{UAH} IN YOUR FACE: Gottlieb has also written to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni

A rainbow flag on Uganda'shighest peak

A Californian activist has summited Uganda's tallest peak and planted a rainbow flag, telling the Ugandan President that if he doesn't like it, he can climb up himself and take it down.

Neal Gottlieb climbed for six days to reach Mount Stanley's 16,753 foot tall Margherita Peak, and planted the flag in protest at Uganda's increasingly harsh anti-gay penalties.

Gottlieb has also written to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to tell him about the flag.

"Your country's highest point is no longer its soil, its snow or a summit marker," he told him, "but rather a gay pride flag waving brilliantly, shining down from above as a sign of protest and hope behalf of the many thousands of Ugandans that you seek to repress and the many more that understand the hideous nature of your repressive legislation."

"The wiser of us understand that humans possess certain unalienable rights," Gottlieb continues. "These rights include freedom to express oneself, freedom to worship one's god or none at all and freedom to live and love as one is born.

"Despite this, you recently signed legislation into law that allows those born homosexual to be imprisoned for life. This is a disgusting, despicable act that threatens to ruin countless lives. If you had a son, daughter, niece or nephew that was homosexual, would you want her or him to be imprisoned for life? What if you have friends that are closeted homosexuals? Should they be locked up for the rest of their lives? If you were born gay, would you deserve to be imprisoned?"

As the president of a nation, Museveni has the opportunity to be a great man and lead Uganda forward, the climber adds. "Instead, you choose to hold your people back like the imperialists, the dictators and the warlords that have held Africa back generation after generation. The people that you wish to imprison are the same people who can help Uganda grow into a great nation.

"If you don't like said flag on your highest peak, I urge you to climb up and take it down," he concludes.

"However, you are an old man and surely the 6-day climb through the steep muddy bogs and up the mountain's glaciers is well beyond your physical ability. Your days are more limited than most. Do you want your remaining days to be yet another blight on the history of your nation or will you find the strength to reverse your actions and allow all Ugandans to be free?"

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Gwokto La'Kitgum

"Even a small dog can piss on a tall Building", Jim Hightower