Version #1 – The Original,
from the National Catholic Reporter
JUAN CARLOS CRUZ CHELLEW — June 2, 2023
The world is watching in disbelief as Uganda, a country known for its vibrant diversity and rich culture, continues to regress on human rights issues, particularly concerning the LGBTQ+ community. The country on May 29 enacted a law, colloquially known as the “Kill the Gays” bill, that imposes severe and harsh penalties for homosexuality, including the death penalty or life imprisonment in some cases.
While the international outcry grows louder, the silence from a significant portion of Uganda’s moral and spiritual guardians — the Catholic bishops — is deafening.
This ongoing silence becomes more notable considering the Catholic Church’s influential role in Uganda, with nearly 40% of Ugandans identifying as Catholic. Catholic bishops, considered moral leaders by millions, hold a unique position of influence and could potentially shift the narrative around this inhumane legislation.
Same-sex activity was already illegal in Uganda, as it is in more than 30 African countries, but the new law goes even further. It is, by any objective measure, a gross violation of human rights that contravenes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international conventions to which Uganda is a signatory.
Their silence indirectly contributes to a climate of fear, hate and intolerance that stokes violence and discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.
On the international stage, Pope Francis has proven to be a breath of fresh air, guiding the Catholic Church to a more open and accepting stance toward LGBTQ+ issues. He recently — and several times — has harshly condemned laws that criminalize homosexuality. “Being homosexual isn’t a crime,” he said. “We are all children of God, and God loves us as we are and for the strength that each of us fights for our dignity.”
Yet, despite the pope’s words, Uganda’s Catholic bishops remain noticeably silent on this issue. Also silent is the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization that oversees the dioceses and bishops in Uganda. Their silence creates a void, one filled by fear, discrimination and dehumanization. As moral and spiritual leaders, their words — or lack thereof — can shape public opinion, either legitimizing these inhumane laws or challenging them.
Ugandan Bishop Sanctus Lino Wanok, depicted homosexuality as “not human” and akin to “death,” while Fr. Agabito Arinaitwe, an influential priest in the important parish of the Uganda Martyrs Catholic Shrine, said, with reference to homosexuality: “It’s time we turn away from our evil deeds and turn back to the Lord.” They are not the only ones who have made such public comments.
This is a plea for the bishops to embody the spirit of the Christian doctrine they teach — one of love, compassion, understanding and, most important, respect for the dignity of all humans. All human beings should not just be tolerated, but celebrated —as my good friend, Kate, says.
The Catholic bishops in Uganda have a responsibility not to condone this legislation passively. Their silence indirectly contributes to a climate of fear, hate and intolerance that stokes violence and discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.
It is time for the Ugandan Catholic bishops and the Vatican Dicastery for the Evangelization to break their silence. It’s time for them to denounce this legislation as contrary to human dignity and the love that underpins Christianity. Their words could reverberate throughout the nation and the world, promoting a message of love and acceptance over hate and discrimination.
It’s time we hear from those trusted to guide the moral compass of their millions of followers. The silence is deafening; the cost can be death and the violation of basic human rights. That is not acceptable. The world, and most importantly, the LGBTQ+ community in Uganda, waits for them to stand up for the fundamental Christian principle to love thy neighbor.
Juan Carlos Cruz Chellew is an executive for Livent, a multinational company. In 2021, he was appointed by Pope Francis as a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable People. He is also a global advocate for survivors of abuse. He was born in Santiago, Chile, and has lived for the past 18 years in the United States.
NOTE: The above column was very striking to me, not only because of the topic, but because of the almost line-by-line parallels with my own Quaker community. There are many Quakers in Uganda; there are also many Quakers outside Africa who are appalled by the legal repression facing LGBTQ Friends and others there. Quakers in the USA may be in special need of grappling with it, due to events described below. To facilitate this encounter, we’ve prepared a parallel version of the column, edited to specifically include Quakers in the discussion:
Version #2 –
from the National Quaker Reporter
[aka A Friendly Letter]
Edited by “William Leddra” — June 2, 2023
The world is watching in disbelief as Uganda, a country known for its vibrant diversity and rich culture, continues to regress on human rights issues, particularly concerning the LGBTQ+ community. The country on May 29 enacted a law, colloquially known as the “Kill the Gays” bill, that imposes severe and harsh penalties for homosexuality, including the death penalty or life imprisonment in some cases.
While the international outcry grows louder, the silence from a significant portion of Uganda’s moral and spiritual guardians — including the Ugandan Quakers — is deafening.
This ongoing silence becomes more notable considering the Quaker Church’s influential role in Uganda, with two yearly meetings of Ugandans identifying as Quakers . Uganda Quakers, considered moral leaders by so many, hold a unique position of influence and could potentially shift the narrative around this inhumane legislation.
Same-sex activity was already illegal in Uganda, as it is in more than 30 African countries, but the new law goes even further. It is, by any objective measure, a gross violation of human rights that contravenes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international conventions to which Uganda is a signatory.
The Quaker silence [inside and outside Uganda] indirectly contributes to a climate of fear, hate and intolerance that stokes violence and discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.
On the international stage, many Quakers, along with Pope Francis, have proven to be a breath of fresh air, guiding the Catholic Church and many Quaker groups to a more open and accepting stance toward LGBTQ+ issues. [The pope] recently — and several times — has harshly condemned laws that criminalize homosexuality. “Being homosexual isn’t a crime,” he said. “We are all children of God, and God loves us as we are and for the strength that each of us fights for our dignity.”
Yet, despite the pope’s words, and the witness of many Quakers elsewhere, Uganda’s Catholic bishops and Quakers remain noticeably silent on this issue. Also silent is the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization that oversees the dioceses and bishops in Uganda. Their silence creates a void, one filled by fear, discrimination and dehumanization. As moral and spiritual leaders, their words — or lack thereof — can shape public opinion, either legitimizing these inhumane laws or challenging them.
Ugandan Bishop Sanctus Lino Wanok, depicted homosexuality as “not human” and akin to “death,” while Fr. Agabito Arinaitwe, an influential priest in the important parish of the Uganda Martyrs Catholic Shrine, said, with reference to homosexuality: “It’s time we turn away from our evil deeds and turn back to the Lord.” They are not the only ones who have made such public comments. Some Quaker leaders in Africa have made similar statements, as well as others outside that continent, including North America.
This is a plea for the bishops and the Ugandan Quakers to embody the spirit of the Christian doctrine they teach — one of love, compassion, understanding and, most important, respect for the dignity of all humans. All human beings should not just be tolerated, but celebrated —as my good friend, Kate, says.
The Catholic bishops and Quakers in Uganda have a responsibility not to condone this legislation passively. Their silence indirectly contributes to a climate of fear, hate and intolerance that stokes violence and discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.
It is time for the Ugandan Catholic bishops and Quakers and the Vatican Dicastery for the Evangelization to break their silence. It’s time for them to denounce this legislation as contrary to human dignity and the love that underpins Christianity. Their words could reverberate throughout the nation and the world, promoting a message of love and acceptance over hate and discrimination.
It’s time we hear from those trusted to guide the moral compass of their millions of followers, both Ugandan Catholic and Quakers. The silence is deafening; the cost can be death and the violation of basic human rights. That is not acceptable. The world, Quakers in many other countries, and most importantly, the LGBTQ+ community in Uganda, waits for them to stand up for the fundamental Christian principle to love thy neighbor.
“William Leddra” is a Quaker writer who has reported on LGBTQ issues for many years.
URGENT POSTSCRIPT: Friends United Meeting, an association of Orthodox & evangelical yearly meetings in several countries, is having its triennial meeting in Nakuru, Kenya, on 2-8 July 2023.
From the FUM 2023 Triennial Orientation material:
Are LGBTQ+ persons safe and welcome [at the Triennial and in Kenya/east Africa]?
FUM: Homosexual activity is illegal and punishable with jail time in Kenya (and in most of Africa).
As a theologically and socially conservative society, all things LGBTQ+ are quite taboo, and that is true among most Kenyan Quakers as well. One thing to keep in mind is that public affection, even between straight men and women, is not common and might make people uncomfortable. And almost all of the Kenyans at the conference would be very uncomfortable with any public display of affection by a same-sex couple.
Our request: Please don’t come with an intention to raise the issue or with a desire to provoke conflict among Friends. But you can be your authentic self, and you may find that you will have surprisingly insightful and caring one-on-one conversations across the lines of difference.
[COMMENT: It feels appropriate to repeat the query in this Triennial FAQ Item’s heading]:
“Are LGBTQ+ persons safe and welcome?”
REPLY: To sum up, the most honest answers, based not only on careful reading here, but previous experience and current laws, are an emphatic “No,” and “No.” Further, given that in Uganda even “promoting” LGBTQ acceptance could be punished with a 20-year prison term, affirming-minded Friends of all orientations are well-advised to proceed with great caution.
Also, this statement “Please don’t come with an intention to raise the issue or with a desire to provoke conflict among Friends” seems naive at best or more likely disingenuous: in FUM over the past fifteen years, three yearly meetings have been torn apart, and a fourth completely destroyed, by long-running conflicts over “the issue.” And the Ugandan (plus other) African governments have been very active in “provoking” the current gravely conflicted situation.
Further, if these laws and recent history do not “provoke conflict” within Friends who are committed to universal human rights, does such passive acceptance live up even remotely to these Friends’ base commitments and testimonies?
Yet LGBTQ and allied Friends are being charged to forget or silence themselves about all that, past or present, in an official Quaker setting. You are expected to be in submission to legal and religious regimes, including many in their (your) own faith community, masked by songs and smiles, but of a systemically dehumanizing character, backed up by life-threatening official force.
So yes, Friends who are attending, stay safe. But please remember you are being made deeply complicit with grossly inhumane laws and policies that will be very hard to defend or reconcile with your home community’s faith and values. Expect to give an account when you return.
How do Friends enroute to this event “speak truth to power” in such circumstances? This is not an easy question. Thanks again to our Catholic brothers and sisters who are also raising it; and those unnamed here, who are risking their lives in Uganda and elsewhere to rescue and heal the many victims.
A final wish for you all, in the African argot: “traveling mercies.”
I do not know why you are choosing to ignore Bulungi Tree Shade Friends Meeting in Jinja, Uganda. It is the only welcomng, affirming unprogrammed Friends Meeting in East Africa, and has been for six years.
The co-clerk was transgender before being forced to flee. A worship group leader was killed. Nine gay Friends were tortured before being forced to flee the country. About one-third of their membership was/is LGBTQ. They had more than 200 members.
They use North Pacific Yearly Meeting’s Faith and Practice. They adopted 18 children who were sex-trafficked.
The racist, homophobic Friends World Committee for Consultation refuses to even acknowledge their existence. They won’t even send them an email. Uganda Yearly Meeting held its annual meeting in Jinja, and refused to invite them. Shame!
Friends Ugandan Safe Transport, under the care of Olympia Friends Meeting, has, to date, helped 2,952 LGBTQ people (plus a few allies, and children) escape the country. They are all over the world. Some 35+ North American Meetings have assisted in this effort. Organized like the Underground Railroad in the U.S., they have had to deal with 11 murders, and many more lynchings along the way, They are desperately in need of more funds, especially now. Look them up online.
I do not know why you are choosing to ignore well-established Quaker efforts in Uganda.
David, I am very grateful to you for drawing attention to Bulungi Tree Shade Friends Meeting and to Friends Ugandan Safe Transport. I am very heartened to learn of the existence of both, and I hope to learn more about both of them in the near future. For those of us who are just now learning about Bulungi Tree Shade Friends Meeting, could you give more information (or point us to more information) about the situation that leads you to characterize FWCC as “racist” and “homophobic”? I feel that this may be something that my own yearly meeting (Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting) should look into in considering our support for and participation in FWCC.
A couple showed up at the Boone Friends Meeting several years ago. They claimed to be Quakers, but they worked for Samaritan’s Purse (the Graham evangelical missionary organization) which seemed a bit “unusual.” During the time after meeting when Friends are invited to say what has been on their heart but didn’t rise to the point of speaking in meeting, a Friend spoke (a bit of a rant, actually) about the evil of how “Christian missionaries” were speaking against LGBT+ people in Africa. The look on the faces of these two spoke volumes.
Friends Ugandan Safe Transport has quietly helped literally thousands of gay and trans Ugandans into other African, European countries and Canada, too. It is a service of Olympia Monthly Meeting in Washington state. It is primarily the work of 2-3 people here plus brave non-Quaker, non-gay ‘conductors’ in Uganda who have been beaten, threatened, and work truly in peril. Here’s a link: https://www.friendsugandansafetransport.org. This latest bill affects anyone who helps gays and trans people, so the program is slowing down but there are dozens of people in hiding waiting for transport. If you can help, please make a donation.
Rex –
FWCC refuses even to acknowledge the existence of Bulungi Tree Shade Friends Meeting. When Quakers were being lynched, beaten, and killed, FWCC refused to even send them an email.
I want you to imagine this happening to a Friends Meeting in Belgium, or Ukraine for that matter. What do you think FWCC’s response would be? I call racist homophobes when I see them.
For the record, Bulungi Tree Shade Friends Meeting will not join any organization that is not welcoming and affirming. That leaves out FWCC.
Here is a partial list of Friends Meetings (and a few others) who HAVE support Friends Ugandan Safe Transport. Make sure your Meeting is among them.
Baton Rouge Friends Meeting, Denham Springs, LA
Blue River Quarterly Meeting, downstate Illinois and eastern Missouri
Cannon Valley Friends Meeting, Northfield, MN
Columbia Friends Meeting, MO
Dallas Friends Meeting, TX
Duluth Superior Friends Meeting, MN
Dunedin Monthly Meeting, New Zealand
Eggemoggin Reach Monthly Meeting, Sargentville, ME
Families United Against Hate
Fayetteville Friends Meeting, AR
Friends Meeting of Downers Grove, IL
First Parish of Sudbury, MA
First Unitarian Universalist Church, Springfield, MO
Floyd Friends Meeting, Floyd, VA
Fort Myers Friends Meeting, FL
Friends Meeting at Cambridge, MA
Green Country Friends Monthly Meeting, Tulsa, OK
Hartford Monthly Meeting, CT
Jacksonville Friends Meeting, FL
Kalamazoo Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, Kalamazoo, MI
Kickapoo Valley Monthly Meeting, Gays Mills, WI
Live Oak Friends Meeting of Houston, TX
Mt. Toby Friends Meeting, Wendell, MA
Multnomah Friends Meeting, Portland, OR
Narramissic Valley Monthly Meeting, Bucksport, ME
New England Yearly Meeting of Friends
New York Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
Oklahoma City Meeting, OK
Olympia Friends Meeting, WA
Orono Friends Meeting, ME
Oshkosh Monthly Meeting, WI
Providence Monthly Meeting, RI
Quakers of Orlando, FL
Quaker Peace and Service Aotearoa/New Zealand (QPSANZ)
Rochester Friends Meeting, NY
San Juan Worship Group, WA
Somesville Union Meeting House UCC, Mt. Desert, ME
South Central Yearly Meeting – SCYM
Southeastern Yearly Meeting – SEYM
Strawberry Creek Monthly Meeting, Berkeley, CA
Unitarian Universalist Association (PDF document of the UUA General Session VII, General Assembly 2014)
Unitarian Society of Ridgewood, NJ
Urbana-Champaign Friends Meeting, IL
Vancouver Monthly Meeting, BC, Canada
Vassalboro Quarterly Meeting, ME
Wellesley Monthly Meeting of Friends, MA
Winthrop Center Friends Church, ME
Worcester Pleasant St. Friends, MA
Yarmouth Friends Meeting, MA
Thank you, David. I plan to discuss all of this with my monthly meeting.
Rex, I attend a meeting that is also part of OVYM. I just became aware of this issue, and I would like to get my meeting involved with it. I would be very interested in collaborating with you in this regard.
Daneille, Would you like to contact me via e-mail?
Yes, I would. Thank you.