Fundamentalist Christian churches from the United States they are gaining more and more power and influence in societies and political spheres Africa. Many of them have sparked negative feelings against them LGBTQ+ people and abortion rights.
Haley McEwen, a sociologist at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, examined some of their influential networks.
“US Christian right-wing groups have been very active in US foreign policy since the early 2000s,” McEwen told DW.
“There are several organizations that have been around since the 1970s — and in the early 2000s they started to increase their influence internationally.”
The groups have expanded to African countries such as Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa.
According to McEwen, the networks also focused on UN organizations “in response to advances being made by the international feminist movement to recognize sexual and reproductive health and rights within the UN.”
“Hate outside our history”
These conservative activists — who describe themselves as “pro-family” — seem only interested in protecting a special type of family: heterosexual, monogamous nuclear families defined by marriage.
“We continue to argue that this is hate that is being deliberately stirred up, that it is not organic and not part of our history, and that it is actually creating the conditions for violence and assault against LGBTQ+ people in Kenya,” said Irungu Houghton, Kenya director at international Amnestyhe told DW.
Homosexuality has always been practiced discreetly in present-day Kenya, according to Houghton. British colonialists enacted the first laws criminalizing gay sex in the 1930s.
Influence comes with money
These days, African leaders are the ones who introduces the new laws — which is why they have been targeted by far-right networks from the US.
According to McEwen, these groups want to win over African leaders to implement what he describes as “family-friendly agendas” — both in their home countries and internationally at the United Nations.
McEwen said this influence is also exerted by funding African organizations that domestically promote “nuclear family” policies and oppose LGBTQ+ rights and comprehensive sexuality education.
There is a domestic network of such groups in Africa, but according to McEwen, they rely heavily on funding from outside Africa.
Who Funds Anti-LGBTQ+ Sentiment?
UK-based media platform OpenDemocracy published a 2020 report which examined more than 20 American Christian groups.
The newspaper revealed that the groups – which are known for their campaigns against LGBTQ+ rights, access to safe abortion, contraception and comprehensive sex education – have spent at least $54m (€49.5m) in Africa since 2007 .
One such group is the Christian conservative organization Family Watch International (FWI), which, according to openDemocracy “It has led high-ranking African politicians … to oppose comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) across the continent.”
Uganda signs anti-LGBTQ bill
In May 2023, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed one of the harshest anti-LGBTQ+ laws in the world — including the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality” — causing Western condemnation and the risk of sanctions from aid donors.
According to activist Frank Mugisha, director of Sexual Minorities Uganda, the FWI was very influential in the genesis of Uganda’s legislation.
However, FWI told a statement on its website that it is “contrary to Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023” and “opposes legislation that punishes a person for same-sex sexual attraction or gender identity”.
“Family Watch opposes the death penalty or harsh punishments under Uganda’s pending law and other similar bills,” according to the statement.
Africa’s harsh anti-LGBTQ+ laws ‘incite hatred and aggression’
Shortly thereafter, Uganda passed the law and a Kenyan lawmaker proposed a bill that has often been described as a “copy paste” of the Ugandan law. Kenya’s bill is still in parliamentary proceedings.
In Ghana, a similar bill was recently passed by the parliament. However, it is still unclear when and if President Nana Akufo-Addo will sign it into law.
“There is a direct link between the emergence of hate bills in Uganda and Ghana and now in Kenya with these interests,” said Amnesty’s Houghton.
“We are very concerned that this is not only focused on inciting hatred and aggression between societies, but is also focused on reversing many gains in relation to comprehensive sexuality education and sexual reproductive health rights.”
This article was originally written in German.
Editor: Keith Walker
Correction, 15 March 2024: An earlier version of this article misspelled the name of activist Frank Mugisha. DW apologizes for the error.