A group of religious leaders including the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire, are calling on organizers of Thursday’s National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. to honor Uganda gay rights activist David Kato, who was murdered last week.
“We’re asking that prayers be said for David Kato and his family and friends in Uganda, who continue to face this hostile climate,” Robinson told The Advocate.
That the Fellowship (also known as The Family), the influential conservative group that has hosted the annual breakfast since 1953, has extensive ties to African leaders like Anti-Homosexuality Bill sponsor David Bahati in Uganda, continues to be of great concern to Robinson, the Episcopal Church’s first openly gay bishop.
“They need to know that we are watching this very closely,” said Robinson, who will not be attending the event.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with people getting together to pray,” he continued. “As you know when I said a prayer at the opening inaugural event [for President Obama], I was careful not to make it a Christian prayer or one associated with any particular belief. It’s walking a thin line. I think what’s of greater concern to me is Obama’s attendance at an event sponsored by a group like The Family.”
Last year Robinson was among several religious leaders who, along with advocacy groups like Truth Wins Out, helped to organize the American Prayer Hour as an alternative to the National Prayer Breakfast. The coalition also urged President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who attended the prayer breakfast, to speak out against draconian legislation in Uganda commonly referred to as the “kill the gays bill” (both did so in their remarks).
Yeah, its early….but sometimes we have to sacrifice for equality.(6am-8am).
Outside the Washington Hilton
1919 Connecticut Ave., N.W.
On the morning of February 3, Get Equal will gather on the sidewalk outside the National Prayer Breakfast to educate the breakfast attendees on “The Family’s” role in this annual event, to stand up to their bigotry, and to stop the Family’s interference in Uganda, which itself has been called a trial run for what they want to happen in the U.S.
SA GLAAD would like to thank and praise US President Barack Obama for defending human rights and equality by describing a proposed Ugandan law against homosexuality as “odious” at the National Prayer Breakfast this week.
It is even more praiseworthy that he did so at an event sponsored and hosted by one of the leading groups involved in recent US religious right wing efforts to destroy the human rights and lives of the pink community in Uganda, the secretive group called “The Family” – of which the Ugandan sponsor of the Bill, Ugandan MP, David Bahati is a member. The Fellowship, also known as The Family, is an intensely private Christian conservative organisation. It has no website, contact details or published member list.
Obama acknowledged that some at the event held differing views on gay rights, but said: “Surely we can agree that it is unconscionable to target gays and lesbians for who they are, whether it is here in the United States or… more extremely, in odious laws that are being proposed most recently in Uganda.”
We feel it is significant that he did so at an event attended by a number of high-profile lawmakers and religious leaders and in full view of the entire world.
SA GLAAD views it as alarming that South Africa, a leading country in Africa, has refused to add its voice to the international condemnation leveled at Uganda for its choice to further oppress human rights – and the appalling choice of homophobe Jon Qwelane as ambassador to Uganda.
Bishop Gene Robinson spoke last night with Rachel Maddow on MSNBC about the Christian Right’s National Prayer Breakfast and the rival American Prayer Hour.
Maddow first introduces the segment with a review of The Family’s efforts to promote terror and destroy human rights in Uganda. She shows brief clips of President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and then showcases the American Prayer Hour as an alternative faith event for leaders who oppose the Christian Right’s abuse of the National Prayer Breakfast.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks to the National Prayer Breakfast yesterday regarding the U.S. obligation to deter genocide and human-rights violations against the LGBT people of Uganda.
Truth Wins Out praised President Barack Obama today for his bold speech at the National Prayer Breakfast condemning Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill. The bill would imprison, hunt down and even execute gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. The bill also threatens imprisonment for those who do not turn in their LGBT friends and family members to authorities.
In his speech, Obama said:
“We may disagree about gay marriage, but surely we can agree that it is unconscionable to target gays and lesbians for who they are — whether it’s here in the United States or, as Hillary mentioned, more extremely in odious laws that are being proposed most recently in Uganda.”
The President’s words were particularly powerful in the setting of this breakfast, which is hosted by the fundamentalist group known as The Family. This secretive organization is directly linked to the “Kill the Gays” bill in Uganda. The bill’s sponsor, David Bahati, is a key member of The Family.
“We applaud President Obama for having the courage to confront those responsible for the heinous anti-gay bill in Uganda,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out. “We hope that the President’s laudable stand makes it clear to Family members in the United States and Uganda that the world is watching. Religion can no longer be used to justify bigotry, intolerance and persecution anywhere on the face of the earth.”
Besen is the coordinator of The American Prayer Hour, which is an alternative to the National Prayer Breakfast. Fifteen national organization’s launched the Prayer Hour this week to shine a spotlight on The Family’s nefarious role in Uganda on the week of their annual National Prayer Breakfast. There are American Prayer Hour events in 20 cities across the nation.
“The easy and safe course would have been for President Obama to remain silent,” said TWO’s Besen. “Instead, he walked into The Family’s house and held them accountable for their actions in Uganda. It was a huge victory for human rights and the president’s actions were courageous and honorable.”
Truth Wins Out is a New York City-based non-profit organization that fights religious extremism and the ex-gay industry.
For more than 50 years, the National Prayer Breakfast has served as a prime networking event in Washington, bringing together the president, members of Congress, foreign diplomats and thousands of religious, business and military leaders for scrambled eggs and supplication.
Usually, the annual event passes with little notice. But this year, an ethics group in Washington has asked President Obama and Congressional leaders to stay away from the breakfast, on Thursday. Religious and gay rights groups have organized competing prayer events in 17 cities, and protesters are picketing in Washington and Boston.
The objections are focused on the sponsor of the breakfast, a secretive evangelical Christian network called The Fellowship, also known as The Family, and accusations that it has ties to legislation in Uganda that calls for the imprisonment and execution of homosexuals.
The Family has always stayed intentionally in the background, according to those who have written about it. In the last year, however, it was identified as the sponsor of a residence on Capitol Hill that has served as a dormitory and meeting place for a cluster of politicians who ran into ethics problems, including Senator John Ensign, Republican of Nevada, and Gov. Mark Sanford, Republican of South Carolina, both of whom have admitted to adultery.
More recently, it became public that the Family also has close ties to the Ugandan politician who has sponsored the proposed anti-gay legislation.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a government watchdog group, sent a letter this week to the president and Congressional leaders urging them to skip the prayer breakfast. They have also called on C-Span not to televise it this year.
Melanie Sloan, executive director of the ethics group, said: “It is a combination of the intolerance of the organization’ views, and the secrecy surrounding the organization. It doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be allowed to hold their breakfast; of course they should. The question is, Should American officials be lending legitimacy to it, giving their imprimatur by showing up.”
The Family has no identifiable Internet site, no office number and no official spokesman. J. Robert Hunter, a member who has spoken publicly about the group, said that it was unfair to blame the Family for the anti-gay legislation introduced by David Bahati. Mr. Hunter said that about 30 Family members, all Americans, active in Africa recently conveyed their dismay about the legislation to Ugandan politicians, including Mr. Bahati.
Mr. Hunter said the recent controversies had prompted a debate within the group about its lack of transparency. “I and quite a few others are saying we should be much more open,” he said.
Jeff Sharlet, author of “The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power” (Harper Perennial, 2009) said in a telephone interview, “Here’ an organization that, in the past, has not acknowledged its own existence.”
“It’ not a sinister plot. This is their theological stance,” said Mr. Sharlet, who infiltrated the group to do research for his book. “Their leader, Doug Coe, says that the more invisible you can make your organization, the more influence it will have.”
A White House official said that Mr. Obama, like each president since Dwight D. Eisenhower, planned to attend the breakfast. Michelle Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and other cabinet members will also attend. The president will deliver remarks about “the importance of an openness to compromise,” the official said.
The official also said that the president and the State Department had spoken out strongly against the legislation in Uganda.
The breakfast, which usually features a prominent keynote speaker (past ones have included Bono, Mother Teresa and former Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain), is only the most visible in several days of gatherings where the Family’ networking takes place in smaller groups. There are separate meetings for African politicians, military leaders, business people and media professionals, to name a few.
Many states also have prayer breakfasts this week, which may appear to be government-sponsored but are also mostly affiliated with the Family.
Liberal members of the clergy and gay rights leaders organized the alternative events in haste this year, calling theirs the American Prayer Hour. The will convene at places like Calvary Baptist Church in Washington; Glendale City Seventh-day Adventist Church in California; the bishop’ chapel of the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York, in Rochester; and Covenant Community Church in Center Point, Ala.
Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out, a gay rights group, said he initiated the prayer-hour idea because many religious Americans who attend the breakfasts have no idea about the connection to the Family and the anti-gay legislation.
“They have symbolically taken the mantle of religion,” Mr. Besen said, “and I think it’ time to take it back. And the American Prayer Hour is a step in that direction.”
(Moses, pictured left, is a gay Ugandan seeking asylum in the U.S. who had to hide his face at today’s press conference. He feared persecution and even violence if his identity were known.)
Religious Leaders Urge America’ Leaders to Speak Out Against Event’s Connection to Abhorrent Ugandan “Anti-Homosexuality Bill”
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Key religious leaders held a press conference this morning at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to announce the formation of The American Prayer Hour, a multi-city event to be held in two days on February 4, 2010, with key events in Washington, D.C., Dallas, Chicago and Berkeley and to call on organizers of the National Prayer Breakfast, Members of Congress attending and the President to use the opportunity to send a clear, unified message against the horrendous Ugandan “Anti-Homosexuality Bill”.
The American Prayer Hour was announced as an alternative to the National Prayer Breakfast which is sponsored by The Family (aka The Fellowship), a group with disturbing ties to those spearheading Uganda’ oppressive “Anti-Homosexuality Bill.” The Bill proposed by Parliament Member, David Bahati, adds an array of criminal punishments for gay people‚Äîincluding the death penalty.
Harry Knox, Director of Religion and Faith for the Human Rights Campaign,(pictured left) opened the press conference and said, “Tax documents from The Family show millions of dollars have gone into programs run by David Bahati, Ugandan Parliament Member who wrote the anti-gay legislation for Uganda. With that kind of influence, we call on the head of The Family, Doug Coe, to publicly speak out against the proposed anti-gay bill in Uganda. Our nation’ public officials, religious leaders and civil and human rights champions must speak with one, clear voice that the proposed execution of a group of people for no other reason than because of their sexuality is immoral and will not be tolerated or condoned through silence. Members of Congress and other elected officials attending this event cannot turn a blind eye to the obligation they have to speak out against such inhumane proposals such as the legislation being proposed in Uganda.”
Metropolitan Community Church pastor, the Rev. Elder Darlene Garner, (pictured) said, “MCC is an international denomination at work in dozens of countries so we know firsthand that hatred of gay people is not limited to Uganda. Sadly, conservative groups like The Family continue to spread lies and foment rejection of people based on perceived or real differences in sexual orientation and gender identity. In the name of protecting families, they tell parents to reject their sons and daughters. Implicitly they ask families to imprison their own people and inflict the death penalty on them, whether on the streets or in the jails.”
Moses, a gay Ugandan man seeking asylum in The United States said, “It breaks my heart that I have to leave my family and loved ones to seek asylum in this country simply because I am gay. Even as I speak, gay people a are being persecuted as a result of this proposed law against gay people. I can only imagine how bad it will be if the bill is actually passes.”
Bishop Gene Robinson, (pictured left) the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church said, “I spent time in Uganda to help set up HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs many years ago. Ugandans are a generous and hospitable people. But because of an unholy alliance between conservative religious groups in this country and anti-gay forces overseas Ugandans are turning on their own Ugandan sons and daughters who happen to be gay. This proposed law is a threat to LGBT people in Uganda and everywhere. Around 35% of Ugandans are Anglican and 45% are Catholic. Although many faith leaders have stood by silently, today we speak out on behalf of the marginalized. Faith leaders of all traditions should speak out for the most vulnerable in Uganda before it’ too late.”
Bishop Carlton Pearson, (left, with collar) interim senior pastor at Chicago’ Christ Universal Temple said, “As a straight ally, gay and transgender people come to me and say “thank you for speaking out.’ In Uganda, gay and transgender people cannot even say “thank you.’ They are being silenced by the threat of imprisonment and death. In the yawning silence, we must speak and we must pray. Both religious and political leaders must pray for gay people in Uganda and stop preying on them.”
Frank Schaeffer, (pictured left) son of pre-eminent conservative theologian, Francis Schaeffer said, “As a person who was raised in the heart of conservative Christianity, it took me years to realize that anti-gay beliefs are wrong and not inherent to Christianity. Today, fundamentalists are exporting anti-gay beliefs because fewer and fewer people here believe the lies. It’ time to stop using gay people as political pawns and understand that we are all children of God.”
Barry Lynn, Executive Director of Americans for Separation of Church (pictured below) said, “We are heartened to note that Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and the State Department, under President Obama’ direction, have been actively working against the proposed anti-gay law in Uganda. These efforts have led Ugandan President Museveni and MP David Bahati to signal that they are considering changes to the legislation. But, now is not the time to ease up the pressure but to continue to push for full decriminalization of gay and transgender people. We ask that President Obama to take the lead on human rights for everyone, everywhere, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.”
Media Contact: Wayne Bessen, American Prayer Hour Coordinator Phone: 917-691-5118 E-Mail: wbesen@truthwinsout.org Website:www.AmericanPrayerHour.org
Multi-City Prayer Hour Offers Alternative to the National Prayer Breakfast Whose Leaders Have Apparent Ties to Uganda’ Draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill
What: On Tuesday, February 2, 2010 key religious leaders will hold a press conference to announce the formation of The American Prayer Hour, a multi-city event on Thursday, February 4, 2010, with key events in Washington, DC, Dallas, Chicago and Berkeley. The American Prayer Hour events will affirm inclusive values and call on all nations, including Uganda, to decriminalize the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. The American Prayer Hour provides an alternative to the National Prayer Breakfast, which is sponsored by The Family (aka The Fellowship), a group with disturbing ties to those spearheading Uganda’ oppressive Anti-Homosexuality Bill.
When: Tuesday, February 2, 2010 — 10:30 a.m. (EST)
Where: The National Press Club (Washington, DC) Murrow Room
529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor – Washington, DC 20045
Who: Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church
Frank Schaeffer, author, “Crazy For God: How I Grew Up
As One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right and Lived to Take
All of it Back.”
Harry Knox, The Human Rights Campaign, Director of Religion and Faith
Moses, A gay Ugandan man seeking asylum in The United States
Rev. Elder Darlene Garner, Metropolitan Community Church, Vice-Moderator, Board of Elders
Bishop Carlton Pearson, Senior Minister at Chicago, Illinois’ Christ Universal Temple
Background: Uganda is considering the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009, put forth by parliamentarian David Bahati and initially backed by President Yoweri Museveni. If passed, the new law would unleash a vicious campaign of persecution against LGBT citizens. Bahati and President Museveni are members of The Family and are among their “key men” in Africa. The Family hosts the annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington. The American Prayer Hour will show that such cruelty and extremism does not represent most people of faith.
Sponsors:
National Black Justice Coalition
Religion and Faith Program
Human Rights Campaign Foundation
Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
National Religious Leadership Roundtable
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
NEW YORK — Truth Wins Out (TWO) today urged world leaders and members of Congress to skip the National Prayer Breakfast, February 4th, in protest of “The Family’ (aka The Fellowship) direct role in promoting a bill that would lead to severe human rights abuses against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in Uganda.
“The National Prayer Breakfast is giving legitimacy to those who promote barbarism in the name of the Bible,” said TWO’ Executive Director Wayne Besen. “We hope that world leaders who care about human rights will reconsider attending this year’ breakfast. To say grace with the people pushing this hateful and dehumanizing bill in Uganda would be disgraceful.”
On National Public Radio’ Fresh Air, Terry Gross interviewed author Jeff Sharlet (pictured), whose book, “The Family”, is a groundbreaking expose on the clandestine group in charge of the National Prayer Breakfast. On the program, Sharlet revealed a “smoking gun”, tying The Family directly to the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009, which threatens liberty and life for all GLBT people living in Uganda. Here is the key part of the transcript:
GROSS: So you’re reporting the story for the first time today, and you found this story — this direct connection between The Family and the proposed [Uganda anti-gay hate] legislation by following the money?
SHARLET: Yes, it’ — I always say that the family is secretive, but not secret. You can go and look at 990s, tax forms and follow the money through these organizations that The Family describe as invisible. But you go and you look. You follow that money. You look at their archives. You do interviews where you can. It’ not so invisible anymore. So that’ how working with some research colleagues we discovered that David Bahati, the man behind this legislation, is really deeply, deeply involved in The Family’ work in Uganda, that the ethics minister of Uganda, Museveni’ kind of right hand man, a guy named Nsaba Buturo, is also helping to organize The Family’ National Prayer Breakfast. And here’ a guy who has been the main force for this Anti-Homosexuality Act in Uganda’ executive office and has been very vocal about what he’ doing, and in a rather extreme and hateful way. But these guys are not so much under the influence of The Family. They are, in Uganda, The Family.
GROSS: So how did you find out that Bahati is directly connected to The Family? You’ve described him as a core member of The Family. And this is the person who introduced the anti-gay legislation in Uganda that calls for the death penalty for some gay people.
SHARLET: Looking at the, The Family’ 990s, where they’re moving their money to — into this African leadership academy called Cornerstone, which runs two programs: Youth Corps, which has described its in the past as an international quote, “invisible family binding together world leaders,” and also, an alumni organization designed to place Cornerstone grads — graduates of this sort of very elite educational program and politics and NGO’ through something called the African Youth Leadership Forum, which is run by -according to Ugandan media — David Bahati, this same legislator who introduced the Anti-Homosexuality Act.
“It is unconscionable to pray with a group that is actively preying on innocent people in Uganda, just because of their sexual orientation,” said Truth Wins Out’ Executive Director Wayne Besen. “We call on all world leaders who care about human rights to opt out of this year’ National Prayer Breakfast. No one should break bread with a group that is breaking the bones and spirits of gay and lesbian people.”
Earlier this month, four members of Congress wrote a powerful letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to express alarm over the proposed law in Uganda.
“This egregious bill represents one of the most extreme anti-equality measures ever proposed in any country and would create a legal pretext for depriving lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Ugandans of their liberty, and even their lives,” said the bipartisan letter, signed by Reps. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc., Pictured), Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Howard Berman (D-Calif.) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.). “Particularly given the United States’ substantial contribution to Uganda through the President’ Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), we believe swift action is necessary to ensure Ugandan leaders understand this bill is wholly unacceptable and antithetical to democratic values.”
The United States embassy in Uganda also spoke out against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009, calling it a major setback in the promotion of human rights.
“If adopted, a bill further criminalizing homosexuality would constitute a significant step backwards for the protection of human rights in Uganda,” the embassy’ public affairs officer Joann Lockard said in an email. “We urge states to take all necessary measures to ensure that sexual orientation or gender identity may under no circumstances be the basis for criminal penalties, in particular executions, arrests, or detention.”
Truth Wins Out is a non-profit organization that counters anti-gay misinformation, fights religious extremism exposes the “ex-gay” myth and educates America about the lives of GLBT people.
Additional coverage: The Family’s Sen. Ensign Scandal and cover-up
With a gift of $35 to Truth Wins Out, you can receive an autographed copy of "Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth."
Truth Wins Out praised President Barack Obama today for his bold speech at the National Prayer Breakfast condemning Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill. The bill would imprison, hunt down and even execute gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. The bill also threatens imprisonment for those who do not turn in their LGBT friends and family members to authorities.
The American Prayer Hour was announced as an alternative to the National Prayer Breakfast which is sponsored by The Family (aka The Fellowship), a group with disturbing ties to those spearheading Uganda’ oppressive “Anti-Homosexuality Bill.” The Bill proposed by Parliament Member, David Bahati, adds an array of criminal punishments for gay people‚Äîincluding the death penalty.
other elected officials attending this event cannot turn a blind eye to the obligation they have to speak out against such inhumane proposals such as the legislation being proposed in Uganda.”
oses, a gay Ugandan man seeking asylum in The United States said, “It breaks my heart that I have to leave my family and loved ones to seek asylum in this country simply because I am gay. Even as I speak, gay people a are being persecuted as a result of this proposed law against gay people. I can only imagine how bad it will be if the bill is actually passes.”
wn Ugandan sons and daughters who happen to be gay. This proposed law is a threat to LGBT people in Uganda and everywhere. Around 35% of Ugandans are Anglican and 45% are Catholic. Although many faith leaders have stood by silently, today we speak out on behalf of the marginalized. Faith leaders of all traditions should speak out for the most vulnerable in Uganda before it’ too late.”
Frank Schaeffer, (pictured left) son of pre-eminent conservative theologian, Francis Schaeffer said, “As a person who was raised in the heart of conservative Christianity, it took me years to realize that anti-gay beliefs are wrong and not inherent to Christianity. Today, fundamentalists are exporting anti-gay beliefs because fewer and fewer people here believe the lies. It’ time to stop using gay people as political pawns and understand that we are all children of God.”
