and the people who opposed them are the cultures whose majority is against it.

Also, I know that ‘moral relativism’ is taking into account the circumstances of the specific act. That wasn’t a question. If we are to say that a culture’s ideas are different from our own it is stupid to say that we are enforcing an absolute moral because if it was absolute they would already be following it.

However, I do have a question about the difference between regular anti-gay laws and this abomination:
So having anti-gays laws is different than laws that strictly prohibit and oppress homosexuality?

I think they are both horrific and should both be stopped. Why not get rid of the first and then they would have nothing to enforce with the second?

oh and about your example- it is relative to our culture that killing another human being is punishable by law. an eye for an eye makes everyone blind, and a nod is the same as a wink to a blind bat.

Furthermore, I would have them both sentenced to death because I don’t want them reproducing.

Reaffirm the lifetime sentence currently provided upon conviction of homosexuality, and extends the definition from sexual activity to merely “touch[ing] another person with the intention of committing the act of homosexuality.”

Create a new category of “aggravated homosexuality” which provides for the death penalty for “repeat offenders” and for cases where the individual is HIV-positive.

Criminalizes all speech and peaceful assembly for those who advocate on behalf of LGBT citizens in Uganda with fines and imprisonment of between five and seven years.

Criminalizes the act of obtaining a same-sex marriage abroad with lifetime imprisonment.

Adds a clause which forces friends or family members to report LGBT persons to police within 24-hours of learning about that individual’s homosexuality or face fines or imprisonment of up to three years.

Adds an extra-territorial and extradition provisions, allowing Uganda to prosecute LGBT Ugandans living abroad.

The people at risk under the new law include:

any parent who does not denounce their lesbian daughter or gay son to the authorities: Failure to do so s/he will be fined Ush 5,000,000/= or put away for three years;

any teacher who does not report a lesbian or gay pupil to the authorities within 24 hours: Failure to do so s/he will be fined Ush 5,000,000/= or put away for three years in prison;

any landlord or landlady who happens to give housing to a suspected homosexual risks seven years of imprisonment;

any Local Council I – V Chairperson or Executive member who does not denounce somebody accused of same-sex attraction or activity risks imprisonment or a heavy fine;

any medical doctor who seeks to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS through working with what are known as most at risk populations, risks her or his career;

all civil society leaders, whether in a Community Based Organisation, NGO, or academic institution; if their organisations seek to have a comprehensive position on sexual and reproductive health, they risk seeing their organisations closed down;

any human rights activist who seeks to promote an understanding of the indivisibility and inalienability of human rights would be judged to be promoting homosexuals and homosexuality, and be punished accordingly;

any religious leader who seeks to provide guidance and counselling to people who are unsure of their sexuality, would be regarded as promoting homosexuality and punished accordingly;

any Member of Parliament or other public figure who is sent a pornographic article, picture or video will become vulnerable to blackmail and witch-hunts;

any media house that publishes ‘pornographic’ materials risks losing its certificate of registration and the editor will be liable to seven years in jail;

any internet café operator who fails to prevent a customer from accessing a pornographic website, or a dating site, could be accused of ‘participating in the production, procuring, marketing, broadcasting, disseminating and publishing of pornographic materials for purposes of promoting homosexuality’; their business licence could be revoked and they themselves could land in prison.

any Person alleged to be a homosexual is at risk of LIFE IMPRISONMENT and, in some circumstances, the DEATH PENALTY.

Accepting this on grounds of ‘moral relativism makes the adjective meaningless, and it isn’t.

“Moral relativism’ does not mean that you may not make moral or ethical judgments, it means that you must take into account the circumstances affecting the specific act you are judging.

Let me give an example. Two teenagers simultaneously gay-bash in two parts of the same town, totlly unconnected. In both cases the gay was totally ‘innocent’ — meaning they aren’t even claiming he ‘came on to them’ not that there should be anything wrong with that. A is an ‘ordinary teenager’ maybe not even that homophobic, but is acting to impress a sexy girl who has a complete collection of PRUSSIAN BLUE albums. B is part of a very strict fundamentalist household who has home-schooled him and kept him from any contact with outside opinions, who has had ‘gays are evil sinners’ drilled into him since he was 5 and has had no reason to question his parents.

Is it ‘moral absolutism’ to state that both committed a bad and condemnable act? Or is it moral relativism to argue that while both should be punished by law, B should get a lesser sewntence because of the circumstances behind his act?

But what about how Uganda’s traditional culture has been distorted by contact with faiths originating in the Middle East? The fact that this bill is being introduced in 2009 — as opposed to being a law that has existed for as long as anyone can remember — calls into question the extent to which homophobia is actually part of Ugandan culture rather than an import from foreign cultures.