Anti-gay law: What will the west lose?

The Guardian quotes President Museveni after he signs the anti-gay law: "Outsiders cannot dictate to us. This is our country. I advise friends from the west not to make this an issue, because if they make it an issue the more they will lose. If the west does not want to work with us because of homosexuals, then we have enough space to ourselves here."

What will the west lose?

Pastor Martin Ssempa (at National Theatre) shields his eyes from a dust storm just before the afternoon downpour yesterday. If those youth were employed I doubt they would be standing there with him

Interestingly politicians have made the populace believe that this law is important, more important than access to food, water, good healthcare, good education and meaningful employment.

An excited shoe shine somewhere near Parliament,  whom I have known for many years to be a critic of Museveni's government exclaimed when he saw me: "There was rain when the president signed [the anti-gay act]." What he meant was that Museveni's signature was a blessing. When I asked him how relevant the law was to him and his family he said: "Very important. We don't want those things [homosexuality]"

In writing this I may have already broken the law as this could be interpreted as promoting the practice of homosexuality. But I still insist that it is not laws against homosexuality or pornography that we need now. If we want respect from the west, we have to work towards political and economic independence. You don't achieve that by spending time drafting and passing laws against the minority. You need to pass laws that can liberate the majority.

We need fresh start in Uganda!