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The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) today is attacking Family Research Council president Tony Perkins for his position on Uganda‘s “Kill The Gays” bill, and ties U.S. evangelical leaders Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, and T.D. Jakes to Ugandan lawmakers and faith leaders, asking them to have the bill condemned.
READ: US Official’s Comments Suggest Death Penalty Not Removed From Uganda Kill The Gays Bill
“Tony Perkins, president of the so-called Family Research Council (FRC), Monday praised Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni for remarks he made, urging his country to repent against ‘sexual immorality.’ The remarks come as the Ugandan parliament is debating a bill that would potentially impose the death penalty for same-sex behavior,” today’s HRC statement reads. “Perkins, who has long-supported the legislation, praises it as ‘efforts to uphold moral conduct.’ Ironically, he and others in his organization recently tried to contest FRC’s designation as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, claiming it is their ‘love’ of homosexuals that motivates their work.”
READ: Tony Perkins: Uganda President ‘Leading His Nation’ With ‘Kill The Gays’ Bill
In the statement, HRC’s VP for Communications, Fred Sainz, artfully and elegantly suggested Perkins is talking out of both sides of his mouth.
“The Good Book spells it out very clearly; ‘Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not so to be,’†said Sainz. “Tony Perkins can’t claim that FRC isn’t a hate group, while at the same time support a bill that many believe would bring the death penalty to gay Ugandans.â€
Noting that “no evidence has been made available to substantiate” claims Ugandan officials and some journalists have made that the death penalty has been dropped from the Anti-Homosexuality bill, HRC calls out Warren Osteen, Jakes, and others, tying them to Uganda:
HRC has called on American faith leaders to reach out to their influential friends and colleagues in Uganda to urge them to condemn the bill and work to halt consideration. American Christian faith leaders have been active in Uganda for decades and have significant ties to Ugandan political leaders and faith leaders. Such influential American faith leaders, including Rick Warren, T.D. Jakes, Joel Osteen, and voices from the Trinity Broadcasting Network, have a moral obligation to urge their Ugandan friends and allies to condemn the bill.
Related:
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Rick Warren: Homosexuality Like ‘Arsenic’ And ‘Punching A Guy In The Nose’
Uganda Expert: ‘Death Penalty Has Not Been Dropped’ From Kill The Gays Bill