Category: Warren Throckmorton

It was an eventful day in Uganda. The Rolling Stone distributed part 2 of their “hang the gays” tabloid, and a Ugandan judge ordered the tabloid to cease outing gays. Just a bit ago, Sexual Minorities Uganda made the following comments and press release.

Kampala.  2.11.2010

Uganda: Court issues an interim order restraining the “ROLLING STONE”

In two of its publication issue No 5 and Issue no 6. The Rolling Stone a Ugandan weekly Tabloid., “outed” Uganda  LGBTI People. These outings increased hostility and harassment for LGBTI Ugandans.

In response Sexual Minorities Uganda – SMUG, the Ugandan LGBTI community and the civil society coalition on human rights and constitutional law sued the Rolling Stone.

Before His Lordship Justice V.F  Musoke Kibuka in the presence of  Ms. Sengendo Rose Counsel for the applicant at the high court of Uganda.

The Court issued an interim order restraining the respondents, their servants and agents, from any further publication in the publication called ROLLING STONE or any  other publications  by the respondents , their agents or servants, the identities by name or pictures or any relevant implication of the person or person perceived by the respondents to be gay, lesbian or homosexual in general.

The Interim Order is to remain in place till the hearing and disposal of Misc Cause No. 163 of 2010

Costs on the cause.

The Rolling Stone editorial team was not in court; hearing for the case has been scheduled for 23^rd .11 . 2010.

And then the press release…

PRESS RELEASE

KAMPALA – November 01, 2010

GAY ACTIVISTS SUE THE ROLLONG STONE TABLOID

The Ugandan Rolling Stone tabloid published an article entitled “100 Pictures of Uganda’s Top Homos Leak” calling for “the hanging of homos” in Uganda in its issue of Vol.1, No. 5, 2 – 9 October, 2010. This article shows pictures of some of the 100 alleged homosexuals and other Human Rights Activists, alongside their names and a description of their professional jobs and private life, including where they live or work.

The publication has affected the day to day lives of the individuals mentioned and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender [LGBTI] community as a whole. Therefore Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender human rights activists have taken the tabloid to the High court.

Through this litigation the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community is seeking to bring to an end the violations. They will also educate and raise awareness that everyone in this society deserves and should be protected by the government and the law irrespective of race, age, color, tribe, creed, sexual orientation and gender identity.

We call on;

1. The MEDIA to immediately desist from using press freedom to incite violence against any person.

2. The Government of Uganda to intervene immediately and take all appropriate measures to put an end to this blatant incitement to public violence against a particular group of citizens.

3. The Government of Uganda should recognize and seize the opportunity to ensure the protection of human rights, which is entrusted to its authority, and uphold the Ugandan Constitution as well as the international and regional Human Rights Instruments to which Uganda is a signatory.

For further information please contact:

Frank Mugisha –

[email protected]

Update: According to the BBC, a Ugandan judge has ordered the Rolling Stone to stop outing gays.

Giles Muhame, editor of the two-month-old Rolling Stone paper, told the AFP news agency that he would defy the ban.

“We will publish more pictures but in a diplomatic way, so that we can dodge the law,” he said.

On his Facebook page, editor Giles Muhame said this about the court ruling:

I have heard on grapevine that Kampala high court today afternoon issued an injunction barring the mighty Rolling Stone from publishing information that could lead to the identification of homosexuals…..the newspaper has already achieved its objective….By the way this means we can write about homosexuality but not …identify them….ok, understood…we are law abiding citizens….

I have obtained some screen shots of the Rolling Stone which continues the “hang the gays” campaign in Uganda. I am going to publish them first and then add commentary through the morning. Some cannot be published without heavy editing since they include pictures and names.

Click the next image to read an interview done by Oral Roberts University Board of Reference member, Martin Ssempa, with a young girl he continues to promote as an ex-lesbian. Ssempa told his former benefactor Canyon Ridge Christian Church that he disapproved of the “hang the gays” campaign but now he appears in the Rolling Stone again. I asked Rolling Stone editor Giles Muhame about his pastor’s (Ssempa) stated diapproval of the first “hang the gays” issue, and he did declined to answer. He did however, say that Ssempa had given them an interview. Two credible sources in Uganda have told me that both Giles Muhame and Cliff Abenaitwe attend Ssempa’s Makerere Community Church.

The next image is a lead article which looks like it could come from the Family Research Institute. In fact, the article titled, “More Homos Faces Exposed” quotes Paul Cameron’s lifespan articles. It also cites a “reliable source” saying that the stalled Anti-Homosexuality Bill will be passed when Uganda becomes an oil producer.

 

 Human rights groups in Uganda are trying to limit or halt the paper’s activities. Today or tomorrow a Uganda court is expected to hear an application for the paper to cease publishing. Managing editor Cliff  Abenaitwe told me in an email that he expects to prevail, saying

As regards the pending court case, its an application by a human rights group requesting court to order this People’s favourite political news paper from publishing more pictures of homosexuals in Uganda but as i stated above it is an application but court is yet to decide. nevertheless, its a matter of time till court decides in our favour because there is nothing wrong with what we are writing.

Click the image above to read Managing Editor Giles Muhame’s defense for this outing campaign. I have blocked out most of the pictures and descriptions of the men outed here. The remainder of the images I have are similar to these.

While I haven’t seen it, I have independent verification that the Rolling Stone has hit the street in Uganda. According to Giles Muhame (seen in this CNN interview), and the Rolling Stone Facebook page, the paper became available today. According to Muhame:

The Rolling Stone has again published 20 more pictures of homosexuals in Uganda. The early edition for monday is already on the street. Our kampala readers can pick copies from Petro (jinja road) and “sell-out” point -Bugolobi stage,” said Circulation chief Nicholas. There we roll….

Also, according to Muhame and other sources in Uganda, a complaint has been filed against the editors and will be heard early this week. I hope to have screen captures of the paper soon. Watch for updates…

Giles Muhame’s interview with CNN – where he says gays have no privacy and he hopes that the police investigates the gays and hangs them.

This is very similar to arguments offered by Martin Ssempa early on when the Anti-Homosexuality Bill was offered in late 2009. In his view, gays are doing illegal things in private so there is no private consensual behavior to protect.

According to the Rolling Stone editors, the paper will come out tomorrow (or Saturday according to one of them) with part two of the “hang them” campaign.

On Wednesday, a coalition of groups led by Linda Harvey, issued a press release titled, “Real Christians Say ‘No’ to Bullying and Homosexual Behavior.”

Clint McCance who thankfully will resign (click the link to read his remarks) from his post as the Vice President of the Midland, AR school district said that his views were based on his Christianity. Tonight, he apologized for his remarks on Anderson Cooper’s AC 360 news hour.

After the McCance interview, I saw the parents of Asher Brown interviewed who in their grief said they were praying for Clint McCance. They were devastated again by the remarks of McCance which were directed at the recent suicide victims on his Facebook page. Brown’s parents said they knew Asher believed he was gay and demonstrated unconditional love toward him.

Read the news release and note the attitude of the writer toward GLBT people. How does it come across to you?

Now consider people watching and reading and looking for some evidence of Jesus in the positions taken and the rhetoric offered by McCance, Asher’s parents and the “real Christians.”

It is actually offensive to me when a group suggests they are the “real Christians” so I will not engage in the same kind of rhetoric. My point is to wonder aloud what a watching world thinks about “real Christians” and if they are seeing Christ in any of us.