More on the Ugandan ex-gay conference

Posted on March 5th, 2009 by Warren

Wanting to know more about the Family Life Network ex-gay conference in Uganda (first covered here), I wrote FLN Director and conference organizer, Stephen Langa.

In contrast to rumors that the Ugandan government funded the conference, Langa said that the Family Life Network funded it locally. I asked why he chose the speakers (Schmierer, Brundidge and Lively) and he said, “they each have unique expertise which we feel will address the needs we have in Uganda and Africa in general on the subject of homosexuality.” He noted that the speakers are not being paid for their time.

Regarding the need for the conference, Langa said no prior conferences had provided true information. He believed this conference would offer hope for “recovery and restoration” of homosexuals.

I asked some follow up questions but have not received a reply as yet. As noted in this African news report, I am very skeptical that value will come from the attempt to transplant US ex-gay ideas into a country with such a hostile climate for people who are same-sex attracted.

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Filed under: Exodus International, IHF, NARTH, Professional issues, Religion and sexuality, Richard Cohen, ex-gay, reparative therapy, scott lively, sexual orientation, uganda |

7 Comments

  1. Lynn David# ~ Mar 6, 2009 at 2:14 am

    Oh, sure like you can trust Langa to tell the truth. He’s got a shotgun also.
    .
    Victor Mukasa is blogging the conference for the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC). Some of what he has reported:

    ….Stephen Langa said that homosexuality is a big problem and the existing laws that criminalize gay people are not good enough. He kept referring to the recent victory in the case Victor Mukasa and Yvonne Oyo vs. Attorney General as one that gay activists are going to keep using to promote their agenda.
    .
    Kasha Jacqueline told me that Stephen Langa was telling immense lies, claiming that gay rights activists recruit young people into homosexuality. Langa testified that he knows 2 girls at a particular boarding school who were given a lot of money by gay activists in Uganda to recruit their colleagues into lesbianism. He claimed that by the end of the year, they had managed to recruit 13 friends, all of whom were given money to recruit others.
    .
    Kasha was incensed by these claims: “To be sincere, I have spent a long time as a leader in the gay struggle in Uganda and sometimes we cannot afford to do our advocacy work because of lack of funds,” she said. “How then can we give out money for recruitment. That’s not logical and it is a huge lie he was telling to Ugandans.”

    The Mukasa-Oyo decision was not necessarily about GLBT rights and more a decision as the judge pronounced for the “rights to privacy, property and the fundamental rights of women.”

  2. Lessons From Uganda’s Homosexuality Conference « Pursue God# ~ Mar 12, 2009 at 5:59 pm

    [...] Jump to Comments Recently, I received a couple e-mails from individuals concerned about a conference on homosexuality that took place in Kampala, Uganda last weekend. Of particular concern was the context of the [...]

  3. Box Turtle Bulletin » Warren Throckmorton Speaks Out Against Uganda Conference# ~ Mar 14, 2009 at 12:19 am

    [...] You can read more about Throckmorton’s criticisms of the Kampala conference here and here. [...]

  4. Uganda: The other shoe drops — Warren Throckmorton# ~ Oct 14, 2009 at 5:41 pm

    [...] chilling development was promised by those who promoted the ex-gay conference back in the Spring which featured three Americans, Scott Lively, Don Schmeirer and Caleb Brundidge. [...]

  5. Aftermath of the Uganda conference on homosexuality — Warren Throckmorton# ~ Oct 17, 2009 at 7:32 pm

    [...] More on the Ugandan ex-gay conference [...]

  6. Exodus comments about Ugandan situation on blog — Warren Throckmorton# ~ Oct 19, 2009 at 4:30 pm

    [...] individuals who hosted the conference where Mr. Schmierer spoke, Family Life Network, were identified today by conservative Ultimate Media as ”fighting against what they call a [...]

  7. Richard Cohen’s contribution to pass the Anti-Homosexuality Bill — Warren Throckmorton# ~ Dec 8, 2009 at 11:33 am

    [...] Langa told me in March that Lively, Brundidge and Schmierer were recruited because: they each have unique expertise which [...]

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