Word: hiv
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...Rick Warren, author of best-selling book The Purpose Driven Life. Ssempa has a penchant for burning condoms. In 2007, he organized a rally against homosexuality to protest "homosexual agents and activists" who were "infiltrating Uganda." Asked how the anti-homosexuality bill might affect the fight against HIV and AIDS, Ssempa seemed bemused. "I don't see what this bill has to do with HIV," he told TIME. Warren, who has called Uganda a "purpose-driven nation," cut ties with Ssempa in October as controversy over the bill grew...
Despite Ssempa's beliefs, experts say the law would impede efforts to stem the spread of HIV and AIDS, especially among the category of "men who have sex with men" - the terminology often used because of the stigma around being openly gay or bisexual. Many homosexuals marry or date women and identify themselves as heterosexual even though they are sleeping with men. That community is disproportionately affected by the disease in sub-Saharan Africa, in part because of a long-standing unwillingness on the continent to acknowledge homosexuality. Indeed, the situation is one of double jeopardy, combining the pariah status...
...make matters worse, Uganda's ostrich-like denials on homosexuality seem to be tolerated by international donors such as Washington and the U.N. Even in 2009 - a year when the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, gave $285 million for HIV and AIDS programs in Uganda - just one program targeting "men who have sex with men" has been allowed to register with the government, a prerequisite for access to international funding. The program, the Most at Risk Populations Network, received just $5,000. "We used to print educational materials, but it was very expensive," Peter...
...transferred to India after he quietly held meetings with LGBT groups about the possibility of prevention work among the community. The Ugandan government accused him of holding secret meetings with groups "that promote homosexuality." Since then, Western aid officials have been decidedly silent on the topic of homosexuality and HIV. Officials at UNAIDS, for example, say their organization has adopted a formal policy not to comment on the proposed law. A UNAIDS official in Uganda, who declined to be identified, says the group believes "quiet diplomacy" is the best approach...
...speak out on moral issues." He told the Ugandan pastors that the bill was "unjust, extreme and un-Christian toward homosexuals." The bill's requirement that Ugandans report any meeting with homosexuals to authorities, he said, would hinder the ministry of the church and force homosexuals who are HIV positive underground. He also defended the timing of his denunciation. "Because I didn't rush to make a public statement," he said, "some erroneously concluded that I supported this terrible bill, and some even claimed I was a sponsor of the bill. You in Uganda know that this is untrue...