MP Bahati attacked Mr. Ighodaro’s personally for his position telling SaharaTV “I have a strong suspicion that Michael is saying what he is saying because he is gay. I don't think he is an African [or that] he believes what he is saying.”
SaharaTV spoke with Ugandan Member of Parliament (MP) David Bahati on the worldwide implications of the legalization of same-sex marriage by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). This week the SCOTUS ruled that it was illegal to discriminate against same-sex and gay couples throughout the entire United States.
MP Bahati, who drafted the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act, notoriously called the “Kill the Gays Bill,” which initially sought to punish gays in Uganda with death. However, the bill passed in Ugandan Parliament in 2013 attaching life imprisonment for homosexual activity in Uganda. MP Bahati was joined by Michael Ighodaro, a human rights activist who has spoken out against discrimination of homosexuals in Africa.
Bahati asserted his disapproval of the judgement passed on Friday saying, “God created the institution of marriage for a man and woman so that they can produce. Anyone who doesn't believe in that, they have a right not to believe in that. You can change the rules but you cannot change the Koran or the Bible.”
Michael Ighodaro responded that “God taught us to love each other as one, and we shouldn’t be discriminating against each other.”
MP Bahati attacked Mr. Ighodaro’s personally for his position telling SaharaTV “I have a strong suspicion that Michael is saying what he is saying because he is gay. I don't think he is an African [or that] he believes what he is saying.”
“Michael you know what I’m talking about, you know as an African man what is deep in your heart,” he added.
MP Bahati responded to concerns that, with the legalization of same-sex marriage in the US, it would not take long for the US to begin demanding similar action to be taken in Africa.
He told SaharaTV, “there are [also] American people who have expressed disappointment in the ruling. This is a threat to the institution of marriage...I stand for the people of Uganda. Anything that can be done with the influence of internationalists is insulting. Marriage was made for man and woman.”
Bahati later said, “I would say that United States are united as a sovereign state. They have made their decision. The judiciary has made their decision. But Africa is different.”
Uganda has been host to numerous Christian missionaries, coming mostly from the United States, who often preach how using prayer and Biblical devotion will solve social and economic misfortune. Conferences organized by these American missionaries is often said to be the chief cause of the “Kill the Gays Bill.”