Stop Pastor Tom Mugerwa's Visa to the United Kingdom
Christian preachers traveling abroad to spread hate against homosexuality has caused enormous hardship for the people of Uganda and other African countries, notes a Ugandan based human rights organization.
St. Paul's Voice Centre of Uganda members are asking that visas for anti-homosexuality preachers be halted to end the cycle of persecution induced by the hate preachers: "Since Pastor Scott Lively from Spirngfield Massachusettes came to Uganda and advocated for the Kill-the-Gays Bill," notes the group St. Paul's Voice Centre of Uganda, "hatred from Western-based evangelicals fueled a fire of persecution and bias in Uganda against LGBTI people, denying them their human rights and marginalizing them from their own families, churches, homes, workplaces and schools. This is unacceptable."
When the African anti-gay Pastors who are part of their network of hate visit the United Kingdom they are there to drum up financial support and further spread the hate - cauisng a never ending cycle that must be stopped. African HRC has been informed that Pastor Jamil Sekyanzi at Great Commission Church in Barking East London has invited a Ugandan preacher, Pastor Tom Mugerwa, decsribed by the group as homophobic to preach at the UK congregation. That the UK would grant travel visas to preachers of hate is reprehensible, notes the Director if the Ugandan group.
Also in the past, the Great Commission Church invited and hosted the anti-gay bishop, David Kiganda. Kiganda, who had spread lies and hate about LGBTI people returned to Uganda after his trip, calling for a renewal of government efforts to discriminate and persecute LGBTI Ugandans. Human rights defenders believe this may have been in retribution against the protests which Kiganda experienced as a result of the protests by Ugandan asylum seekers, now exiled in the United Kingdom, many of whom are there as a result of such preaching - with widespread speeches against the LGBT community, desguised as religious preaching. See the protests here.
Christine Amenya, a Ugandan lesbian and LGBTI rights activist explains: “It is a shame, dangerous and tormenting that Bishop Kiganda, a man of God, is spreading gay hate instead of love for all on his return to Uganda from the United Kingdom, a country highly regarded for acceptance and its support for equality of LGBTI people. “His trip to the UK is now being used to rejuvenate the support and passing of the annulled anti-gay law in Uganda. Bishop Kiganda and others are some of the reasons why we ran away from Uganda. The UK government should think twice whilst giving such people permission to enter into the country." (Source) The human rights team at St. Paul's Voice Centre of Uganda call upon the UK Government to stop the cycle of hate and violence by halting the granting of visas to those having a record of preaching hate against gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender Ugandans: "Her Majesty's Government should cease all such visas. We call on the immigration officials and travel authorities to keep this kind of homophobic preaching and reactionary violence out of the United Kingdom as it only serves to empower and embolden the preachers, causing more and more harm. "
Indee for as long as gay people continue to be persecuted in African countries, Western countries should refuse visas for their travel abraod as their visits only serve to muster up support and funding for further persecution which then causes the need for more LGBTI people to have to seek refuge as exiles in ghise very Western countries.