Ugandan LGBTQ activist meets with Pope Francis
Pope Francis on Tuesday met with a Ugandan LGBTQ activist at the Vatican. Clare Byarugaba of Chapter Four Uganda posted to her X account a picture of her sitting next to Francis.
A video that she shared shows Juan Carlos Cruz — a gay Chilean man who is a survivor of clergy sex abuse and a member of a commission that advises Francis on protecting children from pedophile priests — introducing her to the pontiff.
Cruz is also a member of the GLAAD board of directors. Byarugaba said she was “honored to meet” Francis. She added she briefed him on “the ruinous impact of Uganda’s two in a decade anti-LGBTIQ rights laws,” including the Anti-Homosexuality Act that President Yoweri Museveni signed in 2023, and “the gross human rights violations therein.” “He reiterated discrimination is a sin and violence against LGBTIQ communities is unacceptable,” said Byarugaba.
The Washington Blade has reached out to Byarugaba for additional comment. Francis during a Jan. 24, 2023, interview with the Associated Press said homosexuality is not a crime and laws that criminalize it are “unjust.” Francis a few days later reiterated these comments during a press conference on board his plane after it left South Sudan, a country that borders Uganda.
