The Rev. Luis Cortes Jr. is the founder of Philadelphia-based Esperanza, one of the largest Hispanic evangelical networks in the nation. Cortes was a member of the commission for Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, which in 2013 produced a report on government regulation of political speech in houses of worship.

Jody Hice is a Republican U.S. representative from Georgia and a Southern Baptist pastor. He introduced the Free Speech Fairness Act, an amendment to the Johnson Amendment, with House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La. Hice may be contacted via his website.

Steve Scalise is a Republican U.S. representative who serves as the House majority whip and represents the First Congressional District of Louisiana. He introduced the Free Speech Fairness Act, which would modify the Johnson Amendment, with Rep. Jodi Hice, R-Ga. Scalise may be contacted via his website.

Jerry Falwell Jr. is president of Liberty University, an evangelical Christian school in Lynchburg, Virginia. He serves on President Donald Trump’s evangelical advisory board. Arrange an interview through Scott Lamb, the university’s senior vice president for communications.

Tiffany Mugo is the co-founder and curator of HOLA Africa, a Pan-Africanist online hub that aims to share the stories of Africa’s queer female community and increase the digital visibility of queer African women.

In 2013, David Kuria became Kenya’s first openly gay politician to seek office. He writes regularly about LGBTI issues and heads the Kuria Foundation for Social Enterprise, which aims to enhance social inclusion by contributing technical and financial resources to socially excluded individuals and groups.

Selly Thiam is a journalist and oral historian whose work has appeared on NPR and PBS and in The New York Times. She was a producer for the StoryCorps Oral History Project and PBS’ Learning Matters and was a Carnegie Fellow at the ABC News Investigative Unit. She is the founder and executive director of […]

Neela Ghoshal is a researcher at Human Rights Watch. She joined HRW’s LGBT Rights Division in 2012 after five years in the Africa Division, where she covered human rights issues in Burundi and Kenya, including political repression, police abuse, justice sector reform and transitional justice. As LGBT rights researcher, Ghoshal is currently conducting research on […]

Esther Adhiambo was until recently the executive director at Persons Marginalized and Aggrieved (PEMA), an LGBTI rights organization based in Mombasa, Kenya, that organizes outreach sessions and workshops with local faith leaders. Contact via Roselyn at UHAI-EASHRI.