A former Cambridge student is hoping to raise enough money to fund a documentary into the activity of a Cambridge-based evangelical involved with anti-homosexuality laws in Uganda.

Daniel Law studied at King’s College and now works with the NGO Sexual Minorities Uganda. He aims to raise £800 through Kickstarter and Indiegogo for a documentary revealing how Paul Shinners stands accused of hate crimes in Uganda as the head of the UK registered charity Passion for Souls Ministries. Shinners runs a café-bookshop for his charity in St Neots, Cambridgeshire.

In 2012 he was quoted in a Ugandan newspaper as speaking in favour of the Anti-Homosexuality Act, which originally included the death penalty as punishment for homosexuality and was known as the ‘Kill the Gays’ bill.

Although Shinners has denied this, Law claims to have found a video of Shinners vocally supporting the bill at a Christian event. “There is no other nation the world over that has such a plan and through this, Uganda is going to be blessed,” Shinners apparently says in the video.

The Anti-Homosexuality Act was passed in December 2013 but was nullified earlier this year as not enough MPs were present at its first passing. The original punishment of the death penalty was replaced with a prison sentence, but the Act still imposed a life sentence and required parents, teachers and landlords to report any known homosexuals or face prison.

The Passion for Souls Ministries says on its website that it is “TOTALLY INCLUSIVE, FREE and available to EVERYONE irrespective of race, creed, religion gender or SEXUALITY”.

It is supported by the UK Charity Commission, despite Law’s claims that money raised for the charity is used for the proliferation of homophobic propaganda, which violates commission regulations about the “charitable” aspect of an organization. Law hopes his documentary will be able to provoke the UK Charity Commission into stripping Shinners’ organizations of their charitable status.

“I have...had extensive contact with the Charity Commission regarding the actions of Paul Shinners, the head of a UK registered charity in Cambridgeshire,” he said. “I want to show how there is a major issue with the way they investigate complaints against charities.”

Law also aims to show how an “influx of western evangelicals” has led to a “steadily increasing atmosphere of homophobia” in an effort to raise awareness of the continuing anti-gay agenda in Uganda.

His efforts come as the Ugandan parliament decide whether to re-table the Anti-Homosexuality Act. The MP who originally proposed the bill in 2009, David Bahati MP, has already begun the process to get the bill re-considered and re-enacted in parliament.
A group of over 250 MPs have also signed a petition to have the bill re-enacted, alongside petitions from Ugandan pastors.

Paul Shinners did not respond to a request for comment. More information about Law's campaign is available at http://kck.st/YIo1j7.