Ugandan Newspaper Publishes Pictures of Homosexuals and Calls For Them To Be Hanged

The homophobia in Uganda has long been an international scandal. However, nothing prepared most of us for a front-page story in one of Uganda’s leading papers entitled “100 Pictures of Uganda’s Top Homos Leak.” Slapped next to the headline was a banner reading “Hang Them.”

Since the newspaper ran, at least four gay Ugandans on the list have been attacked and many others have fled into hiding. The role of the newspaper reminds one of the state-owned newspaper Kangura in the Rwandan genocide.

We recently saw how legislation was introduced a year ago in Uganda to execute homosexuals — legislation drafted after a visit by U.S. conservative ministers and activists.

Almost two dozen homosexuals have been attacked over the last year and over a dozen have been arrested.

The Ugandan Rolling Stone ran the cover one year after the introduction of the legislation and further claimed that homosexuals were raiding schools. Managing editor, Giles Muhame, said the article was “in the public interest. We felt there was need for society to know that such characters exist amongst them . . . they take advantage of poverty to recruit Ugandans. In brief we did so because homosexuality is illegal, unacceptable and insults our traditional lifestyle.’

Source: Washington Post

Jonathan Turley