"60 Minutes" Ignores Ugandan Pastor's Role in "Kill the Gays" Bill

Last weekend, CBS News' 60 Minutes traveled to Uganda for a story on the White House's $15 billion anti-AIDS initiative known as PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. The program was launched by President George W. Bush in 2003 and has been very successful in treating HIV/AIDS in Africa by donating expensive, life-saving anti-retrovirals. Uganda has been one of the largest beneficiaries of PEPFAR, receiving some $290 million annually from Washington.

Correspondent Bob Simon interviewed Pastor Martin Ssempa. Current TV reports the show neglected to mention Ssempa's work as the leading anti-gay evangelist in Uganda and religious "sponsor" of the extreme Anti-Homosexuality Bill that sought the death penalty or life imprisonment for "aggravated homosexuality."

When Simon interviewed Pastor Martin Ssempa, one of Uganda’s most well-known Christian ministers, he failed to mention Ssempa’s role in the country’s controversial anti-gay bill. It’s true that Ssempa has been one of Uganda’s leading HIV activists and that over the years his preaching of an abstinence-only approach has made him a darling of many US evangelicals. But more recently, Ssempa has become the Pied Piper of Uganda’s anti-gay campaign, leading rallies and protests to push the legislation through. Many health care professionals we spoke to worry that the bill could have a very negative impact on whatever strides the country has made to combat HIV/AIDS.

After considerable international backlash against the proposed bill, Ssempa withdrew his support for executions and suggested a "less harsher sentence of 20 years instead of the death penalty" for aggravated homosexuality." Ssempa also wants to mandate "conversion therapy" for gay men. None of this was mentioned in the 60 Minutes piece.

Ssempa's church is the locus point of fundamentalist anti-gay activity in Uganda. In October 2007, Rod 2.0 reported Sswempa, Makerere Community Church and staff were identified as organizing anti-gay riots in Kampala and church members "have threatened Ugandan LGBT rights activists and posted their names, photos and addresses on a website."

Current's report and the 60 Minutes piece HERE ...

Some Background ...
Uganda Law Would Execute Gays, Will Obama Cut AIDS Funds?
Ugandan Minister Receives Award for Anti-Gay Crusade