Gay people named in article face violence and abuse after newspaper
claims they are recruiting children
Xan Rice in Kampala
Friday October 22 2010
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/21/ugandan-paper-gay-people-hanged
Human rights activists have warned that the lives of gay people in
Uganda are in danger aftera newspaper published a story featuring the
names and photographs of 100 homosexuals under the headline: "Hang
Them".
At least one woman named in the story has been forced to leave her
home after neighbours pelted it with stones, while several others have
been verbally abused, according to the campaign group Sexual
Minorities Uganda [http://www.sexualminoritiesuganda.org/" title="].
The article appeared earlier this month [http://gayuganda.blogspot.com/
2010/10/hang-them_19.html" title="] in the Rolling Stone newspaper, a
new weekly title started by journalism graduates. Its publication came
just days before the first anniversary of the introduction to
parliament of a controversial anti-homosexuality bill [http://
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/29/uganda-death-sentence-gay-sex"
title="] that calls for the death penalty for those convicted of
repeated same-sex relations, and life imprisonment for others.
Inspired at least in part by a group of US evangelicals [http://
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/13/death-penalty-uganda-homosexuals"
title="] with close links to Uganda, the bill was heavily promoted by
a few preachers and politicians. Its progress through parliament was
stalled after an international outcry, though it has not been
scrapped.
Gay activists in Uganda say the proposed legislation has fuelled hate
speech and created a climate of fear among homosexuals. The media have
played a strong role in this.
The widely read tabloid Red Pepper has previously "outed" dozens of
gay people under headlines such as "Top Homos in Uganda named" [http://
www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2009/04/19/10764" title="">Top Homos in
Uganda named]. But the Rolling Stone story appears to incite people to
violence against gays.
On the front page, the paper claims that the homosexual community aims
to "recruit 1,000,000 children by 2012", and that parents "face heart-
breaks (sic) as homos raids schools". Inside, a headline reads: "Hang
them; They are after our kids!!". The article lists personal details
of those named, including their addresses.
Giles Muhame, the managing editor of the paper, defended the story,
saying it was his duty as a journalist to "expose the evil in our
society".
"Homosexuality is illegal in Uganda but nobody is taking action
against these people," he told the Guardian. "They are recruiting new
members among our kids, and destroying the moral fabric of our
country."
Asked about the headline that urged hanging, he said: "Other countries
have capital punishment to stop drug traffickers; we should have the
same for homosexuals."
Frank Mugisha, the chairman of Sexual Minorities Uganda, said his
organisation initially chose to ignore the story, since the newspaper
was not widely read. It was launched in August and has a circulation
of 2,000.
But after a few days he started to receive reports of harassment. In
the worst case, a woman who works for a gay rights organisation was
unable to leave her home after it was stoned. She was eventually moved
to a safe location, Mugisha said.
"We didn't want to give the newspaper publicity so we held off on
legal action," he said. "But now the threat against our members is
real, so we are considering going to court."
Uganda's media council has since suspended Rolling Stone, but only
because it was not registered. The editors say they have now fulfilled
all legal requirements, and will resume publishing next week.
guardian.co.uk Copyright (c) Guardian News and Media Limited. 2010
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