The front-page newspaper story featured a list of Uganda's 100 "top" homosexuals, with a bright yellow banner across it that read: "Hang Them." Alongside their photos were the men's names and addresses.
In the days since it was published, at least four gay Ugandans on the list have been attacked and many others are in hiding, according to rights activist Julian Onziema. One person named in the story had stones thrown at his house by neighbors.
A lawmaker in this conservative African country introduced a bill a year ago that would have imposed the death penalty for some homosexual acts and life in prison for others. An international uproar ensued, and the bill was quietly shelved.
But gays in Uganda say they have faced a year of harassment and attacks since the bill's introduction.
I think I am, partly, posting this not just because it is awful, but also because over the weekend, there was a lot of news about Mary MacKillop, Australia's new (and possibly first) saint.
Personally, I've found the whole thing to be ridiculous, hypocritical, and vaguely distasteful. I don't particularly care if you believe in saints or not, since I'm not terribly bothered either way. However, the week's worth of bowing, scraping and ohmygoshthankyou to the Catholic Church has been the foundation of my disgust. This is, after all, the same church that has covered up a systematic culture of child abuse within its own ranks, continually failed to recognise women as equals, stood in the way of science and thought, and contributed to the bigotry and phobia that exists around the world.
There is no link between the article in Uganda and Mary MacKillop, except the link inside my head. Perhaps you won't see it. Perhaps you will. It's of no huge consequence to me, but I think that we, as a world, must evaluate the power we have given this organisation in light of the behaviour in thought and body that they have repeatedly shown to us all.
