Ugandan Newspaper Publishes Names Of 100 Top Gays With A Call To "Hang Them"

Fundamentalists in most religions condemn homosexuality. They are often persecuted and discriminated against. Even though acceptance in the West has come a long way, hate crimes against gays and lesbians in the U.S. comes second only to hate crimes against Jews. But at least violence against them is not state sponsored, unlike Iran which actually executes gays. Uganda tried to push through a bill that would also condemn homosexuals to death or jail terms, but after global outrage, it never saw the light of day. But that still hasn't prevented harassment and death threats against Ugandan gays. In fact, a local newspaper "The Rolling Stone" plastered on its front-page a list of 100 Ugandan homosexuals, along with addresses and photograph's of the men. Even more disturbing was the small yellow "Hang Them" banner next to the title "100 Pictures of Uganda's Top Homos-Leak".

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One might not condone the homosexual lifestyle, but to incite violence against them or to call for their death is outrageous. They do not deserve to die. And according to gay rights activist Julian Onzieman, they have suffered since the publication of the list with attacks on at least four of them, while others have had to go into hiding.

Apparently, gays in Uganda were pretty much left alone until last year when the anti-gay bill was first proposed. And that bill was inspired by a visit from a fundamentalist Christian group from the U.S. that claims therapy can help homosexuals turn heterosexual.

"Before the introduction of the bill in parliament most people did not mind about our activities. But since then, we are harassed by many people who hate homosexuality," said Patrick Ndede, 27. "The publicity the bill got made many people come to know about us and they started mistreating us."

More than 20 homosexuals have been attacked over the last year in Uganda, and an additional 17 have been arrested and are in prison, said Frank Mugisha, the chairman of Sexual Minorities Uganda. Those numbers are up from the same period two years ago, when about 10 homosexuals were attacked, he said.

In spite of opposition to the bill, including by many Christian leaders, one Christian pastor, Solomon Male, still wants to know "why homosexuality is increasing in the country."

And Uganda isn't the only African country that mistreats gays.

Homophobia is rife in many African countries. Homosexuality is punishable by death or imprisonment in Nigeria. In South Africa, the only African nation to recognize gay marriage, gangs carry out so-called "corrective" rapes on lesbians.

The article, which was published on October 9 almost a year to the day after the anti-gay bill was first introduced, came out with some absurd claims about some disease that gays in Uganda were contracting, and that they were trying to recruit one million Ugandan children by 'raiding schools'.

After the newspaper hit the streets, the government Media Council ordered the newspaper to cease publishing — not because of the newspaper's content, but rather that the newspaper had not registered with the government. After it completes the paperwork, Rolling Stone will be free to publish again, said Paul Mukasa, secretary of the Media Council.

That decision has angered the gay community further. Onziema said a lawsuit against Rolling Stone is in the works, and that she believes the publication has submitted its registration and plans to publish again.

"Such kind of media should not be allowed in Uganda. It is creating violence and calling for genocide of sex minorities," said Mugisha. "The law enforcers and government should come out and protect sex minorities from such media."

The editor, Giles Muhame, of the small-time paper which is not read by many, believes publishing the names of the 100 gay men was "in the public interest."

"We felt there was need for society to know that such characters exist amongst them. Some of them recruit young children into homosexuality, which is bad and need to be exposed," he said. "They take advantage of poverty to recruit Ugandans. In brief we did so because homosexuality is illegal, unacceptable and insults our traditional lifestyle.'

Since publication, besides the attacks, these men have

... faced harassment from friends and neighbors. Onziema said the proposed bill already has led to evictions from apartments, intimidation on the street, unlawful arrests and physical assault.

"We are an endangered species within our country," said Nelly Kabali, 31. "We are looked at as if we are outcasts. One time I was in a night club with a friend when someone who knew me pointed at me shouting 'There is a gay!' People wanted to beat me up but I was saved by a bouncer who led me out."

Gay or not, these people are human beings and what they do in the privacy of their homes is their business.