay and having gay sex in a nation where it is
already punishable by up to life in prison.
Lawmakers last week unanimously
approved the bill, which now awaits the president's signature to
become law.
The measure was first introduced in
2009 and drew international condemnation for including the death
penalty. The bill as passed replaces capital punishment with life
imprisonment for people repeatedly convicted of having consensual sex
with a member of the same sex. The sentence can also be imposed in
cases where one of the partners is HIV-positive, a minor or disabled.
The bill also seeks to outlaw the promotion of homosexuality,
effectively silencing opponents of the measure.
“One thing that Ugandan legislators
should know is that God does not discriminate among members of our
family,” Tutu wrote in the Daily
Monitor. “God does not say black is better than white, or
tall is better than short, or football players are better than
basketball players, or Christians are better than Muslims … or gay
is better than straight. No. God says love one another; love your
neighbour. God is for freedom, equality and love.”
“People have over many centuries
devised all kinds of terrible instruments to oppress other people.
Usually, they have rationalised their awful actions on the basis of
their belief in their own superiority, in their culture, in their
spiritual beliefs, in their skin-colour. Thus, they argue, they are
justified to hate and bomb and maim the 'other.'”
“The Anti-Homosexuality legislation
now under consideration in Uganda is just such an instrument. Nelson
Mandela said, 'No one is born hating another person.' If people are
taught and can learn to hate, they can learn to love.”
“[T]he depiction of members of the
LGBTI community as crazed and depraved monsters threatening the
welfare of children and families is simply untrue, and is reminiscent
of what we experienced under apartheid and what the Jews experienced
at the hands of the Nazis.”
“To those who claim that
homosexuality is not part of our African culture, you are
conveniently ignoring the fact that LGBTI Africans have lived
peacefully and productively beside us throughout history.”