"they had no intention...."

Last March, three American evangelical Christians, whose teachings about “curing” homosexuals have been widely discredited in the United States, arrived here in Uganda’s capital to give a series of talks.

The theme of the event, according to Stephen Langa, its Ugandan organizer, was “the gay agenda — that whole hidden and dark agenda” — and the threat homosexuals posed to Bible-based values and the traditional African family.

For three days, according to participants and audio recordings, thousands of Ugandans, including police officers, teachers and national politicians, listened raptly to the Americans, who were presented as experts on homosexuality. The visitors discussed how to make gay people straight, how gay men often sodomized teenage boys and how “the gay movement is an evil institution” whose goal is “to defeat the marriage-based society and replace it with a culture of sexual promiscuity.”

Now the three Americans are finding themselves on the defensive, saying they had no intention of helping stoke the kind of anger that could lead to what came next: a bill to impose a death sentence for homosexual behavior.

Where to start with this one! You teach about the evils of "that whole hidden and dark agenda", and "how gay men often sodomized teenage boys" then you're shocked at the results of spreading such lies and vitriol. Give me a break, you hypocrites!

The three Americans who spoke at the conference — Scott Lively, a missionary who has written several books against homosexuality, including “7 Steps to Recruit-Proof Your Child”; Caleb Lee Brundidge, a self-described former gay man who leads “healing seminars”; and Don Schmierer, a board member of Exodus International, whose mission is “mobilizing the body of Christ to minister grace and truth to a world impacted by homosexuality” — are now trying to distance themselves from the bill.

“I feel duped,” Mr. Schmierer said, arguing that he had been invited to speak on “parenting skills” for families with gay children. He acknowledged telling audiences how homosexuals could be converted into heterosexuals, but he said he had no idea some Ugandans were contemplating the death penalty for homosexuality.

“That’s horrible, absolutely horrible,” he said. “Some of the nicest people I have ever met are gay people.”

Oh my! Mr. Schmierer feels duped. And he uses the old "some of my best friends are gay" defense to justify his abusive teachings on gay people that enable a push for draconian laws against gays in Uganda. Mr. Schmierer, you and your co-conspirators in the hateful teaching programs make me want to vomit.

Here is one result of the promulgation of your type of teaching:

“Now we really have to go undercover,” said Stosh Mugisha, a gay rights activist who said she was pinned down in a guava orchard and raped by a farmhand who wanted to cure her of her attraction to girls. She said that she was impregnated and infected with H.I.V., but that her grandmother’s reaction was simply, “ ‘You are too stubborn.’”

And you, of course, will say that this is "horrible, absolutely horrible". You "had no intention", you "feel duped". Ah, but your teaching programs make you and your cohorts complicit, Mr. Schmierer.

And make no mistake: the leadership in the US was complicit. How shameful that praising and giving money to support Uganda's "family values" and abstinence only programs were done in our name.

During the Bush administration, American officials praised Uganda’s family-values policies and steered millions of dollars into abstinence programs.

From the New York Times.

H/T to Torey Lightcap at The Lead and to Lionel Deimel in the comments for the link to the NYT article.

UPDATE: Andrew Sullivan posts his commentary on the article in the NYT.

Thanks to Wade for the link.