Uganda’s Main Opposition Party Comes Out Against Anti-Homosexuality Act

Rather brave in a place like Uganda, from Box Turtle:

Box Turtle Bulletin has learned through exclusive video provided by a BTB reader that the Secretary General of Uganda’s main opposition party has announced that the party would oppose the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill that is now before Parliament....

This is very significant. Prior to this announcement, it had been widely assumed that the bill would pass Parliament with a near-unanimous vote. Any opposition to this bill had been seen as political suicide.

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The 12 gays of Christmas

Unfortunately you can't hear the audio, but the dancing is superb.

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In 2009, EJ Dionne thought "The culture wars went into recession along with the economy."

Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne noticed a change in the politics of social issues in 2009:

In this highly partisan year, we did not see a sharpening of the battles over religion and culture.

Yes, we continued to fight over gay marriage, and arguments about abortion were a feature of the health-care debate. But what's more striking is that other issues -- notably economics and the role of government -- trumped culture and religion in the public square. The culture wars went into recession along with the economy.

Yes, we do continue to fight over gay marriage. And, being on the losing end of a couple of those battles makes us want to fight harder. Here's Dionne's take on the marriage issue:

And while gay marriage continues to roil politics at the state and local levels, this argument has now become part of the routine of American politics. Republican politicians have shown a limited appetite for nationalizing the issue, something they did eagerly before the 2004 election. Judging by the closeness of some of the referendum votes -- notably this year in Maine, where the measure lost narrowly -- support for gay marriage has grown, although its backers are still short of a majority in most places.

In the meantime, religious progressives are mobilized to a degree not seen since the civil rights years. They weighed in regularly on health care, providing energy for the compromises on abortion that would otherwise have won little organized support.

The marriage debate has become routine, but we still face full bore opposition from the leaders of the Catholic Church and virulently anti-gay front groups like the National Organization for Marriage. In DC, religious allies, led by Rev. Rob Hardies, Rev. Christine Wiley and her husband, Rev. Dennis Wiley, rallied around marriage equality -- and the bill was signed into law at a church. We'll soon see if the GOPer are again going to nationalize the marriage debate again by trying to overturn D.C.'s marriage law.

This marriage debate is far from over. But, it is heading in the right direction. Read More...