According to CNN, the bill in question would impose a lifetime prison sentence on anyone caught having gay sex. It would impose the death penalty on homosexuals who have sex with minors, or who have gay sex more than once (because obviously, those things are morally equivalent). It would effectively ban HIV/AIDS prevention education, would imprison those who fail to report homosexual behavior, and, perhaps most disturbing of all, would allow people to be executed for having HIV. The bill even mandates that Ugandans who engage in homosexual sex abroad be returned to Uganda for prosecution. A coalition of American Christian leaders have denounced the bill, and human rights groups are asking Western countries to deny aid to Uganda if it passes. But some Americans seem to have helped inspire the bill.

Rick Warren, for instance, told a conference of Ugandan Anglican Bishops last year that the right to homosexuality was not a valid human right, and that "We shall not tolerate this aspect at all." His mentor, C. Peter Wagner, was a direct inspiration for the legislators behind the bill. According to Jeff Sharlet, a professor of religion and media at NYU, the legislator who introduced the Ugandan bill is a member of the fundamentalist group called The Family, which also includes American lawmakers like Sen. John Ensign (known for his impeccable sexual morality).

Then there's Richard Cohen. Cohen claims he is both a former gay man and a therapist (he's not licensed). His book Coming Out Straight was cited as an authoritative text at the conference that led to the Ugandan anti-gay bill, as proof that homosexuality was actually misdirected love for a parent. On Rachel Maddow, he responded to Maddow's claim that he has "blood on his hands."

Throughout the interview, Cohen tries to distance himself from the legislation and appear as harmless as possible. He claims his organization teaches compassion and tells Maddow, "we are for your right and anyone's right to live a homosexual life." Cohen's book claims that gays are much more likely to molest schoolchildren, feeding Ugandan fears of "recruiting" — but Cohen says he's going to excise that quote from the next edition (potentially, after the bill is passed). He says that he's not trying to "cure" homosexuality. And when Maddow points out that his other book, Gay Children, Straight Parents, lists "race" as a risk factor for homosexuality, he claims not to know how that got in there.

Cohen repeats a number of times that he's only interested in treating "unwanted" same-sex attraction, that he thinks people have the right to live as they wish, and that he's against the Ugandan bill. All these things may be true. At the same time, it's hard not to suspect him of double-talk — of saying one thing on a show with a liberal audience and hosted by an openly gay woman, and another to groups of homophobes and zealots. He's not the only one — Warren too has tried to distance himself from the Ugandan bill without condemning it outright. American fundamentalists appear to have learned that there are certain things you can't say in front of American audiences without losing your mainstream cred. However, you can still say those things (like that practicing your sexual orientation is not a human right) overseas, and you can support others who say them — as long as you're not worried about people dying.

Why Is Uganda Attacking Homosexuality? [CNN]
The Secret Political Reach Of 'The Family' [NPR]
Rick Warren And Uganda's Looming Gay Genocide [Daily Dish]

In Cohen's latest recital, he responds to those surly detractors (i.e., me) who have accused him of cutting out heart-shaped valentines to John McCain and pasting them in his locker. Coyly he begins:

In politics, we're having a Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr kind of year. It was Karr, a French writer, who coined the phrase plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose, which means, as Barack Obama has shown, that the more things change, the more they stay the same. N'est-ce pas?

Oui...
My own French is rusty, so I'm not sure what the proper French equivalent for "fucking embarrassing" is, so forgive me, but really—The Washington Post is not only the most powerful paper in the nation's capital but enjoys an international reputation, and here's one of their premiere columnists blithering away like Mayberry's Howard Sprague with a carnation in his lapel. It's amazing he didn't stick an "ooh la la" in there somewhere.

And if that doesn't rekindle your man crush on Wolcott you can go read the whole post and revel in anticipation of his rebuttal to Tony fucking Blair.

McCain's Core Advantage [Washington Post]
Hick Hack Ho [Vanity Fair]

Paula Jones is divorced from the man she was married to during Lewinskygate, the one who was so eager for her to sue the President. She has since posed nude for Penthouse, and lost a reality TV boxing match against ice skating bad girl Tonya Harding.

Linda Tripp, who was roundly vilified in the press for betraying Monica, was played by John Goodman in drag on Saturday Night Live, and reportedly runs a year-round Christmas Store in Middleburg, Virgina, says The Times of London. She's also married to a lederhosen-clad German named Dieter (for real).

And then there's Lewinsky. She's dabbled in designing handbags, hosted a radio show, and graduated from the London School of Economics with a masters in social psychology. She tries to keep a low profile these days, but she's been spotted in Los Angeles, most recently.

It seems that Monica will never live this down — ten years on, paparazzi photo agencies are still taking pictures of her, and early last year not one, but two articles in the Washington Post were published, still discussing her 21-year-old transgression. The author of one of those articles, Richard Cohen, has the best take on the situation. Monica's only crime? "She was a girl besotted. It happens even to Republicans." The Lewinsky lesson can be applied frequently in daily life. For instance, the next time your new love suggests that you make a sex tape, think, WWMLD? And then do the opposite. Or at least make sure that you keep the tapes.

Happy Birthday, Monicagate! [Slate]
Oral History: The Monica Lewinsky Scandal Ten Years On [Times of London]
Fairness For Lewinsky [Washington Post]
From Thong to Thesis: Monica Lewinsky Flashes Her Intellect [Washington Post]