Category: uganda

Kampala court told gays have gone into hiding; will rule in 2 weeks

The first report from Kampala on the Rolling Stone trial comes from the Deutsche Presse Agentur via Monsters and Critics:

Kampala – Uganda’s gay community has gone into hiding after a local tabloid published 100 of their names and pictures, their lawyer told a High Court judge Friday.

Kampala-based weekly Rolling Stone in October published the names and images of people they said were homosexuals, accompanied by the headline: ‘Hang Them, they are after our kids: Pictures of top 100 Homos.’

Gay activists filed a petition in court to restrain the tabloid from further publication of pictures and anti-gay stories, and sought damages and costs incurred following the publication of the article.

‘By publishing the identities of these people and places they were frequenting for dinner, and their residences, it was tantamount to a violation of their rights,’ lawyer Henry Onaria told the Kampala court.

‘Homosexuals have always been harassed but this time they have been put in danger, they cannot move freely and they are in total hiding after this publication,’ he added.

Justice Kibuka Musoke, hearing the petition, said he would rule on the case in two weeks.

There is a small but growing community of gays and lesbians in the East African country, but its members have frequently complained of harassment by both the government and sections of the public.

Last year, a lawmaker presented a bill in parliament spelling out tough penalties for homosexuality, ranging from a few years in jail, to life imprisonment and hanging.

The move prompted a furious reaction from human rights bodies and Uganda’s western donors. The bill was subsequently put on ice.

One would think that a press organization would read other reports or actually cite sources, but not here. What does “put on ice” mean? The Anti-Homosexuality Bill has been stuck in committee, but as readers of CNN, Box Turtle Bulletin or this blog know, those supporting it are claiming that it will move during this session of Parliament.

Ugandan coalition supports Rolling Stone Hang Them campaign

This just in from Gay Uganda.

At the Rolling Stone’s day in court yesterday, Pastor Moses Male (you can watch him in action here) declared solidarity with the Rolling Stone’s outing campaign. I have three independent reports that gays were chased away from the court house and one was attacked.

The flyer that Male was distributing is on the right. Click the image to read it.

Male baits GLBT people to make a public stand, but he supports a tabloid which has incited violence against them. Male was one of the ministers, along with Martin Ssempa, who was investigated for making a false report of homosexuality about Rev. Robert Kayanja.

The court extended the ban on outing GLBT people until Friday when the Rolling Stone will present a case.

Ugandan court extends ban on Rolling Stone’s outing campaign

I knew there was a trial yesterday, but had not heard any news. According to this report, a Ugandan judge extended the ban on the Rolling Stone’s outing campaign.

A Ugandan high court judge on Tuesday extended a ban on the publication in the media of pictures identifying people as homosexuals, sparking the ire of a leading anti-gay pastor.

Judge Vincent Musoke-Kibuuka extended the ban at a Tuesday hearing in the case of homophobic tabloid Rolling Stone, which has no connection to the US magazine.

The judge had expected to hear arguments from Rolling Stone newspaper editors defending their right to out gay men and women in their new, sporadically published tabloid.

But Musoke-Kibuuke extended the ban, first issued on November 1, when Rolling Stone managing editor Giles Muhame insisted he was not ready to offer a defence, citing “a problem with my wife”.

Speaking on behalf of the National Coalition Against Homosexuality and Sexual Abuse in Uganda, Pastor Solomon Male accused the court of using the ban on outing to protect “selfish, heartless and aggressive criminal offenders.”

Shouting on the courthouse veranda, Male asked, “How can homosexuals who deliberately break the law claim right to privacy?”

Homosexuality is defined in Uganda’s penal code as “carnal knowledge against the order of nature”, and can bring a prison sentence of seven years to life.

Male was last year investigated for libel after accusing a prominent Evangelical pastor, who is minister to Uganda’s First Lady, of sexually abusing teenage boys.

Before ending Tuesday’s hearing, Musoke-Kibuuke scolded Muhame, a 22-year-old undergraduate student, for coming to court unprepared.

“You have given reasons which are not very satisfactory,” the judge said, prompting a mumbled apology from Muhame.

Muhame told AFP that when the case resumes on Friday, he will vehemently defend his right to publish photos he finds on gay dating websites, as he did in Rolling Stone’s November 1 issue.

“I can’t tell you what our defence will entail. But we will be ready. We are making very excellent notes,” he said.

Male was joined by Martin Ssempa in making those libelous accusations against Robert Kayanja, a famous pentecostal minister in Kampala.

UPDATE: According to Giles Muhame’s Facebook page, the problem which kept the Rolling Stone from mounting a case was with the lawyer for the Rolling Stone. Apparently his wife just gave birth.

Today Rolling Stone managers appeared in court to defend the right to publish homosexuals in the newspaper. But the case could hardly take off as the newspaper lawyer’s wife had just given birth. The judge accepted our excuse. We are preparing the finest of notes in defence…..Case adjourned to Friday.

Muhame had predicted demonstrations at the court house. I heard from witnesses that no demonstrations took place but that some of the GLB people were harassed and threatened.

New Ugandan university publication keeps up war on gays

Tabloids fighting the war on gays is a growth industry in Uganda. I am aware of the Red Pepper, Rolling Stone and the Onion. Now comes a Makerere University publication called the Campus Nail. Published by the same printing house that printed the Rolling Stone (Blue Magic Inc), the Campus Nail has another so-called expose of recruitment on the Makerere University campus. With a big picture of Martin Ssempa and the headline “Homosexuals Recruit 1000 Makerere Students,” the full page article follows the same type of writing found in the Rolling Stone. Click the image to read the article. Thanks to Thomas Muyunga for the image.

 When you click the image, you will read about alleged efforts of a person called “Timothy” to recruit unnamed students into homosexuality.

According to this story, gays are mad and so are getting back by recruiting and sending graduates into the high schools to recruit some more. 

The article quotes “a doctor in Colorado USA” that says that homosexuality is more dangerous than smoking. Paul Cameron’s name is not used but his “studies” are cited to demonstrate that homosexuality cuts 24 years off one’s life. Recently, David Bahati told Canadian radio a similar statistic. I guess we know where the Ugandans are getting their information.

Martin Ssempa, thought by some observers to be mellowing, makes an appearance and gets his anti-gay on in a big way, saying that “The war has just started.” Ssempa, a member of the Oral Roberts University Board of Reference, is representing the university in Uganda as a “renowned anti-gay pastor.” Perhaps that could be listed under his name on the ORU website.

AOL News gets it wrong on the Anti-Homosexuality Bill

In what is otherwise a report on a tiny sect from the US in Uganda, the AOL News mischaracterizes the status of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. With the reporting from CNN, etc., it is difficult to see how this reporter missed it.

Jenkins’ view breaks from that of the American Christian evangelicals who arrived in Uganda last year claiming homosexuals were conspiring against the traditional African family. That helped whip up anti-homosexual hysteria in Uganda and led to the drafting of anti-homosexual legislation, which originally called for the death penalty for homosexual offenders.

In May, a government committee determined that Uganda’s anti-gay bill possessed “technical defects in form and content,” and anti-homosexuality fervor has quieted considerably since then.

Not so. To several news outlets as well as here, bill sponsor David Bahati and most recently Minister of Ethics and Integrity Nsaba Buturo both say the bill is on deck for action and still contains the death penalty.