Although many African countries are contending with funds to fight scourges like the Ebola Virus, HIV/AIDS, malaria amongst others, an investigation by National Mirror has revealed that funding for gay activities are beginning to top the priority of foreign donors.
In 2015 alone, funding for gay activities is expected to triple, with many foreign foundations coming up with donations for gay rights, in apparent reaction to the recent continent-wide criminalisation of same-sex marriage in Africa.
National Mirror investigation revealed that the funds will be mostly disbursed through the International Gay and Lesbian Association, which derives funding from many multinationals and governments in Europe and America. Continue reading...
Some multinationals and groups fingered in the arrangement to fund gay activities include Google, Open Society Institute founded by billionaire, George Soros, Freedom House, a US-based NGO, the UK’s Sigrid Rausing Trust, Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr, Rescue Fund for Gays, Lesbians, Bisexual and Transgender, which operates from South Africa and The Charlotte Lesbian and Gay Fund.
Decrying the situation, a university don who went in search of grants available for human rights causes told our correspondent that the donors are beginning to divert funds meant for defence of core human rights causes to gay rights issues.
He said: “I could not believe it when I was told that the bulk of the grants being budgeted for human rights cases in Africa have been redirected to fighting for gay.
“In some instances, the grants available run into hundreds of millions of dollars, while the core human rights abuse cases have been relegated to the background. “The implication is that human rights issues may be at the background going forward, especially in Africa.”
Investigations by our correspondent showed that some of the foundations, previously known for supporting human rights issues have shifted their attention to gay rights struggle with Victory Fund’s arm in Johannesburg, South Africa earmarking a princely $250m for gay rights campaign in 2015.
It was also gathered that there are plans to incorporate an initiative called Project One Africa (after Project One America funded by Apple’s gay chief executive officer, Tim Cook), who recently committed a whopping $8.5m to the fight for gay rights from his private purse.
Already, The Charlotte Lesbian and Gay Fund have called for applications for grants in gay rights for 2015 which opens on January 15.
According to the report on their web page, the grant, which would be classified into two-‘Programs, Projects and Events’ (PPE) (awards up to $5,000 to support the creation of programmes, projects or events that address the mission of gays and lesbians and ‘Basic Operating Grants’, which avails unrestricted operating funds to build capacity of nonprofit organisations specifically serving Charlotte’s gay community, especially in Africa.
The role of the European Union in protecting gay rights only came to the fore recently, when Russia in a report accused it of pushing a far-left ideology of sexual libertinism that is at odds with the culture of most member states.
The Russian report said: “The European Union and its member states consider, as one of their priorities, the dissemination of their neoliberal values as a universal lifestyle for all other members of the international community.
NationalMirror
“Attempts have been made to enforce on other countries an alien view of homosexuality and samesex marriages as a norm of life and some kind of a natural social phenomenon that deserves support at the state level.” Homosexual activities in many countries in Africa attract a jail term of up to fourteen years.
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