Will Aid for AIDS Nevada Condemn Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill?

There's that old phrase, "guilty by association." Perhaps it's time to wonder if that phrase applies to a group in Nevada known as Aid for AIDS Nevada (AFAN).

AFAN is the oldest, not to mention the largest, AIDS service organization in the state of Nevada. They've got close to 2,000 clients registered with their organization, and they do a host of tasks in the community as well, from education to outreach.

Yet as Professor Warren Throckmorton notes on his blog -- where he covers quite a bit of the latest news and analysis on Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill -- AFAN is acting a bit strange of late. Turns out that there's a bit of a connection between AFAN and a church in Las Vegas, Canyon Ridge Christian Church, which financially supports some leaders and ministers in Uganda that are huge proponents of Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill.

The Anti-Homosexuality Bill, as has been documented for upwards of a year now, is a piece of legislation that if passed in Uganda would institute the death penalty for some LGBT people living with HIV, and would also institute harsh prison sentences for anyone convicted of homosexuality. More than that, it would also criminally punish straight people who do not out LGBT friends, relatives and neighbors to the authorities. It's a pretty vile bill.

Yet it remains supported by folks like Pastor Martin Ssempa, who is listed as a strategic partner with Canyon Ridge Christian Church. Earlier this summer, the Southern Nevada Health District severed all ties to Canyon Ridge Christian Church because of their ties to advocates of Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill. But AFAN has not. Worse, as Prof. Throckmorton notes, when AFAN was asked about their connection to Canyon Ridge Christian Church on their Facebook profile, they deleted the entries. Are they trying to hide something?

Take a moment to write AFAN, and ask them to not only explicitly condemn Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill, but also to comment on their relationship with Canyon Ridge Christian Church, one of the few megachurches still left in the U.S. supporting the vehemently anti-gay pastors behind Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill.

Prof. Throckmorton notes on his blog that he's tried to get in touch with AFAN about their connection to Canyon Ridge Christian Church a number of times, but he keeps getting a run around from public relations agencies and staff members at AFAN. That, coupled with the deleted Facebook questions, seems to suggest that AFAN either doesn't want to comment on their relationship with Canyon Ridge Christian Church, or that they hope the incident will just blow over. But both of those outcomes are unacceptable.

"On April 25 (2010), AFAN hosted the AIDS Walk with numerous community groups and individuals participating. Canyon Ridge organized a team which is listed on the AFAN website and is open to public members. According to a walker who declined to be named, a group of church folks wore t-shirts displaying the church name and marched in the April event," Throckmorton notes. "I suspect it would be quite offensive to many walking in the AIDS walk to know that a church that provides cover for the Anti-Homosexuality Bill campaign is a recognized partner of the group hosting the event. Such an event could not happen in Uganda if the bill passes."

It's quite the sticky situation. AFAN hosts an AIDS Walk. It allows Canyon Ridge Christian Church to march in it as a legitimate participant. Yet at the same time, Canyon Ridge Christian Church is financially supporting a man who would sooner see gay HIV-positive people murdered than taken care of or treated.

As the largest AIDS service organization in Nevada, AFAN no doubt does some critical work. But they're failing their constituents, clients, and the Nevada community at large by not addressing Canyon Ridge Christian Church's partnership with Ugandan ministers who want to write into law one of the most criminalizing laws toward HIV-positive people in the world.

Lastly, for those who think the hubbub surrounding Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill has died down, perhaps it's time to think again. The legislator who authored this bill, David Bahati, was profiled in Uganda's Sunday Monitor this weekend, where he made it clear that he sees it as part of his job to attack homosexuality.

"Homosexuality is an abomination punishable by death," Bahati said in the paper. He also added about homosexuality: "This habit is learned and can be unlearned."

That's the sentiment that Canyon Ridge Christian Church is supporting when they financially or institutionally support leaders in the country working to enact the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Why won't AFAN take a moment to address that? Should they, as Nevada's largest AIDS service organization?

Send them a message now urging them to address their relationship with Canyon Ridge Christian Church, and condemn the work being done to create a culture in Uganda where people who are LGBT, or people living with HIV, are seen as nothing more than deviants who deserve to be locked up in jail, or killed.

Photo credit: matze_ott