ANGLICANS IN UGANDA: The Good, The Bad and The (really) Ugly

Bishop Christopher Ssenyonjo, ¨The Desmond Tutu of Uganda¨ (right)

The Good:  Anglican Hero The Rt. Reverend Christophoer Ssenyonjo, excommunicated (by Bishop Orombi) LGBTI Spiritual Counselor, Uganda

Bishop Christopher Ssenyonjo does God's work helping LGBT people in Uganda

SAN DIEGO – The Right Rev. Christopher Ssenyonjo could have retired in 1998 as Bishop of the Diocese of West Burganda, Uganda, with his pension and the satisfaction of serving the Anglican Church faithfully for many years.

But in 2001, he felt a calling to help the young people who came to his private counseling service for advice on how to deal with coming out in this east African nation of 33 million people where homosexuality is illegal and where gays and lesbians are routinely tormented and harassed.

So Bishop Christopher, as he is fondly known and who is often referred to as the Desmond Tutu of Uganda,, was compelled to help the confused and frightened young gays who had mustered up the courage to seek his counsel.

The bishop, sipping tea this week at Caffe Carpe Diem in the trendy North Park neighborhood of San Diego, shared his fascinating and tragic story of how he went from being a distinguished bishop in Uganda to becoming an outcast in the Anglican Communion.

His outreach to LGBT people has cost him his pension, made him a persona non grata among Anglican religious leaders in Uganda, and the victim of homophobic lies that accuse him of being a pedophile who is recruiting 100,000 Ugandan children to become homosexuals.

A scandalous tabloid in Uganda called Rolling Stone (not U.S. Magazine) even put his image on the front cover of a recent edition that called for the hanging of LGBT people, putting his life in danger. Never mind that the bishop is straight, and is a husband, father and grandfather.

To his enemies, Bishop Christopher turns the other cheek. He believes he is doing God’s work – and so do many of his supporters across the globe.  HERE

The Bad: Anti-LGBTI Anglican Schismatic Archbishop Henry Orombi, Uganda, spiritual counselor to MP David Bahati

PERPETRATING IGNORANCE IN UGANDA: Every day individuals are persecuted, vilified or violently assaulted, even killed, because of their sexual orientation and gender identity...stop it NOW!
HERE

The Ugly: Anglican and MP David Bahati author of ¨Kill the Gays¨ Bill, Uganda

Uganda’s “Kill The Gays” Bill Author Barred From Washington, D.C. Conference

¨MP David Bahati, who was slated to come to Washington, D.C. to attend next week’s conference of the International Consortium of Governmental Financial Management, will not be permitted entry into the conference:

According to Doug Hadden, the Vice President of Communications for the International Consortium of Governmental Financial Management, “David Bahati will not be attending this conference.” Bahati, for his part, is still telling folks, that he is attending. But conference organizers have said they will not allow him to attend, and are hiring extra security to make sure that he cannot attend. An official statement from ICGFM says: “It is clear that his participation would be contradictory to our mission.” HERE

· Thanks to Box Turtle Bulletin, sidebar
· Thanks to Mike Jones, Change.Org, sidebar
· Thanks to Jim Burroway