WASHINGTON, D.C. –
The National Prayer Breakfast was met with protests because the main sponsor of the breakfast, The Family, is accused of sponsoring anti-gay legislation in Uganda, reported the New York Times Feb. 3.
David Kato, a prominent gay-rights activist in Uganda, was murdered Jan. 26. He recently led a successful suit against a local magazine that published photographs and addresses of 100 people, accused them of being gay, and encouraged readers to "Hang them."
The Times said the breakfast is usually a "prime networking event," but "Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a government watchdog group, sent a letter this week to the president and Congressional leaders urging them to skip the prayer breakfast. They have also called on C-SPAN not to televise it this year."
Competing prayer events were organized in 17 cities by religious and gay rights groups.
"We can no longer allow the anti-gay religious industry operating here or abroad to place a devastating stamp of religious and moral disapproval on the innocent lives of LGBT people, especially our youth," Mitchell Gold, founder of Faith in America, said. Faith in America led a protest in Washington, D.C. against the prayer breakfast this morning.
"In the past, religion-based bigotry was used to justify discrimination against women, African Americans, and other groups. We must learn from this history and speak out against the misuse of religion to harm LGBT people," Gold said.
The president, his wife and the secretary of state attended the event.
