As we sit here idly in California to see whether courts decide in favor of same sex marriage, gays and lesbians in other parts of the world are literally fighting for their right to live. In Liberia, Senator Jewel Taylor, former first lady of murderous ex-president Charles Taylor (currently facing United Nation’s charges for war crimes and crimes against humanity) introduced legislation condemning homosexuals to death.
Taylor’s ghastly amendment makes gay sex a first-degree felony punishable from 10 years imprisonment to the death sentence. Uganda is hot on Liberia’s crusade of inhumanity with similar legislation pending. In Uganda, where homosexuality is already punishable by life imprisonment, a bill pending includes the death sentence and criminalizes acts for “aiding or abetting homosexuality.”
Sadly, this is nothing new in Africa or in other parts of the world. Homosexuality carries a death sentence in Mauritania, Sudan, southern Somalia, northern Nigeria, Iran, Yemen, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Many death sentences are carried out by decapitation, stoning, rape, flogging and fatal mutilation.
In early March, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association reported that Islamic states and Africans walked out on a United Nations gay panel and insisted that protection of homosexuality does not fall under global human rights. Of the U.N.’s 192 members, 76 countries have laws criminalizing homosexual behavior. Oddly enough, several countries in the world only target male gays, and allow woman-to-woman sex.
In Depth Africa, a human rights organization, reports that six African countries now have laws punishing homosexuals with 11 years to life of imprisonment and 14 countries have sentences ranging from one month to 10 years. Five countries have laws calling for imprisonment with no indication of length of sentences. South Africa is the only country on the African continent that recognizes same-sex marriages.
In June 2011 the United Nations issued its first condemnation of discrimination against gay, lesbian and transgender people in a declaration described as a monumental moment in world history. The only thing monumental about this is that the world allows such tragedies to continue with little or no help at all.
Homophobia is alive and well in the world today, and its roots rest in self-proclaimed moralists that ram their personal religious beliefs and bigoted fears against any person that does not share their convictions they do. Like segregation, the Final Solution, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, slavery and brutality, anti-gay laws are a crime against humanity.
No person, group or government has the right to limit the freedom of people to love the person of their choice. Religious and personal beliefs should be employed to save the oppressed of the world, not beat them down further. Homosexuality is not a crime and whether or not it is a sin is a matter of individual belief, not an issue to be preached or legislated against.
Gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people are not out to destroy personal religious and moral beliefs that people live their lives by. They only want the same rights as individuals that the majority of the world has, namely, to love whom they love without discrimination and to live their lives to the fullest without fear. Stop the persecution. Jesus Christ, Muhammad, Buddha and the great religious leaders of in the world would not have condoned these atrocities. They all believed in the free will of people. Most importantly they all believed in freedom, peace and unconditional love.
