LONDON, September 9, 2006 (Outrage! London)  –  The Ugandan tabloid newspaper, Red Pepper, has outed 45 gay and bisexual men, including army officers, priests, university lecturers, entertainers, bankers, students and lawyers.  It also published details of five venues popular with gays and lesbians.

Ugandan LGBTI activists regard the outings as an open invitation to the police and queer-bashers to ‘have a go’.

At least five men were arrested soon after the outing list was published.  It is said the police are under pressure to get tough with “sodomites”.  They are now cracking down on the LGBTI community in an apparent bid to be seen taking action.

Uganda’s Gay and Lesbian Alliance (GALA) reports that two days after the outing list was published, unidentified men in army uniform attacked one of the outed gay men.  He was taken to a police station where he was forced to make a statement.

A student named by Red Pepper was thrown out of home by his parents.  He sought refuge with a gay couple he knew.  His mother guessed where he had gone and gave the police the address.  The gay couple were arrested on charges relating to homosexuality. They have subsequently been let out on bail and are now in hiding.

There are reports that Red Pepper is planning a similar mass outing of lesbian and bisexual women in the near future.

Commenting on the expected outing of women, one Ugandan lesbian activist said:  “We are just waiting.  I know that some women are definitely going to lose what they have; jobs, homes, families, and friends.

“It is time that gays and lesbians in Uganda stand together to fight the negative reporting of the press.,” she added.

Male homosexuality is totally illegal in Uganda, and is punishable by life imprisonment.  There have been a series of government-backed attacks on the LGBTI community in the last year, including an illegal police raid on the home of the lesbian leader of the Ugandan LGBTI movement, Victor Juliet Mukasa, in July 2005.

Although Red Pepper did not print the outed individual’s family names (only their first names), they published details about their places of residence and work had made many of them easily identifiable.

A spokesperson for the Makerere University Student’s Lesbian Association (MUSLA) in Uganda said that some of the named men have been subjected to police interrogations:

“The police called some of the boys in the list.  Our efforts to help out our friends who have been arrested were fruitless, since the police, under the influence of many different politicians, wanted the guys to be jailed….The gays were not allowed access to proper justice.  Some of them were put in cells for more than 48 hours, which are allowed by the police and yet none of them have had the opportunity to be in court.  Those who have been released on police bail, we don’t know their whereabouts.

“Some of our friends in the past have been arrested and put in torture houses without us knowing there whereabouts.  Others have been forced to flee the country.  Others have been framed.  This is an appeal to the international community and every concerned person, that Uganda as a country is booked for justice.  Uganda is a signatory to the international human rights declarations.  Your support will be highly appreciated,” concluded the Musla statement.

Victor Juliet Mukasa, chair of Sexual Minorities Uganda, says many gay Ugandans are sick and tired of being pilloried by the Ugandan media, church and political parties.  They are “absolutely fed up, determined to defend themselves and no longer ready to be intimidated by exposures and abuse,” she said in a statement relayed to the LGBTI human rights movement OutRage!, in London, which has been working closely with Ugandan LGBTI activists.

Under the lurid headline, “Gay Shock!”, Red Pepper published its mass outing on August 8, 2006.  The newspaper denounced gay people in sensational, bigoted terms:

“To a majority of us, straight thinking citizens, it (homosexuality) is an abominable sin, actually a mortal sin that goes against the nature of humanity,” the newspaper reported.

“We are talking about men in this nation who are walking closely in the footsteps of Sir Elton Hercules John and the like by having engines that operate from the rear like the vintage Volkswagon cars.

“To show the nation how shocked we are and how fast the terrible vice known as sodomy is eating up our society, we have decided to unleash an exclusive list of men who enjoy taking on fellow men from the rear.

“We hope that by publishing this list, our brothers will confess and go back to the right path,” concluded Red Pepper.

The LGBT rights movement, Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) has circulated a letter of protest and defiance to the Uganda media.

SMUG chairperson, Victor Juliet Mukasa, reports that many of those named are “living under unbelievable fear of being arrested, ostracized by their families or sacked from their jobs.

“SMUG is therefore making a loud call to everyone who believes in the rights of human beings to stand up and protest along with us to put an end to such injustices against LGBTI and other marginalized people in Uganda,” said SMUG, a coalition of three LGBTI organizations in Uganda; Freedom and Roam Uganda, Spectrum Uganda and Integrity Uganda.

Andrew de Cruz of Outrage!, who has been working with and supporting the Ugandan activist groups, deplored “this indiscriminate, uncorroborated and unjustified outing of allegedly gay Ugandans”.

“It is an unwarranted invasion of privacy which typifies the bigoted, bullying attitudes that are encouraged by the Ugandan government and churches.

“We call on President Museveni to uphold the international human rights laws that Uganda has signed.  This means repealing the prohibition on same-sex relationships and legislating protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation.

“It also means halting the intimidation and harassment of the lawful, non-violent Ugandan gay rights movement.

“We express our admiration and support for all Ugandan human rights activists - gay and straight – who are working to end homophobic persecution,” said Mr de Cruz.

SMUG OFFICIAL STATEMENT ON THE RED PEPPER ‘GAY LIST’

Kampala,  August 21, 2006  –  As a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersexed (LGBTI) human rights organization we strongly contest the information recently released in the Red Pepper tabloid exposing gay men in Uganda.

Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) stands for the liberation of LGBTI people and shall not surrender to such homophobic occurrences as those that the Red Pepper came up with.

We believe in freedom for all regardless of sex, sexual orientation, creed, color or race. We stand for the realization of this freedom and we shall not tolerate any injustice made towards the LGBTI community.

We are tax paying and responsible citizens of this nation and nothing should make us less of human beings or Ugandan citizens.

We refuse to sit back and let such unfair acts happen to our people. We shall do all that it takes to liberate our people because that is the freedom we all deserve.

Our brothers whose names were published in the Red Pepper tabloid are currently under-going discomforts and are living under unbelievable fear of being arrested, ostracized by their families or sacked from their jobs.

SMUG is therefore making a loud call to everyone who believes in the rights of human beings to stand up and protest along with us to put an end to such injustices against LGBTI and other marginalized people in Uganda.

The Red Pepper is also hereby advised to stop this outing of individuals without their consent otherwise you will be held accountable for any consequences of the outings.

There is no shame attached to being homosexual but it should be an individual’s choice about how and when they want to share such personal information with family, friends and colleagues.

SEE ALSO

The Horror of Gay Life in Uganda...  By Louis-Georges Tin.  It’s Wednesday October 26.  The time is around seven in the evening in Kampala, capital of Uganda.  The pastor praying with the faithful when the police arrive and breaks up prayers.  The Church is closed and the pastor is taken to the police station.  His shoes are removed … What is the crime?  It is because he is homosexual; worse still, is it because he is a homosexual activist? (UK Gay News, November 2, 2005)

Uganda’s Targeting of Gays and Ban on Same-Sex Marriage Condemned.  The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) condemned today the recent decision by Uganda President Yoweri Museveni to ban same-sex marriage.  (UK Gay News, October 12, 2005)

Bid to Deport Gay Ugandan Torture Victim by UK Government.  A twenty-five years old refugee who was jailed by the Ugandan government for his gay human rights work and subjected to four months of forced labour, water torture, beatings and rape, from May to September 2004, is today facing deportation, Outrage! has revealed today.  (UK Gay News, October 7, 2005)

Amnesty Reports Intimidation of Lesbian and Gay Activists.  Amnesty International is concerned about the on-going intimidation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights activists in Uganda.  The latest incident follows steps taken by Ugandan law-makers in July 2005, who voted for a constitutional amendment to criminalize marriage between persons of the same sex.  (UK Gay News, August  2, 2005)

Stop Deporting Gay Asylum Seekers Outrage! Tells Blair.  The placards told the world:  “Tony Blair deports gay asylum seekers. Shame!” and “Labour deports gays to face jail, torture and death”.  Bearing placards with these words, the OutRage! contingent at Saturday’s Pride London parade condemned the UK government’s abuse of LGBT asylum seekers.   (UK Gay News, July 4, 2005)

LINK

Sexual Minorities Uganda website