In 2014, as Uganda was promulgating a law that made some homosexual behavior punishable by life in prison, a councilman from the Bronx traveled to the country and hailed its “godly” governance. “Gay marriage is not accepted in this country,” the councilman, Fernando Cabrera, said approvingly, sitting among palm trees in a video posted to YouTube. “Why?
Because the Christians have assumed the place of decision-making for the nation. Abortions are illegal here, things that Christians really stand for.” The video was subsequently removed from YouTube, but not before a gay rights activist and blogger, Andrés Duque, had downloaded it and reposted it online.
Now, eight years after his trip to Uganda, Mr. Cabrera’s embrace of a government that developed anti-gay laws at a time of anti-gay violence and even murder in the country is proving a political liability for Mayor Eric Adams, who recently named him to a position in his administration.
On Thursday afternoon, L.G.B.T.Q. groups are planning to gather on the steps of City Hall to protest Mr. Adams’s decision to name Mr.