I made a film about a person living with a disability. Those kinds of films are often about the disability, not who a person is. Roger Ross Williams Read Quote
I have learned that the hardest part of campaigning for tolerance and justice is encouraging people to look at their own selves, to examine their own identity and shortcomings. Roger Ross Williams Read Quote
I grew up in the church, and I went into the production of ‘God Loves Uganda’ intending to raise awareness of the abuse of religious power in Uganda, and after 30 public appearances, I have learned a lot about how people receive this sort of message. Roger Ross Williams Read Quote
The war against homosexuality in Uganda is fueled by the funds of American Christian missionary churches. Roger Ross Williams Read Quote
I began filming ‘God Loves Uganda’ by first meeting some of the Ugandan and American missionaries who have helped create Uganda’s evangelical movement. They were often large-hearted. They were passionate and committed. Roger Ross Williams Read Quote
I felt like I was an outsider growing up in the black church, as a gay man, in a poor community. Roger Ross Williams Read Quote
Even after I won the Oscar, my phone did not ring. No one called me to fund films or offer projects. Roger Ross Williams Read Quote
Imagine that you’re a gay man, and you’re spending all your time with people who believe you are possessed by the devil. Or, in the case of a lot of Ugandans, with people who believe you should be killed. Someone told me once that I’m worse than a dog, I’m the scum of the earth, so for me, it was draining. Roger Ross Williams Read Quote
I went to church every Sunday and sang in the choir. But for all that the church gave me – for all that it represented belonging, love and community – it also shut its doors to me as a gay person. That experience left me with the lifelong desire to explore the power of religion to transform lives or destroy them. Roger Ross Williams Read Quote
I want to look at the community I came from and what role incarceration has played there. Roger Ross Williams Read Quote
