Uganda pastor screens gay porn in church
A pastor seeking to bolster Uganda's anti-gay laws which already make homosexuality punishable by life imprisonment screened gay porn in a packed Kampala church Wednesday in a bid to drum up support.
The screening was attended by around 300 supporters crammed into an evangelical church in the Ugandan capital after plans for a "million-man march" were thwarted by police.
"We had planned to have a million-man and -woman march in Kampala but unfortunately we were told that we could not march because of security concerns," Martin Ssempa told the crowd.
"The major argument homosexuals have is that what people do in the privacy of their bedrooms is nobody's business but do you know what they do in their bedrooms?" the pastor asked.
Ssempa then displayed a slide show of gay pornographic pictures.
After commenting on a few of the images, he said: "Is this what Obama wants to bring to Africa?", following fierce US criticism of a Ugandan anti-homosexuality bill drafted last year.
The bill would criminalise public discussion of homosexuality and could penalise an individual who knowingly rents property to a homosexual.
Homosexuality in Uganda can in some instances be punishable by life imprisonment. The penal code identifies "carnal knowledge against the order of nature" as an offence.
The bill initially received broad political support in Uganda, a country where evangelical churches wield great influence, but attracted fierce criticism from US President Barack Obama, who called it "odious".
"Recently in America, Barack Obama and (US Secretary of State) Hillary Clinton stood up and said: 'How can Uganda make a law against homosexuality?," Ssempa told his supporters Wednesday.
"I want us to tell Barack Obama, who has African ancestry, that in Africa sodomy is an abomination," the pastor said.
Ssempa also accused rights groups such as Amnesty International -- which has been vocal in condemning the anti-gay campaign -- of bringing money to Uganda with the aim of "converting people to lesbianism".
The pastor, whose previous feats included publishing the names of homosexuals in newspapers, said he wanted the bill to be passed as law by Easter Sunday -- April 4 -- as "an Easter present to the people of Uganda".
The author of the bill, David Bahati, also attended the gathering.
On Monday, Ssempa held a rally in the town of Jinja, east of Kampala, after obtaining a police authorisation.
While the conservative wing of the Ugandan government continues to push for the bill, some politicians have warned that its adoption could cost the country dearly in foreign financial assistance and image.