In response to a post on social media I became acutely aware that the state of society is somewhat a loss. The media, news channels and other various outlets are deliberately restricting certain content whilst favouring others.

One such topic is LGBTQ rights. Now we in England and the UK have no shortage of these rights. People can identify as gay or lesbian or whatever without the risk of persecution. The gay scene is big in many towns and cities.

However, in other countries such as Uganda, these rights are non existent and merely identifying as homosexual is now illegal. I bring this up because Uganda like many countries do criminalise homosexuality but they have done so for hundreds of years. The west, like England also used to criminalise it but we only talk about other countries. Although England has changed it doesn’t mean it hasn’t always been a part of this.

So why do the news outlets focus on places like Uganda? Well, it’s simple. They are popular news stories which will garner huge attention and support in western countries from people who haven’t the faintest clue as to how or what the operation or culture of those foreign countries is. For example, the majority of citizens could be in favour of the new bill, making it a democratic process with homosexuals – if there is many in Uganda – in the minority.

However the west does a very nasty job of making these countries seem like the worst place on earth. Aside from protecting their own cultural heritage and the society they live in, they are a different way of life and people don’t seem to understand that. What is normal in one country isn’t always normal in the other. We have to accept this. Trying to impose a global homosexuality acceptance parade is offensive and undermines the majority. Remember that these homosexuality rights are modern creations, and you cannot shift the entirety of Africa, or Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia to do as the west pleases.

Taking the story of Uganda, it had been illegal since 1902 to be a homosexual including various displays of affection. The new death penalty is not something to be frowned on, in fact it is to prevent the rape and abuse of young boys and girls.

The law in Uganda now classes ‘aggravated homosexuality’ as having gay sex with someone under the age of 18 or with someone being HIV positive, among other categories…

This is not a bad thing, but the west seems to think that homosexuality should be allowed in any form, even minors. You have to laugh at the disgusting reporting going on. Insinuating our African family is less because they ban something which would otherwise hurt the vulnerable is not a good image. Although the agenda in England has started to shift to dangerous tactics like imposing LGBTQ awareness in schools.

Saudi Arabia came around, changing the law to allow women to drive, a huge milestone. Yet with all their laws banning homosexuality the world cup was hosted there! What does that say about the medias agenda? It seems they have a selective and very dangerous money grab scheme involving certain states and countries. If they hosted the world cup and built and entire stadium for the world to visit, surely they are open to making homosexuality legal? The west went there, paid them trillions and didn’t say a thing about its brutal legal system – known worldwide for persecuting people for very minor crimes.

If the news actually reported on things that matter – like the fact that Afgahnistan also imposes the death penalty for homosexuality and so do several other countries then it might seem fair to go after Uganda, but the reality is the new law is actually protecting people. Don’t forget Africa and many of the countries suffer from AIDs and HIV epidemics, with HIV being a worldwide pandemic for many years. They have to account for this, and the high risk of disease spread from homosexuality activity.

Although I am not condemning them or siding with them in any case. It seems like perhaps we, and the news of the west need to give countries a wider berth. We cannot be selective about what we choose to argue about when in reality those same things are happening in western countries. There is no end in sight for LGBTQ rights in England, and it is unlikely that they will end soon, if anything they will continue to grow.