An editorial in Uganda’s biggest daily newspaper, The Daily Monitorought to be unremarkable but stands out because it calls for protecting the rights of LGBT people in a nation whose leadership refuses to recognize that gay people are humans beings. An unpublished op-ed by David Kato shows that he was a person with a voice and a story.
Jim Burroway of Box Turtle Bulletin comments on an editorial posted online for this morning’s edition of Kampala-based Daily Monitor :
…the editorial makes the mistake of presenting both sides as though there were an equivalency between the two. The editors ignore the overwhelming disparity of power and influence between the two sides, with one side wielding the power of state, culture, faith and media; and the other side scrounging for whatever scraps of safety and dignity they can muster. Instead, they pretend that there is some sort of equivalency or parity between the two side. We’ve seen this before, not only in Africa but here in the U.S. and in Europe. This editorial is not particularly remarkable in the way it tries to take a sort of a “pox on both houses” position. These notions of false equivalence intended to reinforce the fiction of two opposing and equally valid arguments do very little to shed much light on the debate.
After having set up that false equivalency, the editorial also draws this unremarkable conclusion.
People like David Kato and others who might be gay are Ugandans and enjoy the same rights and protections of the law as heterosexuals. We cannot send them into exile neither, lock them away, or hang them.
We need to have an honest discussion about how to ensure that their rights are upheld without violating the rights of other Ugandans.
And yet, this editorial is among the most remarkable editorials I’ve read in years. What makes this editorial remarkable is that it is being printed in Uganda’s largest and most influential independent newspaper, and it expresses the need to ensure the rights of LGBT people are upheld in a nation whose leadership refuses to recognize gay people as humans beings deserving of human rights. That’s remarkable, and a most welcome addition to the debate.
An op-ed that Kato co-wrote with Steve Parelli, in 2007, shows the power of his voice and the evolution of his thought.
The Christian doctrine of the liberty of conscience teaches that no mere human authority – civil government or religious institutions – has power to grant or to withhold from men the exercise of freedom in matters of religion. Homosexuality is a private religious matter between God and the individual. Liberty of conscience teaches that it is the individual’s inalienable right to exercise his judgment without restraint in religious matters and to give expression, freely and fully to his religious convictions, without human dictation or interference. Not all religious people believe homosexuality is irreligious, ungodly or sinful. More and more, Christians in South Africa, Nigeria, the Americas, Europe and other parts of the world are changing their views on the Bible and homosexuality….
For government, the question of gay rights is a fundamental human rights question only and can never become a theological question. For the church, because of the Christian doctrine of liberty of conscience, the church is not to impose upon others its teachings on homosexuality through government legislation….
…It is the responsibility of the government to guarantee the fundamental human right of the free exercise of religion to the homosexual who wishes to live according to his sexual orientation, his conscious being clear before God. While a government official may have his personal beliefs, he must seek the fundamental rights of all individuals, including homosexuals. That is his moral duty as a civil servant.
It is sad that only now, after his brutal murder, can The Daily Monitor begin to echo some of what David Kato wrote three years ago.