Breaking fast

Religion | With more focus on the Fellowship-the sponsor of this month's National Prayer Breakfast-comes more protest over its ties | Emily Belz

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Since the National Prayer Breakfast began in 1953 with President Dwight Eisenhower, the Washington event has been low-key, drawing few headlines outside the capital. Thousands from around the world attend to pray, eat, meet, and greet world leaders. But this year the organization behind the Feb. 4 breakfast, the Fellowship, is likely to face some headlines after recent months of scrutiny.

Gay activists are planning protests of the event, believing the Fellowship has had a hand in a pending bill in Uganda that would levy harsh penalties, including capital punishment, on homosexuals. While National Prayer Breakfast attendees sit down to eat, national gay activist groups plan to hold an "alternative" called "American Prayer Hour" at a church in downtown Washington—to "affirm inclusive values and call on all nations, including Uganda, to decriminalize the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people."