Sunday 9 March 2014

Cut Aid to Uganda, BOYCOTT the Cornerstone Cafe and Donate to the LGBT Rescue Fund

The day after the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality bill was signed, the Red Pepper, a Ugandan tabloid printed a list of the "top 200" homosexuals, which included their names, pictures and addresses...


Ugandan LGBT activists report that a suspected gay couple was attacked after they were featured in the list of Uganda's "200 top Homos" by the tabloid. One of the people was KILLED in the attack and other prominent LGBT activists have gone into hiding to avoid becoming victims themselves.

The magazine Rolling stone had previously posted a list of 100 homosexuals, along with the tag line HANG THEM...


This lead to the MURDER of LGBT activist David Kato in 2011...


Anti-Gay violence has become increasingly frequent and widespread in Uganda since the passage of the bill. Scenes like this are unfortunately increasingly commonplace, especially with public outings in newspapers...


Uganda's Extreme Law That Has Led to Calls to Kill, Burn, and Beat Gays...

Gay rights activists say the climate for gays in Uganda has already deteriorated drastically since the bill passed the Ugandan parliament in December. According to Frank Mugisha, the executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda, the nation's primary gay rights group, police are rounding up 30 to 40 suspected homosexuals each week. In some cases, simply being unmarried and spending time in the company of people of the same gender is enough to arouse police suspicion. Mugisha also says that the bill's passage has brought a surge in anti-gay vigilantism and that religious leaders in the suburbs surrounding Kampala have been calling for gays to be killed or burned over the public address systems. "The situation is extremely worrying," Mugisha says. "We are living in fear."

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2014/02/uganda-anti-gay-bill-signed

More outings in the Red Pepper...

Last Friday, Richard Lusimbo woke up to discover his face on the front of the Ugandan tabloid, Red Pepper, which had been outing known homosexuals all week. The headline beside Lusimbo's photo read "How I became Homo."



“When I logged onto Facebook I found so many hate messages. ‘If I see you I’m going to kill you. You are such a disappointment.’ I had to deactivate my Facebook account. My phone wouldn’t stop ringing. My father was very disappointed.” Since then his life has turned upside down. Lusimbo could not walk around in public. Some of his friends are shunning him and sending him hate messages. 

Said Lusimbo: “I feel scared and threatened for my life because this kind of exposure is not the kind you want. It puts you at risk – calls for action from the society and the community to act, to take you down as the evil, so that is why I fear. The community that we live in is the most dangerous because people could do anything. The mere fact that Museveni has signed the bill, they think it is ok for them to do anything to you because the law says so; that is the greatest fear I live under now.”

http://www.towleroad.com/2014/03/last-friday-richard-lusimbo-woke-up-to-discover-his-face-on-the-front-of-the-ugandan-tabloid-red-pepper-whod-been-outin.html

Click below for a Who's Who of the key anti-gay characters in relation to the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. The list includes Scott Lively, Martin "eat da poo poo" Ssempa, David Bahati, David Kiganda and the Cambridgeshire, UK based anti-gay evangelical preacher Paul Shinners...



Paul Shinners, a UK Charity owner, stood on stage at the National Prayer Day with a number of known homophobic pastors and joined in with calls to pass the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which at the time included the DEATH PENALTY. Shinners commended Uganda for the Bill, saying it was a clear stand for God

Shinners said, There is no other nation world over that has such a plan and through this, Uganda is going to be blessed.”


Bishop David Kiganda, known homophobe and the organiser of the event said, “We ask Members of Parliament to stop wasting time debating the Bill but simply pass it to save school-going children, who are at risk of being recruited. Our leaders should desist from any act that would frustrate this proposed law”



Despite this Paul Shinners has claimed in the local UK papers that he is not homophobic and the event he attended was not an Anti-Gay rally, despite the fact that all the evidence points to the contrary. Upon further questioning by Human Rights campaigner Melanie Nathan, Shinners was careful not to actually deny what he said but suggest that it was taken out of context and he refused to answer the question of what "PLAN" he was referring to.


At the time of his trip to Uganda Shinners claimed to be a "proud member" of River Church, St Neots...


River Church is lead by Rob and Gill McFarlane. They moved to the United Kingdom to "plant" River Church after 18 years of ministry in Zimbabwe, a country where LGBT rights are dominated by the fact that male same-sex sexual activity is ILLEGAL under laws which, like in Uganda, date back to the British colonial eras.

Rob & Gill McFarlane
Rob & Gill McFarlane serve as the Lead Elders of River Church. They moved to the United Kingdom to plant River Church after 18 years of ministry in Zimbabwe. They also serve on the NCMI trans-local team. You can visit www.robmcfarlane.co.uk for teaching articles and resources by Rob McFarlane.

Homosexuality is highly taboo in the socially conservative country and Mugabe's anti-gay stance resonates with many Zimbabweans. Gays and lesbians in Zimbabwe are threatened by violence and suicide attempts are common among the gay community, as is the case in Uganda.

The following map shows that the majority of African countries restrict gay rights and have anti-gay legislation...




For BOTH Paul Shinners and Rob McFarlane, with their combined 28 years spent spreading Evangelical Christianity in Africa in countries with very strict Anti-Gay Laws to have no knowledge of the vile Anti-Gay propaganda and violence that exist there is just ridiculous. It is the very Churches that have been "planted" by these international Evangelical organisations who are the most guilty of spreading Anti-Gay sentiments around Africa.

River Church is part of the Evangelical Alliance, who on their website clearly state a homophobic, anti-gay view of homosexuality...



They condemn Gay Marriage, civil partnerships, the acceptance of homosexuals and homosexual activity as a natural part of the spectrum of human sexuality and they encourage abstinence and conversion/reparative therapy, which has been banned by the Association of Christian Counsellors and has been proven to lead to depression and suicide.  Despite this anti-gay position they claim that they are not homophobic. "Love the sinner, hate the sin" is a term commonly used. 

They advocate an Iron age view of Homosexuality saying, "the danger we all face is that we produce 'a god' in the likeness of the culture in which we find ourselves." The Evangelical Alliance and River Church state one their websites that their Basis of faith is "the divine inspiration and supreme authority of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, which are the written Word of God- fully trustworthy for faith and conduct."

Since Shinners activities in Uganda became public, he has left River Church and become the leader of his own church based in the Cornerstone Cafe. In a conversation with Shinners he tried to completely play down his connection to River Church and the Evangelical Alliance, despite the fact he and his wife claimed to be "proud members" a year ago and the fact that the leader of River Church, Rob McFarlane used to be a trustee of Paul Shinners' Charity "Passion for Souls" which runs the Cornerstone Cafe. Was this split from River Church to protect McFarlane and the Church from the association with Shinners' actions in Uganda?


Shinners claimed not to be homophobic, but when I asked him what he thought Homophobia meant, he simply answered "NOTHING." Given this his statement saying he isn't homophobic also means nothing.

In an email sent to me on 9th February of last year (2013) in response to a few simple questions regarding his views on homosexuality, he said...


From:Paul Shinners (paul.shinners@gmail.com)
Sent:09 February 2013 09:50:42
To:DB Law 

Daniel,
Because of the various questions being fired at me it may be best for me to put out a clear statement regarding what I said in Uganda. I will do this in the next few days.

It is such a shame that you did not consult with us first to help make sure the legislation is not passed in Uganda. We could have used our influence to help stop it if we had known earlier.

Blessings
Paul.

With over a year gone by since that email no statement has materialised and no effort was made by Shinners to stop the bill from passing and being signed.

When I spoke to him in person he played the victim and laughed at my questions regarding his views on Homosexuality, which he had previously said he would answer in a statement. He claimed to be able to do the impossible like instantly heal spine injuries and fully restore sight to the blind and claimed to take no salary because "god" pays his petrol and mortgage. He also began to make odd, nonsensical statements like there is no gravity on the moon and ended off calling me the "walking dead" and criticising me for NOT laughing or smiling while discussing the fact that people are being raped, beaten or murdered in Uganda. Unlike Paul Shinners, I don't find the subject very amusing. Shinners also told me that children are born disabled because of the devil.

Every person he talks to he tells a different story. He told some people he didn't go to Uganda and was being confused with someone else, he told some people he can't be homophobic because he has had 2 gay customers, others that he had a gay employee, he told me he had a recording of the National Day of Prayer, proving he is innocent, but when asked by a local reporter if he had a recording that would clear the matter up, he claimed to have not made one. He can't even keep his story straight.


Shinners is clearly a compulsive liar, who claims he can heal the blind and cure cancer. He has betrayed the confidence of members of his church which has led to physical and emotional harm and he uses his distorted interpretation of the bible to spread hate and violence in Africa and has contributed to and supported the persecution and violation of the human rights of members of the LGBT community in Uganda and other parts of Africa.


Please BOYCOTT the Cornerstone Cafe in St Neots, Cambridgeshire.


Why has Paul Shinner’s homophobic Passion for Souls Ministry not be stripped of its charitable status?


In a first-of-its kind case brought by a Ugandan LGBTI advocacy organization against a prominent U.S. anti-gay extremist, a U.S. federal judge on Wednesday ruled that persecution on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is a crime against humanity and that the fundamental human rights of LGBTI people are protected under international law. The ruling means that the case brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) on behalf of Sexual Minorities of Uganda (SMUG), a Uganda-based coalition of LGBTI rights and advocacy groups, can move forward over defendant Scott Lively’s request to dismiss the lawsuit...

http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2013/08/judge-allows-landmark-case-against-anti-gay-religious-leader-to-proceed/

There has been a concerted new effort by right-wing evangelicals to completely whitewash their own history of involvement with Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality law. For the last five years, human rights advocates around the world been discussing how conservative evangelical figures were integrally involved in the creation of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill (originally called the “Kill the Gays Bill”)...

http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2014/03/the-pr-campaign-to-whitewash-the-rights-anti-gay-uganda-history/


"Good PR work has a tendency to override facts. Tell people that something didn't happen enough times, and eventually they’ll start to believe it. It’s up to us to tell the truth louder and more often." However many times Paul Shinners wants to deny attending an Anti-Gay Rally, claim not to be homophobic, deny the existence  of homophobia or claim the sky is green and the grass is blue, the facts and the evidence remain the same.


If you have been a customer of the Cornerstone Cafe and have inadvertently funded Paul Shinners hate campaigns in Uganda, please make a donation to the Rescue Fund to Help LGBT People Escape Africa...



PLEASE donate and help the Gays, Lesbians, Bisexual and Transgender people who are persecuted and trapped in African countries that criminalize their sexuality.

Former Ugandan Vice President Speciosa Wandira-Kazibwe has issued a firm statement against President Yoweri Museveni’s recent signing of the controversial Anti-Homosexuality law. The new law is said to be popular locally but is regarded by many foreign states as an act of violation of human rights.

Kazibwe, who has been the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa since August 2013, says in a statement issued on March 10 that the new anti-homosexuality act signed by President Museveni “only serves to fuel stigma and discrimination against the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community and undermines the significant progress of the national AIDS response”.

She describes it as part of a “dangerous resurgence” of discrimination evident in some African countries and says she had highlighted this point to President Museveni before the Bill was signed into law.

http://www.independent.co.ug/news/news/8792-former-vp-criticizes-govt-on-anti-homosexuality-act

The mobile phone company Orange was an advertiser in the Anti-Gay tabloid the Red Pepper and thanks to an All Out petition they have withdrawn their advertisements, however many other companies still advertise and do business with Uganda. 

We’d like to inform you that Orange concluded the contract with Red Pepper since 6 March 2014.

Sign the following petition to help put pressure on these other organisations...

What about the response from the UK?...

Scotland has shown it's support for persecuted Ugandans, saying the Anti-Homosexuality Bill is a severe step back for equality...

Scotland will do all it can to support Ugandans persecuted by their country’s new anti-homosexuality laws, External Affairs Minister Humza Yousaf has said. In a letter to UK Foreign Secretary William Hague, Mr Yousaf today urged the UK Government to make strong representations to Ugandan officials on the issue, and stressed that Scotland stands ready to help those seeking refuge.

Mr Yousaf said, “The Scottish Government is deeply concerned the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda has been signed into law. This is a huge step back for equality and I have written to the UK Government asking them to make the strongest possible representations to the Government of Uganda.

“I have also urged the UK Foreign Secretary to offer asylum to any Ugandans who suffer threat or persecution as a result of the legislation. It goes without saying that Scotland, where possible, will play her part and assist the UK Government in providing asylum for those seeking refuge from this Draconian law.

“Scotland is rightly proud of its record in supporting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, which was epitomised by the Scottish Parliament legislating to allow same-sex marriage. The Ugandan legislation flies in the face of Scotland’s values as a welcoming, open and tolerant society and we will continue to monitor the situation closely.”

Despite this Ireland has announced it will continue to give financial aid to Uganda despite its anti-homosexuality law.

The Irish Government has said, "It would not be appropriate" to cut aid to Uganda over its anti-gay law.

What is David Cameron and the UK's position on giving aid to Uganda? The World Bank has already postponed a £54 million loan to Uganda over its tough new anti-gay law.

Despite the fact that this law is intended to protect children from being "recruited into homosexuality" as the Ugandan President Museveni (pictured below) has claimed, it also bans same-sex marriages, which does nothing to protect children as children cannot marry. The law also bans any mention of homosexuality without condemning it. Ladislaus Rwakafuzi, an advocate with Rwakafuzi & Co Advocates, said the following in an article in the Ugandan Monitor...



“If one pens an article explaining that homosexuality is not a work of the devil as claimed by the masses but rather a sexual orientation that some people are born with; according to section 13, it could be interpreted that the author of the article is promoting same sex relations and should thus be prosecuted. In other words, this law criminalises debate. But debate has been around for academic freedom and it has to continue.”

Debate and discussion is now illegal in Uganda and pressure must come from outside to help break down the misinformation and propaganda which has led to this law and force the Ugandan government to repeal it.

The "promotion" clause in the Law will also make it impossible to provide badly needed HIV/AIDS education, treatment and prevention among the homosexual community, which will have a devastating effect.

Human Rights Advocates are Challenging the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Law In Court...

Advocates from the Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law (CSCHRSL) filed a constitutional challenge to Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA). The team that filed the petition consists of seven advocates from five law firms, who have consulted with at least 20 lawyers worldwide.

The petitioners maintain that the recently enacted Anti-Homosexuality Act violates the LGBT community’s right to privacy, freedoms of expression, assembly and association which are all guaranteed in the Ugandan Constitution.


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