International Development, Religious NGOs, and Homosexual People: The Case of Crossroads Christian Communications in Uganda

Abstract

On February 10, 2013, news broke that a religious organization describing homosexuality as a “perversion” and “sin” was receiving funding from the Canadian government for development work in Uganda. There followed a debate on the legitimacy of funding the projects of this non-governmental organization (NGO). In what follows, I identify some of the ethical issues raised by this case: the risks associated with beliefs and values espoused by NGOs for homosexuals in Uganda; the link between government funding of NGOs and the promotion of certain values, and the scope and limits of religious freedom of NGOs.