InterConnections Tipsheet Archive
Posted by: Congregations have an opportunity to stand against the oppression of LGBT people in Uganda. A new documentary film, God Loves Uganda, which explores a campaign by Western evangelical religious leaders to promote intolerance and punishment for LGBT people in Africa, is available for viewing by congregations. A movie trailer is on the website.
The film follows prominent conservative American and Ugandan religious leaders who are actively attempting to create an African culture based on religious bigotry and Biblical intolerance.
The Rev. Mark Kiyimba, minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Kampala, Uganda and who runs a housing program for HIV orphans, homeless LGBT youth and others, is asking UU congregations in North America to raise their voices against this tide of intolerance.
In a video posted on the Standing on the Side of Love website Kiyimba said there are religious leaders and others in Uganda who do support LGBT people, but without backing from North American allies, they are afraid to speak out.
Kiyimba urges congregations to view the film and decide how they could support LGBT people in Uganda. To view the film, fill out an online application. Next to your congregation’s name on the application add the letters “UUA” to receive a reduced rate of $150 for screening the film.
The film will be shown in theaters in New York City, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. Congregations in those cities will not be permitted to show the film. They are urged instead to gather groups to attend one of the movie screenings. Bulk ticket prices will be available. Screenings around the country will be listed on the God Loves Uganda website as they are scheduled.
Congregations are also invited to support a fund created by the Unitarian Universalist Association and the UU United Nations Office, called the UUA/UU-UNO LGBT Uganda Fund, either by direct contributions or by naming it as a Share-the-Plate recipient.
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