According to Human Rights Watch, funds from the Presidential Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) are being used to fund Ugandan organizations spreading messages of homophobia (aidsmap.com, 10/22).
One such beneficiary, Pastor Martin Ssempa, has posted the pictures and contact information of leading Ugandan gay-rights activists, labeling them as “homosexual promoters.” In August, Ssempa called homosexual activities “a criminal act against the laws of nature” at a rally demanding government action against homosexuals. His church has used $40,000 in PEPFAR funds to launch an abstinence-only sexual-education program and disseminates information claiming that condoms do not offer protection against HIV.
Human Rights Watch urges U.S. leaders to closely monitor recipients of the funding, to ensure that PEPFAR is not used as a discriminatory tool.
Homosexuality is punishable with a life sentence in Uganda, where 940,000 people are currently living with HIV.
Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
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Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
