{"id":1120,"date":"2023-09-20T16:44:13","date_gmt":"2023-09-20T23:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/globalhealthjustice\/?p=1120"},"modified":"2023-12-14T09:10:26","modified_gmt":"2023-12-14T17:10:26","slug":"1120-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/globalhealthjustice\/1120-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Missionaries of Hate:\u00a0 U.S. Christian Right Group Enflames Homophobia in Uganda"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ugandan Dr. Frank Mugisha exposes the U.S. backers of the 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act. He accuses American \u201cconservative anti-gay activists\u201d of fearmongering in Uganda that has led to its LGBTQ criminalization laws. He outlined how this happening when interviewed on the Rachel Maddow in May, 2023. https:\/\/glaad.org\/rachel-maddow-traces-anti-lgbtq-legislation-uganda-activists-arizona\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Many people in the Global North were shocked by the inhumanity of Uganda\u2019s new anti-homosexual law. It was well-reported internationally that on May 2 Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed the 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act that makes homosexuality punishable by life imprisonment and \u201caggravated homosexuality\u201d punishable by death. Less well known is how an American organization fanned the anti-gay hatred and promoted the legislation. \u00a0Rachel Maddow\u2019s interview with Frank Mugisha, a brave Ugandan gay rights activist, revealed that the culprit is the anti-LGBTQ and anti-abortion Christian Right group Family Watch International, based in Gilbert, Arizona. It has close ties with Mr Museveni and Ugandan legislators and others in East Africa.<\/p>\n

Dr. Mugisha is the Executive Director of SMUG (Sexual Minorities Uganda) that was outlawed in 2022. SMUG is fighting the new law and is helping Ugandans who are targeted. Information about SMUG\u2019s work can be found at https:\/\/smuginternational.org\/.<\/a> \u00a0Dr. Mugisha noted that \u201cthis legislation, in my words, and I\u2019ve said it many times, it is here to erase the entire existence of an LGBTQ person in Uganda, but also it radicalizes Ugandans into hatred of the LGBTQ community, and where are they seeing that happening?\u201d.<\/p>\n

Dr. Mugisha noted that, like other former British colonies in the region, Uganda was burdened with statutes that maintain that homosexuality is an offense punishable by life imprisonment. After independence, bills were built on that. Further bolstering these findings, Vanity Fair <\/em>journalist Caleb Ecarma writes that American evangelicals spent more than $20 million fighting LGBTQ rights in the country between 2007\u20132020 and<\/em> participated in a series of popular antigay lectures in Uganda. A few attempts at stern anti-gay legislation failed court scrutiny but the strictures are maintained in the new Act.<\/p>\n

For her part, Rachel Maddow traced the connection between anti-LGBTQ legislation in the US and Uganda, identifying the same anti-LGBTQ activist organizations behind both. \u201cArizona [legislators] lined up behind a measure that would discipline teachers and open them up to lawsuits if they don\u2019t tell parents everything a student tells them,\u201d said Maddow.<\/p>\n

The legislators who introduced this bill, among others, consulted with the same Arizona agency, Family Watch International, which is designated as a LGBTQ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The group does most of their work spreading disinformation about sexuality, gender identity and gender expression overseas. More recently, in Uganda.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn March of this year, just weeks ago, this Arizona group was one of the key organizers of a conference in Uganda that hosted lawmakers, that hosted elected officials from more than a dozen countries in Africa at this conference,\u201d Maddow said.<\/p>\n

The host continued by saying that lawmakers from these countries promised to push anti-LGBTQ and anti-abortion legislation in their home countries.<\/p>\n

Sharon Slater, the president of Family Watch International has ties to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni\u2019s wife, Janet K. Museveni, and anti-gay minister, Martin Ssempa who was in strong support of Uganda\u2019s original LGBTQ criminalization bill imposing the death penalty, according to Maddow.<\/p>\n

\u201cI recently had the honor of meeting with Ms. Sharon Slater, President of Family Watch International, & her team. They attended the first African Regional Inter-Parliamentary Conference in Uganda, focusing on global challenges that threaten African families & values,\u201d Janet K. Museveni tweeted on April 4. \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this law is passed, we will definitely see many get arrested. We will see many LGBTQ persons leave the country. So many of the LGBTQ community members are already fleeing the country. They\u2019re trying to go to neighboring Kenya, which is not safe as well, but they feel they would be safer in Kenya than being imprisoned in Uganda,\u201d Mugisha said. Mugisha is a well-known and regarded\u00a0Ugandan LGBTQ activist. Mugisha\u00a0and his colleagues are at risk of the dangers this bill poses, especially after openly opposing the legislation Monday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could end up getting arrested,\u201d Mugisha reminds Maddow and viewers.<\/p>\n

In a call to action, Maddow asks Mugisha what impact outcry from US legislators and the Biden Administration would have on stopping the 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Law.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would make a very big difference if Americans spoke directly to our authorities, and told them how dangerous this legislation is for the LGBTQ community here and how this legislation is going to make the LGBTQ community unsafe living here in Uganda, and how this legislation is a gross violation of human rights of LGBTQ persons,\u201d Mugisha responded. \u201cYes, it would make a very big difference.<\/p>\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n

Uganda Just Made Homosexuality Punishable by Death. American Evangelical Groups Played a Role https:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/news\/2023\/05\/uganda-homosexuality-death-american-evangelical-groups<\/a><\/h6>\n
Calls for US anti-rights groups to face action over Uganda anti-gay law
\nhttps:\/\/www.opendemocracy.net\/en\/5050\/uganda-anti-gay-law-sharon-slater-tim-kreutter\/<\/a><\/h6>\n
The U.S. connection to Uganda\u2019s \u2018kill the gays\u2019 bill
\nhttps:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/2023\/03\/24\/uganda-lgbtq-bill-united-states-republican-anti-gay-connection\/<\/a><\/h6>\n
Uganda’s new anti-LGBTQ bill grew out of a poisonous American seed\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 March 25, 2023
\nhttps:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/opinion\/msnbc-opinion\/uganda-anti-lgbtq-bill-rcna76630<\/a><\/h6>\n
U.S. Christian groups spent $280m fighting LGBT+ rights, abortion overseas\u00a0\u00a0 Oct 27, 2020
\nhttps:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-europe-lgbt-rights-trfn\/u-s-christian-groups-spent-280m-fighting-lgbt-rights-abortion-overseas-idUSKBN27C2MA<\/a><\/h6>\n
How the US Christian right influences abortion policy in Africa
\nhttps:\/\/theworld.org\/stories\/2012-08-23\/how-us-christian-right-influences-abortion-policy-africa<\/a><\/h6>\n
After Fall of Roe\u2014Emboldened Religious Conservatives Lobby to Restrict Abortion in Africa
\nhttps:\/\/ny1.com\/nyc\/all-boroughs\/news\/2023\/07\/02\/after-fall-of-roe–emboldened-religious-conservatives-lobby-to-restrict-abortion-in-africa<\/a><\/h6>\n
Lifesaving HIV program faces a new threat: U.S. abortion politics
\nhttps:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/health\/2023\/07\/29\/pepfar-aids-hiv-abortion-congress\/<\/a><\/h6>\n
Christian fundamentalism lies behind harsh new anti-LGBTIQ bill in Uganda
\nhttps:\/\/www.opendemocracy.net\/en\/5050\/uganda-anti-homosexuality-bill-church-us-england-odoi-oywelowo\/<\/a><\/h6>\n
The Unholy Relationship Between Uganda’s Anti-LGBTQ+ Law and US Evangelicalism\u00a0 Chicago council on Global affairs
\nhttps:\/\/globalaffairs.org\/commentary-and-analysis\/blogs\/unholy-relationship-between-ugandas-anti-lgbtq-law-and-us<\/a><\/h6>\n
Homosexuality Punishable by Death. American Evangelical Groups Played a Role
\nhttps:\/\/globalaffairs.org\/commentary-and-analysis\/blogs\/unholy-relationship-between-ugandas-anti-lgbtq-law-and-us<\/a><\/h6>\n
How Uganda was seduced by anti-gay conservative evangelicals
\nhttps:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/africa\/how-uganda-was-seduced-by-antigay-conservative-evangelicals-9193593.html<\/a><\/h6>\n
<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ugandan Dr. Frank Mugisha exposes the U.S. backers of the 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act. He accuses American \u201cconservative anti-gay activists\u201d of fearmongering in Uganda that has led to its LGBTQ criminalization laws. He outlined how this happening when interviewed on the Rachel Maddow in May, 2023. https:\/\/glaad.org\/rachel-maddow-traces-anti-lgbtq-legislation-uganda-activists-arizona\/ Many people in the Global North were shocked by the inhumanity of Uganda\u2019s new anti-homosexual law. It was well-reported internationally that on May 2 Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed the 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1123,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[87,9],"tags":[102,54,92,100,28],"media_type_reference":[],"class_list":["post-1120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gender","category-structural-violence","tag-equity","tag-global-health-justice","tag-human-rights-violations","tag-social-justice","tag-structural-violence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/globalhealthjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/globalhealthjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/globalhealthjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/globalhealthjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/globalhealthjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1120"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/globalhealthjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1130,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/globalhealthjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1120\/revisions\/1130"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/globalhealthjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/globalhealthjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/globalhealthjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/globalhealthjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1120"},{"taxonomy":"media_type_reference","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/globalhealthjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type_reference?post=1120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}