A Ugandan pastor is exposing
churchgoers to gay porn in an effort to shore up support for an
anti-gay bill, the BBC reported.
Martin Ssempa, a leading proponent of
the bill that prescribes death for repeat offenders of gay sex and
those who are HIV-positive, showed gay pornography to about 100
adults during a church service Wednesday.
He said he downloaded the films from
the Internet and showed them to parishioners to educate them on gay
sex.
“We are in the process of legislation
and we have to educate ourselves about what homosexuals do,” Ssempa
told the BBC.
The bill slips a tight noose around the
necks of gay men, lesbians and their allies. The measure would
impose the death penalty for people guilty of “aggravated
homosexuality,” which it defines as someone who is HIV-positive,
has sex with a minor or is a serial offender. Under the bill it is
unlawful to have gay sex, therefore having multiple sexual
relationships would put a gay or lesbian Ugandan at risk of being put
to death. But the bill also calls for the death of people who never
had gay sex. One of the definitions of the “offense of
homosexuality” is the touching of another person “with the
intention of committing the act of homosexuality.”
In America, a similar measure is called
an importuning law, which makes it illegal to hit on someone of the
same sex. The Supreme Court has ruled such laws unconstitutional.
Ssempa also said he plans on showing
the videos to legislators who'll vote on the law.
Gay rights activists questioned
Ssempa's sanity.
“You cannot screen pornographic
material to your followers and then want to argue that you are
upholding society's morals,” Monica Mbaru, from the International
Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, told the news service.
“I think we are dealing with someone
who needs medical help,” she added.
President Obama recently joined the
chorus of international leaders who have condemned the law. Obama
called the measure “odious.”