Yoweri Museveni, president of Uganda, whom I used to hold in high esteem, said that homosexuality is disgusting.
I am a straight family man, but I can think of a number of things more disgusting than homosexuality.
It is disgusting to kill 500,000 of your own countrymen and feed them to the crocodiles.
It is disgusting to gang-rape women and give them vaginal fistulas.
It is disgusting to slaughter 800,000 people just because they are of a wrong tribe.
It is disgusting to rely on the Western charities for food when you have millions of able-bodied men who can be farmers and laborers.
From the perspective of a black person who is being abused, it does not matter whether the abuse comes from the white man or from the black man. The person suffers in either case. With a few exceptions – such as Seretse Khama and Julius Nyerere – the first-generation African leaders weren’t an improvement upon white colonists. The second generation leadership has done better, and any number of places in Africa have been improving. Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Angola and Mozambique have done well. Nigeria was doing well for a while, then it hit the snags again because of bad leadership.
If saying such things brings on me accusations of racism: My black friends would laugh at you. I am partial toward black people and interested in seeing them do well. But for that to happen Africa needs a decent leadership. Both white man and black man should stand up to people who otherwise would be tyrants and point them in the right direction. Specifically, they need to be told to mind their constituents and work for the benefit of their countries instead of their cronies or their tribe.
Homosexuality is the least of Africa’s problems. There is a lot that needs to be done in Africa. One thing that African men – and men in many other places – need to learn is tolerance. In the world we live in you will be dealing with all sorts of people who aren’t like yourself. You need to learn how to deal with them. Homosexuals, because they don’t have families to provide for, can dedicate a lot of time to work that benefits their country. Disgusting or not, they stand to be significant contributors to your country.
In other places, such as Republican parts of America, I have seen people saying that homosexuality is hedonism and narcissism. I have known homosexuals of both genders, and they appear to have the same feelings for one another that we have for our women. Sometimes it is just lust; but I have also seen very loving relationships between homosexuals of both genders, and I think that this is worthy of respect.
Once again, there are many things more disgusting than homosexuality. If you want to get rid of disgusting you have an uphill battle on your hands. There are many real problems that need to be solved without making a virtue of intolerance. Focus on making things better for your constituents. And see Africa rise to international respect.