Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), who is running for governor of Arizona, took donations from leaders of an accused anti-LGBTQ+ hate group for which he formerly served as a board member, according to recent state election filings.
The Biggs for Arizona campaign took in $3,000 on April 15 from Sharon Slater, president, and Greg Slater, board member, of Family Watch International, which has been investigated for connections to extreme anti-gay legislation in Africa, according to July campaign filings with the state of Arizona.
Family Watch International calls itself a “worldwide leader in the pro-family movement” with supporters in 170 countries and consultative status with the United Nations.
The nonprofit says it works to “preserve and promote traditional marriage, safeguard parental rights, defend human life, uphold religious liberty and protect the health and innocence of children.”
Family Watch International was the subject of a 2023 months-long CNN investigation into connections between Sharon Slater and the leaders behind anti-gay bills in Kenya, Ghana and Uganda — where a “Kill The Gays” law means consensual same-sex relationships are punishable with life imprisonment, and “aggravated homosexuality” can carry a death sentence.
Multiple other reports and humans rights activists have echoed the claims, though Family Watch International has repeatedly denied connections with the Ugandan bill, saying on its website, “Family Watch has never supported any efforts in Africa to promote anti-homosexual bills.”
Sharon Slater called the allegations “absurd” when confronted by CNN.
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni signed the bill, considered one of the world’s harshest anti-LGBTQ+ laws, in 2023. He has publicly praised Sharon Slater and was photographed with her, according to CNN.
CNN wrote that a source involved with a sex education conference in the weeks before the Ugandan bill was signed said Family Watch International was “vital” in planning the event and that the group “assisted members of parliament in pushing the legislation and helped shape its wording,” which Family Watch International denied.
The Southern Poverty Law Center wrote of Sharon Slater, “She’s forged close ties over the years with virulently antigay African activists like Ugandan pastor Martin Ssempa — an enthusiastic supporter of the country’s ‘Kill the Gays‘ bill.”
The CNN investigation also interviewed opposition politician Peter Kaluma, the main sponsor of an anti-gay bill in Kenya that prevents LGTBQ+ Africans from seeking asylum in the country and punishes groups and landlords for supporting LGBTQ+ individuals with maximum fines equivalent to $65,000 or 10 years in jail.
Kaluma denied a close relationship with Sharon Slater but was photographed with her book and attended U.N. meetings with her, according to CNN.
“The right likes to pander to their base, and their base clings to family values, and most of the people on the right don’t fully fit in that box, but they understand to get votes, they must push out a harsh message,” said Kristin Davis, CEO of Think Right PR, who has worked with major right-wing figures such as Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., conservative lobbyist and commentator Roger Stone and Michael Flynn, retired Army lieutenant general and former White House national security adviser during President Donald Trump’s first term.
“Behind the scenes, their private lives are completely different, many of them … in a party that has based their entire message off of family values, they know that if they were honest, they wouldn’t get votes.”
A new CNN investigation this year revealed continuing harsh conditions for LGBTQ+ individuals in Africa, supported by U.S. groups.
The Southern Poverty Law Center designated Family Watch International as an extremist, anti-LGBTQ+ hate group.
“They not only try to push back against any sort of reproductive healthcare or sex education, but they often try to link homosexuality with pedophilia, or they’ll claim that homosexual lifestyle — or rather, as they call it, same-sex attraction — will sometimes lead to a bad end, will lead to disappointment, and they won’t be able to find happiness in that identity. They also recommend conversion therapy,” said Emerson Hodges, a research analyst with Southern Poverty Law Center.
The group’s own website states it publicly opposes bans on conversion therapy, a medically discredited and controversial practice of attempting to change someone’s sexual orientation.
“That right there is why Family Watch International rises to that level, in particular, and they often equate homosexuality with a mental disorder, and they’re vehemently against gender-affirming care, along with affirming trans youth or even trans people in general and their gender identity,” Hodges said.
Family Watch International acknowledged Raw Story’s request for comment and said the Slaters were out of the country, but did not respond to questions by the time of publication.
Biggs for Arizona did not respond to Raw Story’s request for comment, nor did a spokesperson for Biggs’ congressional office.
‘A calculation’
Biggs’ ties to Sharon Slater go back several years, and the Republican Arizona congressman since 2017 was flagged by GLAAD, the LGBTQ+ advocacy nonprofit, for anti-gay rhetoric.
Family Watch International was originally incorporated as Global Helping to Advance Women and Children, where Biggs was listed on its original board, according to Arizona state filings.
Biggs also served as a policy adviser and U.N. representative to United Families International, affiliated with Global Helping to Advance Women and Children. Sharon Slater formerly served as the organization’s president.
United Families International did not immediately respond to Raw Story’s request for comment.
Biggs and Sharon Slater appeared together at a “Patriotism over Socialism” event in Gilbert, Ariz., in 2019, and he spoke at Family Watch International’s Family Policy Forum in 2020.
Last week, I was honored to address the Family Watch International’s Family Policy Forum. I am grateful for the over 100 United Nations delegates from around the world in attendance, who all work tirelessly to strengthen families and protect the best interests of children. #AZ05 https://t.co/mnCW6Ngla3 — Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) January 28, 2020
Sharon Slater was listed as a member of the Women for Biggs Coalition in November 2020.
Politicians like Biggs are “meticulous about the company they keep, the people they talk to, the money they bring in,” said Adin Lenchner, founder of Carroll Street Campaigns, which works with Democrats.
“He is keenly aware of his relationship to this group, to the folks involved and the costs and benefits of his association with it … at the end of the day, he made a calculation that it is more important to appease folks that would be upset about distancing himself from them than the benefits that come from it.”
Gregory Slater previously faced calls from human rights groups for dismissal from his role as a senior executive and counsel at te political action committee Intel due to his connections with Family Watch International, according to The Guardian.
Gregory Slater has made nearly 400 donations to the Intel Corporation Political Action Committee, totaling more than $63,000. He made recurring payments of more than $200 biweekly between October 2012 and October 2024, according to Federal Election Commission records.
The Intel Corporation PAC gave a slight edge to Republican candidates for election cycles between 2016 and 2022. In 2012, 2014 and 2024, the PAC slightly favored Democrats. The PAC has made more than $386,000 in disbursements since January 2025, according to FEC records.
“We’re right now in a controversial time. We see, on both sides of the aisle, politicians and elected officials who are aligning themselves with extreme ideologies, and so in the case of Rep. Biggs or any other individuals aligning themselves with an extreme ideology, I think it’s very concerning as a strategist and as an American,” said Tiffany Raspberry, a Democratic strategist and former deputy mayor for the City of New York.
Each recent donation from Gregory and Sharon Slater “sends the message that the Slaters still have a stake in what happens with Biggs,” Hodges said.
Biggs’ gubernatorial campaign has raised more than $3.2 million and has $1.2 million on hand, according to the Arizona state website.
His opponent, incumbent Democrat Gov. Katie Hobbs, has raised more than $11 million and has about $175,000 cash on hand, according to the filings.
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