Mainstream Media Attack on Family Watch International

By

Sharon Slater, Founder of Family Watch International

NEW YORK, October 3 (C-Fam) In the same week, the Wall Street Journal, George Soros, and several other media outlets have accused Mormon grandmother Sharon Slater as a major factor behind the “anti-homosexuality bill” in Uganda.

Slater is the founder of Family Watch International and has consistently expressed opposition to the bill. Nonetheless, without evidence, the Wall Street Journal reported on Slater having “merged” with Russia to outlaw homosexuality in Africa, linking her to an alleged $300,000 money transfer from the Russian government.

Family Watch promotes traditional family values and warns against programs carried out by foreign governments and UN agencies seeking to replace cultural and religious values in the developing world with a progressive agenda on family and human sexuality.

In Africa, Family Watch works to ensure access to “family based care for orphans”, “abstinence-based, HIV-prevention programs for children”, and oppose comprehensive sexuality education curriculum that exposes children to inappropriate sexual content at a premature age.

In a recent article about the “ultraconservative” movement in Africa, the WSJ reported that Slater backed the “anti-homosexuality bill” in Uganda, legislation that imposes harsh penalties for people engaging in homosexual activity.

The same article admits, however, that Sharon Slater repeatedly said that Family Watch has never supported the bill. What’s more, the First Lady of Uganda confirmed this fact.

Family Watch says it “has never advocated for or lobbied in favor of Uganda’s [2023] anti-homosexual bill, nor were we ever involved in promoting Uganda’s previous [2014] anti-homosexual bill—in fact, we opposed them both.”

Family Watch went on to say, “as stated in many of our materials, Family Watch opposes harassment of or violence against all persons, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity” and that it opposes “legislation that penalizes a person for having same-sex sexual attractions or for their gender identity” and “provisions that penalize people for failing to report on another person’s sexual activity, whether heterosexual or homosexual.”

The President of Uganda released a statement clarifying that Slater and Family Watch never supported the bill.

In the same article, the Wall Street Journal referenced Slater’s participation at a 2023 Ugandan Inter-Parliamentary Conference on safeguarding conservative cultural and social norms. The WSJ claimed to have obtained proof that some lawmakers discussed outlawing homosexuality.

Slater clarified that while Family Watch contributed to the program of the event and offered three speakers, its intervention focused on comprehensive sexuality education and the problematic provisions of a EU-ACP agreement. Family Watch said that their team “was not in charge of, nor did they have control over the speakers or messages that were presented beyond our three staff members who spoke.”

WSJ also alleged to have proof that the Russian Government sent $300,000 to the Uganda Women Parliamentary Group to host the conference. Again without evidence, LGBT Nation, reported that Sharon Slater accepted the money herself.

Slater says she is not aware of that transfer or of ever having seen communication on the matter. Family Watch said that it did not chair or run the conference and that it was hosted by the Ugandan parliament, the African Bar Association, and the Foundation for African Cultural Heritage.

A letter from a Ugandan Parliamentarian hosting the conference confirms that Slater was a guest to the conference and that on the topic of the “anti-homosexuality bill”, Slater “was quite concerned about its content.”

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