US President Barack Obama condemned the anti-homosexual bill being considered in Uganda, calling it an ‘odious’ proposition. The president, speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, said it was “unconscionable to target gays or lesbians for who they are”.
The Fellowship Foundation, the organisation sponsoring the breakfast, is known to support the bill, according to the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Homosexuals engaging in sexual activity will either be sent to jail or put to death under the measure.
Obama’s presence during the breakfast was mocked by CREW members, saying that the event “designed to appear as if government-sanctioned, actually serves as a meeting and recruiting event for the shadowy Fellowship Foundation”, known as ‘The Foundation’ and ’The Family’.
The bill, also widely condemned by human rights activists, was proposed by a lawmaker from Uganda, who was initially invited to attend the breakfast. However, the invitation had been withdrawn, according to CREW.
Fellowship member J. Robert Hunter said that it is not fair to point a finger at the organisation for the Uganda measure. He added that active members in Africa have also expressed their disappointment towards the proposed measure.
But CREW, which asked the president and Congress members not to attend the breakfast, said that the Fellowship “has been cultivating an unorthodox brand of Christianity amongst the political, military and economic elite of America and other countries for over 50 years”.
CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan had issued a statement saying: “The president and members of Congress should not legitimise this cult-like group — the head of which has praised the organizing abilities of Hitler and bin Laden — by attending the breakfast.”
