Seeing is Believing: Questions about Faith-Based Organizations Involved in HIV/AIDS Prevention and Treatment

...Victor Mukasa, a research and policy associate for the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), describes the sanctions against media outlets and development officials who have spoken about HIV and homosexuality, which included a public warning, published in a newspaper, to a UNAIDS representative who met with LGBT groups, asking him to leave the country. "It shows what power these people have, and how horribly they have affected the fight against HIV/AIDS in Uganda," he says, noting the increase in infection rates in recent years. With options for prevention information or care often limited to groups like Ssempa's church or even the Church of Uganda, Mukasa asks, "Who wants to go there for an HIV test or treatment? Who wants to go and die there or get arrested there? Who wants to go to Makerere church if they're gay? No one! People are going to remain in their closets and continue having high-risk sex activities with each other without a condom, without protection or education because nobody will educate them about what to use. And what will be the end? It will be devastating." Mukasa, who is from Uganda, says IGLHRC has noted similar welcomes for US conservative evangelicals in Nigeria, Rwanda and Ethiopia...

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