The following is a video recording of Moses, a young gay man from Uganda, speaking at yesterday's "American Prayer Hour" media conference in Washington, DC:



This testimony demonstrates the grave extent to which Uganda's LGBT community has been singled out for brutal discrimination and violence. Because Ugandan media have a track record of targeting LGBT people by publishing their names, photos, and home addresses for all to see, Moses, who is currently seeking asylum in the U.S., wore a paper bag on his head out of concern for his personal safety.

Ultimately, Moses' courageous remarks and this inaugural American Prayer Hour event could not have come at a better time. As stated on its campaign website, the Prayer Hour's overall purpose is to offer a compelling alternative to the National Prayer Breakfast, an event organized by the secretive fundamentalist organization The Family (aka The Fellowship). As numerous observers have pointed out, The Family is directly tied to those spearheading Uganda's "Anti-Homosexuality Bill," which seeks to make homosexuality a crime punishable by death.

Speaking of this bill -- very shortly President Obama will have a prime opportunity to condemn it. Despite widespread calls for a White House boycott, the President will be headlining at The Family's Prayer Breakfast tomorrow morning, in front of a slew of Senators, Representatives, and national religious leaders.

Before we even consider how President Obama should respond to his fundamentalist hosts, we should keep in mind this telling fact: up until a few weeks ago, The Family's official Breakfast invitee list for this year included the author of the "Anti-Homosexuality Bill" himself. The Family only disinvited the Ugandan politician, David Bahati, after receiving an uncomfortable amount of media scrutiny.

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I hope that many U.S. public officials saw or read today's news coverage of The American Prayer Hour and Moses' remarks. I hope that they'll focus on all of the abuses and gross injustices that Moses described:

From Adele Stan over at AlterNet:
"Moses told of being forced into a heterosexual marriage by a patron who was helping him finance his education, and of losing his job when a secretary at the school where he taught outed him. He held up a copy of a newspaper known as the Red Pepper, which makes sport of publishing the names and photographs of suspected LGBT people, referred to, he said, as "our shameless men and brash women." Once your name is published on such a list, he said, you can forget about having a job."

"The harassment and assault of gays, even by authorities, is an everyday occurrence in Uganda. "I remember when I was raped by a policeman, there was no way I could go to a doctor...," Moses said. "I decided to go to a clinic to buy sleeping pills so that I could go in my room and hide...I knew if I told the health workers [about the rape], they would, of course, not give me help. They would instead report me, and I would at least make the headlines in the newspapers."

"And that's just the result of the current cultural climate [in Uganda]."

And here's Wayne Besen's take over at the Truth Wins Out blog:
"As Moses stood in front of the podium, the juxtaposition of the American flag [behind him] and this courageous young man wearing a bag to blur his humanity was jarring. I felt pride for living in a free country where we could hold a press conference to denounce The Family’s role in Uganda. But, there was also shame that America...had been exporting a virulent and violent strain of religious extremism to far away lands."

Our public officials might offer the paltry excuse that the National Prayer Breakfast isn't an appropriate venue for discussing policy issues. But why not? Since the event's inception, a number of speakers have opted to use their podium in order to address the relationships between faith and politics, and between faith and international policy. (Heck, Bono spoke at the 2006 Breakfast about the ways in which the religious left and the religious right have worked together to create better HIV/AIDS policy.)

It's clear, then, that President Obama has an opening to speak out against Uganda's "Kill the Gays" bill (as it has come to be known) tomorrow. If he does ultimately decide to condemn the measure, he shouldn't see his choice as a kind of gracious nod to U.S. activists. Instead, the President should simply think of stories like Moses'. The positive rights of this young man and Uganda's LGBT community, and the firm right they have not to live in fear of being put to death or in jail for who they are -- these are the reasons why President Obama must take a stand tomorrow.