It has been extremely difficult to follow the serpentine path of Uganda’s notorious Anti-Homosexuality Bill (aka “Kill the Gays” legislation). It was first introduced in 2009 and has been on-again, off-again more than Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson.
However, by the time you read this column, it very well may have passed, turning the country’s LGBT population into hunted fugitives whose very lives are on the line. As early as last month, it appeared that the bill was stalled in parliament. But local political violence has the government looking for scapegoats to divert attention from its corruption.
There isn’t much we can do in America to influence Uganda’s political skirmishes any more than they can referee a fight between Barack Obama and Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio). However, America and Europe have enormous leverage because they give Uganda large amounts of aid. In my view, we should be doing everything in our power to use the purse stings to end the persecution.
This fight is not just about anti-gay cruelty and oppression in Uganda. The key reason to become involved in this battle is because the Anti-Homosexuality Bill has its origins in the United States of America. Key evangelical preachers, politicians, “ex-gay activists,” and organizations such as Rick Warren, Rev. Lou Engle, Sen. James Inhofe, and The Family (aka The Fellowship Foundation) have exported their anti-gay fervor to Uganda and several other African nations. In essence, they are using Uganda to fight a proxy war against homosexuality. Their goals are:
1) Pass the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda
2) Use this law as a model for copycat legislation in other African nations
3) Have these laws serve as examples to the West – and eventually export them back to Europe and the United States when conditions are ripe
4) Make the case that governments have the right to arbitrarily punish and execute LGBT people with impunity because they have no right to protection from discrimination
If we do not defeat this measure in Kampala today, it will cost the LGBT movement enormously in terms of effort and financial resources tomorrow. Unfortunately, it may be too late, as our movement has delayed and dithered while this threat intensified. If Ugandans are eventually hunted down, rounded up, jailed and executed, our collective failure should bring us great shame, and yes, blame. Fingers deserve to be pointed or we will never learn from our mistakes.
Exactly who in our movement was running the show and trying to prevent this bill from passing? How did they create such a paltry campaign that it remained essentially off the radar? After all, one needs both a behind-the-scenes strategy and a public presence to create effective pressure campaigns. But, our efforts to draw attention to this monstrosity were episodic and half-hearted. It’s hard to believe, but for the daily status of the bill, our community depended on a part-time blogger, Jim Burroway, and a Christian therapist, Warren Throckmorton. Is this really the best we could do – two dedicated people who were forced to heroically gather information for free on lunch breaks?
What should we have done? We could have run a strategic campaign to let Uganda’s leaders know that there would be a heavy price to pay for passing this bill:
Isolate: A campaign should have articulated the view that if the bill passed, Uganda would become a pariah state and bill sponsors would be viewed as genocidal outlaws deserving of prosecution for crimes against humanity
Punish: A campaign should have stressed that Uganda would be subject to harsh international sanctions and lose foreign aid from Western governments
Shame: American evangelicals are behind much of the anti-gay hysteria in Africa. A bright spotlight should have been consistently shined on those involved, exposing their role
Continental Divide: As we shamed the Americans into publicly backing away from the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, this would have likely caused a rift with their Ugandan counterparts, reducing the chances of this bill passing
Reshape the Narrative: Ugandan sponsors of the bill falsely claim that homosexuality is un-African and that they are protecting the purity of African values from Western taint. We should have accurately pointed out that the bill’s sponsors are puppets of American religious special interest groups who are intent on stealing the country and possibly appropriating its oil.
The LGBT communities of North America and Europe were all that stood in the way of this human rights catastrophe becoming a grotesque reality that will negatively impact gay people worldwide. Yet, even though we had two years to avert this nightmare, we collectively failed to take action.
Gay Man Claims Ssempa Paid Him To Say He Was ‘Ex-Gay’; Ssempa’s ‘Ex-Gay’ Also Testified in Favor of Anti-Homosexuality Bill Under What Appears to be Coercion and Duress
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Truth Wins Out today called on Ugandan authorities to investigate anti-gay activist Martin Ssempa (pictured) for potential extortion, perjury and fraud, following the New York Times’ discovery that Ssempa may have paid and pressured a witness to give false testimony in favor of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill.
In a last ditch effort to bring the “Kill the Gays” bill up for a vote, Ssempa brought so-called “ex-gay” activist George Oundo to a meeting with the speaker of Parliament, Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi. In the meeting, Oundo said that he had gone from gay-to-straight and strongly urged the speaker to pass the notorious measure.
However, with Ssempa no longer present, Oundo (pictured left) reversed his testimony and told New York Times reporter Josh Kron that he was paid by Ssempa to say he had gone straight and actually opposed the anti-gay bill. Clearly, there appears to be coercion, if not extortion involved, given Oundo’s quick repudiation of his testimony and his allegation that he was paid for delivering a bogus sexual conversion tale.
“Something stinks in Martin Ssempa’s corrupt campaign to get a vote,” said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “Ugandan authorities should immediately launch an investigation of Ssempa to find out if he has engaged in coercion or illegal activity in pursuit of passing the Anti-Homosexuality bill.”
Mr. George Oundo, 26, a transgender person who used to go by the name Georgina, went next. (testifying to Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi)
“I used to call myself the Queen Mother and Lady of the City,” Mr. Oundo said. “I was recruited into homosexuality many years back, when I was 12.”
“When I joined Mr. Ssempa, I told him all my problems,” he said. “I had to come out and join the struggle.
“Please help us; let the bill pass,” he said.
But an hour later, in a quiet hotel, Mr. Oundo recanted much of what had been said at the meeting.
“David Kato was murdered; it was a plot,” Mr. Oundo said. “I don’t support the bill.”
As for being a “former homosexual,” that, too, was not true.
I’ve always been gay,” Mr. Oundo said, in a timid but growing voice. “I didn’t choose it.
“David Kato was the first one who taught me to protect my human right,” Mr. Oundo added.
Mr. Oundo said that his presence alongside Mr. Ssempa at Parliament had been to “protect” himself and that he had been contacted only that morning by Mr. Kagaba about the meeting and offered about $42 to attend. He said Mr. Ssempa had offered him about $2,000 in 2009 to repent and switch sides in the debate, but later reneged. Either way, Mr. Oundo became a poster-child for Mr. Ssempa’s anti-homosexuality movement.
Mr. Ssempa declined to comment on the allegations.
Mr. Oundo admitted that he had picked up boyfriends at high schools and universities, what the antigay movement calls recruiting. But he said Uganda’s gay population was full of “natural-borns,” like himself.
“If I live or die, I am gay, and if I am buried, bury me gay,” he said.
“It is clear that George Oundo came under an inordinate amount of pressure to lie about his sexual orientation and suppress his actual position on the this bill,” said TWO’s Besen. “Ugandan officials should question Ssempa to see if blackmail, extortion or fraud led to Oundo’s false testimony. If it is determined that Ssempa lied or forced Oundo to lie at any time under oath, he should be charged with perjury. Martin Ssempa should not be above the law.”
Truth Wins Out is a non-profit organization that fights anti-LGBT religious extremism. TWO specializes in turning information into action by organizing, advocating and fighting for LGBT equality.
In a disgusting new twist to the anti-gay fervor that has swept Uganda, The Daily Monitor reports that Makerere University student leaders said in a meeting with the chairman of the committee handling the Anti-Homosexuality Bill that recruitment of gays was rampant at the university campus. The students told Mr. Tashobya (in charge of the committee) that each of their colleagues who join homosexuals is paid a monthly salary of Shs800, 000.
I have no idea how much Ugandan money that is — but it sounds like some serious coin. We also know, due to reality and common sense, that this allegation is pure propaganda and utterly false. Exactly, who is paying these students? Until there is proof, such allegations should not be made and those putting forth such lies should be punished.
I’m still in shock. In one of the most anti-gay nations on earth — gays are getting salaries. Do they have to take out taxes for such services?
Seriously, what next, accusations that gay people roast children and eat them for snacks?
I’m not trying to be judgmental — but the anti-gay Ugandan legislators sound remarkably ignorant. How uniformed (particularly in the Internet age) does one have to be to believe such bile? Or maybe raw hatred makes some people blind to the complete incoherence and idiocy of the arguments put forth by supporters of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill.
The legislators in Uganda must ask themselves a pertinent question: Do they really want to look like some of the shit stupidest people in the world by passing a murderous bill based on laughably ridiculous stereotypes and lies? Do they really want to be laughingstocks and punchlines for the rest of the planet? Because I guarantee them — based on the “evidence” put forth — that anyone who votes for this bill will be disrepected and mocked in normal societies throughout the world. They will be viewed as circus freaks with brains the size of lady bug spots.
Speaking of people snickered at on the world stage, the noticeably effete anti-gay and condom burning activist Pastor Martin Ssempa (pictured) has presented a petition in Uganda’s parliament, calling for the passing of the anti-gay bill. The petition, signed by two million people countrywide, was presented to the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Edward Ssekandi, yesterday.
Ssempa’s bizarre obsession with gay people having sex is jarring — particularly because he looks so damn gay.
The American fundamentalist group, The Family, has to make an important strategic choice. It can have its influential National Prayer Breakfast each February in Washington, or it can have its Anti-Homosexuality Bill become law in Uganda. It likely cannot have both.
It would be naïve for this secretive and powerful organization to believe that it can turn Uganda into a concentration camp for gay and lesbian people without transforming its signature affair into a symbol of such oppression. It would be madness for The Family to think it can sell the loving Higher Path Jesus at their breakfast, while unleashing its anti-gay Psychopath Jesus in Kampala.
If The Family does not kill the Anti-Homosexuality Bill before it becomes law, the cruel piece of legislation will end up killing The Family, by stripping it of its moral authority and tying its members to genocide. What respectable politician would want to attend an event marred by protests and hosted by human rights abusers?
Last year, a prominent member of The Family, David Bahati, wrote and introduced The Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda’s Parliament. In Jeff Sharlet’s latest book, “C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy”, the bill’s author said he believes that homosexuality is worse than murder and calls it “a threat to our existence”.
Aside from persecuting LGBT people and snuffing out their right to exist, the bill punishes anyone who offers support or friendship. Some of its provisions:
Three years in prison for failure to report a gay person to authorities within 24-hours of disclosure
Seven years in prison for “promotion”, which includes activism or simply acknowledging that homosexuality exists
Life imprisonment for one homosexual act
The death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality” (which includes sex while HIV-positive, sex with a disabled person, or sex more than once, marking the person as a “serial offender”)
The Anti-Homosexuality Bill was put on the backburner last year after the National Prayer Breakfast was protested. The efforts to shine a light on The Family’s activities led to President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemning the bill at the event.
Unfortunately, Bahati has revived the bill, claiming it will pass and “close the door to homosex”. Last week, he made a trip to The United States to furtively rally support for his efforts. The Ugandan legislator says that he has strong support in America, but his prominent evangelical friends are afraid to publicly back him because they fear reprisals.
Indeed, Bahati believes he is vindicating his American friends who have lost the culture war against LGBT equality. The grand plan is for Uganda to be used as a proxy in a global war against homosexuality. Once the bill passes in Uganda, the hope is to spread copycat bills throughout Africa. These conservative African nations can then be used as vivid examples to Western countries of how to re-stigmatize homosexuality. Of course, the larger utopian fantasy is to use homosexuality as a wedge issue to establish theocracies across the planet.
We should take this effort very seriously and make it clear to The Family that there will be consequences for such bloodlust. A few of the options include:
Working to have Congress cut off all foreign aid to Uganda
Large demonstrations at The National Prayer Breakfast
Denying Ugandan officials visas to America
Denying prominent members of The Family visas to Uganda
Stripping David Bahati of his degrees at the University of Cardiff and the University of Pennsylvania
Exploring efforts to prosecute Bahati, and others affiliated with this bill, for crimes against humanity.
A media campaign exposing The Family
Bahati justifies his planned purge by disguising it as a morality campaign to protect Ugandan children from predatory Western gay men. However, he has put forth no credible evidence to back his bizarre assertions, and all available information points to an eliminationist witch-hunt against innocent people.
Bahati also rationalizes his cruelty by saying that Ugandans support his bill. Of course, the bill’s popularity and the demonization of LGBT people are only maintained through artificial means. To tar homosexuals as despised villains, Bahati and his goons have to create a repressive culture where free speech is stifled, LGBT people can’t come out, pro-gay allies are punished for “promoting” homosexuality, the media is cowed, and a robust smear campaign is relentlessly waged with no opposition.
Incredibly, Bahati plays the imperialist card, arguing Americans should stay out of his nation’s business, even as he hypocritically does the bidding for American evangelicals that made his career.
In the name of God, these thugs and theocrats are playing God with the lives of LGBT people across the globe. The only Family these tyrants remind me of is The Sopranos – except they are more sadistic. It is time civilized people stand up to such Bible-based barbarism before it is too late. A good place to start is at The National Prayer Breakfast.
TWO Pledges To Help Educate The World Bank About PFOX’s Record of Hate and Harm
NEW YORK – Truth Wins Out today praised the World Bank’s plan to eliminate matching funds for the “ex-gay” hate group Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX), and called it a “positive step in the right direction.” The bank took this extraordinary step after learning more about PFOX’s reprehensible record and strong objections from staff who were upset PFOX had been included on the World Bank’s list of approved charities.
“We are grateful that the World Bank ensured that taxpayers will not be subsidizing PFOX’s anti-gay campaign,” said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “We pledge to continue educating the World Bank on this vital issue. The more they learn about PFOX’s history of hate and harm, the less likely they will consider PFOX a legitimate charity.”
Last week, Metro Weekly’s Chris Geidner discovered that a small number of anti-gay staff-members at the World Bank had recommended PFOX as a charity for this year’s Community Connections Campaign. World Bank matching funds were to be given to the chosen charities. Depending on the level of employee participation, the bank’s matching funds are either 50 percent or 100 percent of the employee donations.
Truth Wins Out and Change.org launched an online petition to drop PFOX from the list of charities. World Bank staff also made a persuasive case against using taxpayer funds to assist PFOX. The World Bank decided to take another look at PFOX and elected to change their guidelines. According to the new rules:
Bank-matching funds will be provided to those organizations that have, through prior participation, established a track record of support with staff. Organizations that have come on the list this year will not be offered matching funds in this year’s campaign, though the Bank will match any contribution that has been made to this latter group prior to today, November 15, 2010. We will review the new organizations after one year, to see if they have the staff and community support to warrant a match in the FY12 campaign.
Truth Wins Out preferred that PFOX be completely dropped from the list this year, but is satisfied with this interim measure that starves the hate group of taxpayer funds. In 2011, TWO will disseminate key information to World Bank staff and management to ensure they are aware of PFOX’s dubious record.
“It is a shame that other first time charitable organizations will have to suffer because of PFOX’s unseemly presence,” said TWO’s Wayne Besen. “Sadly, the PFOX baby is so toxic that the bathwater had to be flushed to avoid contaminating the entire program’s reputation.”
In August, two key members of PFOX spoke at the “Truth Academy”. The conference was hosted by Americans For Truth About Homosexuality’s founder Peter LaBarbera, whose website was listed as an official “hate site” by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
At the Truth Academy, PFOX Board President Greg Quinlan raised eyebrows with an offensive speech. Quinlan explained how he allegedly went from gay-to-straight, and found support from an Assemblies of God Church that accepted him because he allegedly was not effeminate.
“I wasn’t your flaming faggot, you know,” Quinlan told the chuckling crowd. “I can say that because I’ve been there and done that. You know, the one’s whose wrists are so limp that when the wind blows they slap themselves in the face. I wasn’t one of them.”
At the same conference, Arthur Abba Goldberg, the convicted Wall Street thief who runs PFOX’s speakers bureau, demonstrated PFOX’s unscientific use of stereotypes.
“By the way, did you notice that a lot of gays who remain in the gay lifestyle also do a lot of body building,” said Abba Goldberg. “They will be in the gym a lot trying to build up their pecs…Because they have these body image issues and don’t feel they are masculine enough.”
“PFOX is a dangerous organization that traffics in ugly slurs and crass stereotypes,” said TWO’s Wayne Besen. “Given PFOX’s level of vitriol, it would seem reckless and irresponsible to give this group charitable status in the future.”
PFOX’s former board President is Richard Cohen, who still serves as the “therapy” guru of the organization. Cohen runs the International Healing Foundation and sent his protégé, Caleb Lee Brundidge, to Uganda. The result of his visit was the introduction of the deadly and draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Cohen was permanently expelled from the American Counseling Association on March 23, 2002 for multiple ethics violations.
PFOX is an anti-gay political organization founded in 1998 by Anthony Falzarano with the help of an $80,000 Family Research Council grant. Falzarano once called University of Wyoming hate crime victim Matthew Shepard a “predator to heterosexual men.” He also said on CBS News that, “AIDS comes directly from Satan. He uses homosexuals as pawns and then he kills them.”
“PFOX likes to claim that they ‘love’ LGBT people,” said TWO’s Wayne Besen. “But their syrupy rhetoric does not match their record, nor reality. From the moment this organization was founded, it showed open hostility and extreme animus towards LGBT people.”
There are also lingering questions as to whether PFOX should have been listed as a charity, given that to be included in the World Bank’s Community Outreach Program, an organization is required to have, “a substantial local presence in the Greater Washington metropolitan area.”
PFOX fails to fulfill the criteria. The organization is based in Reedville, VA — placing PFOX 127 miles — and a two hour and forty minute drive — southeast of the nation’s capitol. PFOX also does not list any legitimate chapters in DC or Virginia. The only “contact” e-mail listed in DC or VA is that of the national organization based in Reedville.
Truth Wins Out is a non-profit organization that defends the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community against anti-gay misinformation, counters the so-called “ex-gay” industry and educates America about the lives of LGBT people. Our goal is to fight for a world where LGBT individuals can live openly, honestly, free of discrimination and be true to themselves.
Does the World Bank think that your sexual orientation can be cured? Well, maybe not officially, but that’s not stopping the World Bank from funneling money to an organization that not only tries to convert people from homosexuality to heterosexuality, but also has ties to Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” bill. Perhaps the World Bank is adjusting their mission statement: “Working for a World Free of Poverty … and Free of Gay People.”
As Metro Weekly’s Chris Geidner writes, the World Bank has allowed a controversial ex-gay group — Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) — to join the ranks of its Community Outreach Program, a workplace-giving campaign that allows employees of the World Bank to give money to an organization, and have that money matched by a contribution from the World Bank. Depending on how many employees decide to give money to PFOX, the World Bank will give anywhere from 50 percent to 100 percent in a matching donation.
Which means that in the months ahead, the World Bank will be giving money directly to an organization that believes homosexuality can be cured. On top of that, as Truth Wins Out notes, a former PFOX board member, Richard Cohen (who still serves as a therapy guru to the organization), was intimately involved in efforts to create legislation in Uganda that would punish homosexuality with the death penalty or life imprisonment.
And it gets even shadier. The director of PFOX’s Speakers Bureau, Abba Goldberg, is a convicted felon who was sentenced to a year and a half in prison for bilking poor communities with bond schemes. And PFOX has also had its tactics condemned by the worldwide psychological and medical profession, with leaders from the organization being thrown out of professional groups like the American Counseling Association for violating ethical protocols.
Wow, if the World Bank is willing to lend credence to an organization like PFOX, what does it say about their overall credibility? For the World Bank, it looks like corporate social responsibility equals corporate endorsement of curing gay people.
What’s also particularly troubling about the World Bank’s endorsement of PFOX is that it looks like the Bank made an exception in order to squeeze PFOX under its Community Outreach Program guidelines. Under those guidelines, a qualifying organization is supposed to have “a substantial local presence in the Greater Washington metropolitan area.” But a 2009 report by the Washington City Paper revealed that PFOX has no presence in D.C.; moreover, the organization’s headquarters are in Reedville, Virginia — a whopping 127 miles from Washington, D.C.
“It is factually incorrect to say that PFOX has a ‘substantial local presence in DC’”, said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “Either PFOX is committing fraud against the World Bank, or they are receiving special rights from the organization and inexplicably allowed to pass as a local organization.”
The World Bank has some serious explaining to do, Lucy. Of course, if you listen to World Bank spokespeople, they say that their support of PFOX shouldn’t be considered an endorsement of PFOX’s work. And if you believe that, I think there’s a bridge in Alaska that’s for sale, too.
“‘Because Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) met the minimum criteria for inclusion on the Community Connections campaign, they were included this year,” said a spokesperson for the World Bank, according to Metro Weekly. Ah, such bureaucratic speak for such a serious issue.
Send the World Bank a message that their decision to include PFOX in the Community Outreach Program is as offensive as it is tactless. This is an organization that uses manipulation and discredited psychological tactics to “cure” people of their sexual orientation, has ties to an anti-gay bill in Uganda that could wipe out an entire population of gay people, and who has a leadership that includes people with shady criminal ties. Is that really the type of “charity” the World Bank wants to lend credence to?
In February, a brave gay Ugandan living in exile, Kushaba Moses Mworeko, appeared at the National Press Club in Washington with a paper bag over his head to denounce Uganda’s deadly Anti-Homosexuality Bill. He wore a mask to conceal his identity because he feared for his life. At the DC press conference, he decried the interference in Ugandan affairs by intolerant American evangelicals, including the “ex-gay” organization Exodus International.
The catalyst for the infamous “Kill the Gays Bill” was a 2009 conference in Kampala featuring Scott Lively, who wrote The Pink Swastika, a book that blamed gay men for the rise of Nazism in Germany, and Don Schmierer, a board member for Exodus International.
Looking back, these were heady days for Exodus, with high-profile television appearances and globetrotting to exotic lands to evangelize the “ex-gay” myth. The good times were rolling with Exodus living by the economic rules of “God’s Economy”, where strong faith trumps smart finances.
The spiritual drunkenness of Exodus had led the organization to foolishly trade its leased offices in favor of a building with a million dollar mortgage. Now, deep into the recession, the organization is left begging the Lord for a loan and asking God’s helpers for a helping hand. On Monday, Exodus wrote on its blog, “Will you pray and ask if God would use YOU to extend His hand of generosity to our ministry during this challenging season?”
In this same Internet post, the organization announced layoffs. The downsizing mirrored severe cuts by Focus on the Family, which sold its financially strapped “ex-gay” road show, “Love Won Out”, to Exodus last year. Apparently, it was not such a wise investment for Exodus, judging by the group’s latest plea for help.
“Dear friends, please pray for us at Exodus,” wrote the organization’s President Alan Chambers. “We have experienced an unexpectedly low giving season this summer coupled with much higher expenses (insurance, utilities, etc). Sadly, we have had to let several staff go. Your prayers are appreciated. For those who are also having to endure this unfriendly economy, our prayers are with you!”
Those who do not follow the “ex-gay” industry must have been surprised by Exodus’ poverty plea. After all, on Aug. 10, the organization’s President Alan Chambers told CNN’s blog that, “Our calls are increasing. Our ministries say we’re busier than ever.”
Exodus’ Vice President, Randy Thomas, also appeared to be oblivious to the cliff ahead. On Aug. 7, he posted a flamboyant video where he gregariously sang, expressed horror that his deodorant smelled too gay, and ordered a designer Starbucks “iced venti, skinny vanilla latte”.
However, the shortfall wasn’t a shock to those of us who study these groups. In late January, I first warned that Exodus was in trouble, evidenced by its moribund website and tardy press releases – which suggested there had been staff cuts. At that time I wrote, “The group’s last press release posted on its sluggish website is dated November 16, 2009. Memo to Exodus, the New Year’s ball has dropped. You can come out of your slumber.”
Exodus financial downturn seems to be echoed by Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality (JONAH), which recently begged supporters to send old clothes, so the group could resell them, presumably at second-hand stores or flea markets.
The reason for the relative decline of these groups is that they are selling a fraudulent product. If they had really “cured” self-loathing homosexuals, these groups would be swimming in money, donated by satisfied clients and ecstatic relatives. All they offer, however, is an infomercial for false hope and their seedy scheme is beginning to catch up to them.
Unfortunately, failed American “ex-gay” outfits can still do enormous damage overseas. For example, Hong Kong’s Society for Truth and Light just published a 52-page booklet citing the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) This is the organization best known for George Rekers, its anti-gay board member who had to step down this year after vacationing with a prostitute he had met on Rent Boy.com.
This week, Kushaba Moses Mworeko released a new video, courageously taking off his mask to call attention to the plight of LGBT people in most African countries. He implored Anglican bishops attending the All African Bishops conference in Entebbe, Uganda, to denounce the “Kill the Gays Bill.”
While it may take Exodus a while to fix its financial mess, the global wreckage it has left behind will not be so easy to clean up.
In February, a brave gay Ugandan man living in exile appeared at the National Press Club in Washington with a paper bag over his head to denounce Uganda’s draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill. He wore the mask to conceal his identity because he feared for his life.
Today, Kushaba Moses Mworeko took off his mask to urge the African Anglican Bishops at the All African Bishops Conference in Entebbe to speak out against Uganda’s “Kill the Gays Bill” and other forms of anti-gay discrimination on the continent.
“It is time for Christian leaders in Africa to start promoting peace and stop persecuting LGBT people,” said Kushaba Moses Mworeko, who recently escaped to the United States. “I call on the Anglican Church to speak out forcefully against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill and to support decriminalizing gay relationships across the continent. As the church grows in Africa it must choose to be a force for good and not intolerance.”
Speakers claimed that the continent would have 673 million Christians by 2025 and lead Christendom in the 21st century. Egyptian Bishop Mouneer Anis spoke of the significance of this meeting when he told bishops from more than 400 dioceses, “There is no doubt that history is going to record what happens at this conference for future generations. This is no ordinary conference because it’s happening in an extraordinary context.”
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, (pictured) spoke at the event, but has yet to effectively use his bully pulpit to shape a more accepting environment towards LGBT people in Africa.
“The All African Bishops Conference offers Rowan Williams a unique opportunity to show leadership and moral clarity by denouncing Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill,” said Mworeko. “I urge the Archbishop of Canterbury to display a backbone and set a positive tone for the Anglican Church in Africa. His silence will be seen as a green light for the witch hunts against the LGBT community to continue.”
In a new Youtube video, Mworeko sent a message of perseverance and hope to his LGBT brothers and sisters still living in Uganda.
“We shall continue fighting for our rights and the time to fight is now,” said Mworeko. “This is about liberty, this is about equality, this is about justice. We are here to reclaim our freedom.”
“If Moses has the courage to put his life at risk by speaking out against intolerance and injustice, the least Rowan Williams can do is acknowledge the inhumanity of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill while he is at this conference,” said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “His noticeable indifference to the suffering of LGBT people in Africa and worldwide is a great stain on his shrinking legacy. Only by finding his voice on LGBT issues can Williams reverse the damage that has occurred on his watch.”
Truth Wins Out is a non-profit organization that fights anti-gay religious extremism. TWO’s goal is to create a world where lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people can live openly, honestly and true to themselves.
Ugandan politics took a sad walk onto the world stage at the end of 2009, when David Bahati, a member of Parliament, introduced a bill to gruesomely enhance his country’s existing laws against gay people – making it a crime not to report gays, and going so far as to call for the execution of gays in some circumstances. The death penalty provisions have not become law, but Uganda remains hostile territory.
Kushaba Moses Mworeko, a brave 31-year-old Ugandan and my personal hero, decided to speak out in February against the bill at the American Prayer Hour. This event countered the National Prayer Breakfast run by the notorious and powerful aanti-gay organization, The Family.
At the National Press Club, Moses joined Truth Wins Out, The Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD, Americans United, and several other organizations to speak out against The Family’s role in Uganda and the horrible “kill the gays” bill.
For his safety, Moses wore a paper bag over his head.
Today, he reveals himself to the world in an effort to stop the persecution of LGBT people in Uganda. The message of Moses: “Let my People Go.
What an incredibly brave and inspiring person! The publication MW has an excellent interview, discussing Moses’ activism, life journey and efforts to stay in the United States to avoid persecution, imprisonment or worse.
It is imperative that Moses stays in the United States. It would be unconscionable if he were sent back to suffer at the hands of would-be murderers.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
However, with Ssempa no longer present, Oundo (pictured left) reversed his testimony and told New York Times reporter Josh Kron that he was paid by Ssempa to say he had gone straight and actually opposed the anti-gay bill. Clearly, there appears to be coercion, if not extortion involved, given Oundo’s quick repudiation of his testimony and his allegation that he was paid for delivering a bogus sexual conversion tale.
In a disgusting new twist to the anti-gay fervor that has swept Uganda, 
(Weekly Column)
Last week, Metro Weekly’s 
Which means that in the months ahead, the World Bank will be giving money directly to an organization that believes homosexuality can be cured. On top of that, 
Speakers claimed
Ugandan politics took a sad walk onto the world stage at the end of 2009, when David Bahati, a member of Parliament, introduced a bill to gruesomely enhance his country’s existing laws against gay people – making it a crime not to report gays, and going so far as to call for the execution of gays in some circumstances. The death penalty provisions have not become law, but Uganda remains hostile territory.
For his safety, Moses wore a paper bag over his head.
