Australian MP has links to ‘world’s most homophobic man’
It’s been revealed that Australian MP Stuart Robert has close connections with “the world’s most homophobic man.”
LGBT activists in Uganda say that Gary Skinner and the Watoto church, which he is a leader of, have contributed to violent homophobia in the country.
The church, which has more than 24,000 followers, describes homosexuality as “degrading” and an “inhuman sin.”
Skinner and his team advocate for the “reform” and “reintegration” of gay people. The church also supports the pro-family legislation which includes the “kill the gays” bill.
Campaigners say that the church and it’s leaders supported the anti-LGBT bill in it’s original draft which included the death penalty.
This legislation was passed, without the death penalty provision, and enforced a life sentence for homosexuality in 2014. It has since been annulled.
Mr Robert was a founding director of Watoto Australia, an offshoot of the Ugandan-based pentecostal Watoto Church.
Stuart Robert has described Skinner as one of the “greatest influences” in his life and said the church provided an axis for his moral compass according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
The MP also allegedly used $20,000 of tax payers money to visit the church.
A spokesman for Mr Robert said he was a former director of the Australian branch of Watato on an ‘unpaid and voluntary basis’ and had visited Africa on more than a dozen occasions and had spent more than a decade helping improve the lives of orphaned children in Africa.
The spokesman said Mr Robert was not aware of Mr Skinner’s views and did not condone them.
