The Far Right Group Pushing Anti-Gay Policies in Africa

[EndDomination]

Revealed: how a US far-right group is influencing anti-gay policies in Africa

US anti-pornography campaigning group has advised, promoted and endorsed anti-LGBTQ+ activists and politicians in Uganda

www.theguardian.com

A long-standing US anti-pornography campaigning group has advised, promoted and endorsed anti-LGBTQ+ activists and politicians in Uganda, including a governing party member who endorsed anti-LGBTQ+ laws by saying gays “should be castrated”, and a virulently homophobic founder of a “militaristic” Christian boys camp.

The revelations about Washington DC-based National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) and its spin-offs and affiliates – based on documents, audio and video recordings and open-source materials – raise questions about its recent disavowals of its history of anti-LGBTQ+ positions, and its role in Uganda’s passage last year of laws on homosexuality which are among the most punitive and restrictive in the world.


It also complicates NCOSE’s efforts to play down its religious associations and its history on the Christian right in order to exercise a more authoritative influence on policymakers in the US and around the world.

The Guardian contacted NCOSE for comment. A spokesperson responded with a link to a December 2023 statement in which the organization admitted to “moments in our organization’s history prior to our leadership change in 2011, when remarks were made that were indeed anti-LGBTQ+” but spoke of a “commitment to serve, uplift, and respect all persons, including members of the LGBTQ+ community”.

NCOSE’s efforts to make inroads in Uganda have been continuing for at least a decade, according to materials on the organization’s own website. An October 2015 blog post reports on NCOSE-sponsored White Ribbon Against Pornography (Wrap) week activities in the country, and says that this is the second annual WRAP campaign.

A spin-off organisation, the International Coalition on Sexual Exploitation (ICSE), was created to “share, deploy, and leverage the work of the US-based NCOSE”, according to NCOSE’s 2022 annual report, and had been “advising government leaders” in Uganda and elsewhere.

By the time of its 2022 Coalition to End Sexual Exploitation (Cese) Africa Summit in Pretoria, South Africa, NCOSE had done enough to attract prominent anti-LGBTQ+ voices from Uganda and other African nations, as well as other US organizations promoting an anti-LGBTQ+ agenda in Africa.

A NCOSE blog post in the wake of the conference reported that after opening remarks by NCOSE CEO Dawn Hawkins, attendees heard a “moving call to action” from the Ugandan government minister Sarah Achieng Opendi.

Last year Opendi, a minister in the government of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party, said gays “should be castrated” so they couldn’t “continue with homosexuality” in prison. The comments came in the course of a parliamentary debate on the passage of the harshest anti-LGBTQ+ in the world.

Opendi was subsequently denied a visa to travel to the US, and was one of hundreds of Ugandan politicians who had visa restrictions imposed by the US over the laws, which prescribe the death penalty or life imprisonment for many same-sex acts and 20 years imprisonment for “promoting” homosexuality, which many opponents claim criminalizes LGBTQ+ advocacy.

Another speaker at that conference was Sharon Slater, the president of Family Watch International (FWI), which the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) designates as a hate group.

According to the SPLC, Slater’s anti-LGBTQ+ activism has been focused on Africa, and on countering UN efforts to promote equal rights. Along the way she has “forged close ties over the years with virulently anti-gay African activists”.

At another conference in Lagos, Nigeria, in 2012, Slater reportedly told delegates that LGBTQ+ rights were “fictitious”.

A CNN investigation last year explored Slater’s promotion of “‘family values’ conferences across the African continent”, asking about the relationship between those events and the subsequent passage of anti-gay laws.

Although FWI denied any direct involvement in drafting the law, an anonymous source told CNN that FWI had provided assistance to members of parliament who were promoting the legislation, even influencing its language.

I'd already come across a few articles in the NYT, ProPublica, Foreign Policy, and the Intercept I believe that have clearly laid out how this has been an ongoing push for decades now - one more clear report.

If you want further reading:

How U.S. Evangelicals Helped Homophobia Flourish in Africa

Anti-gay sentiment had previously existed on the continent, but white American religious groups have given it a boost.

foreignpolicy.com

Homophobia in Africa: The American far-right's footprint – DW – 03/15/2024

Investigations reveal how American far-right activists are contributing to rising anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment in Africa. With funding and support from Uganda to Nigeria, they're influencing laws and public opinion.

www.dw.com

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/18/africa/anti-lgbtq-laws-uganda-kenya-ghana/index.html

The Global War on Gay Rights

Modern-day debates over gay rights and women’s rights are far less about long-standing cultural norms and far more about power and social control.

msmagazine.com

https://www.theafricareport.com/300444/exporting-prejudice-how-the-west-promotes-homophobia-in-africa/

 

[Kyle C. Barker]

I've only heard about these white Christian groups pushing this in Africa in passing but my God it's weird as hell to be so adamant about this "mission" of theirs. I'll have to read it later

 

[EndDomination]

I've only heard about these white Christian groups pushing this in Africa in passing but my God it's weird as hell to be so adamant about this "mission" of theirs. I'll have to read it later

Definitely worth reading!

 

[br82186]

Of course it's a US christian right wing group pushing their ideologies onto other countries.

These folks are worse than Jehovah's Witnesses