This news release has been issued by OutRage! at the request of Ugandan LGBTI organisations.  OutRage! is working with them in partnership and solidarity, to support the struggle for queer freedom in Uganda.

LONDON, September 11, 2006 (Outrage! News Service)  –  Thirteen alleged lesbians were outed by the Ugandan tabloid Red Pepper on Friday (September 8), weeks after outing 45 alleged gay men last month.

The women include two boutique owners, a basketball player and the daughters of a former MP and a prominent Sheikh.

Under the headline, “Kampala’s Notorious Lesbians Unearthed”, the sleazy tabloid published a photo of two very beautiful unnamed women embracing at a party.

The article urged readers to phone the newspaper with details of any lesbians they know:

“To rid our motherland of the deadly vice (lesbianism), we are committed to exposing all the lesbos in the city. Send more names us (sic) the name and occupation of the lesbin (sic) in your neighbourhood and we shall shame her,” Red Pepper urged.

“I know that some women are definitely going to lose what they have; jobs, homes, families, and friends,” commented a Ugandan lesbian activist.

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

Ugandan campaigners are relieved that only 13 alleged lesbians were named.  They had feared that 20 to 40 women were going to be outed.  Some activists suspect that Red Pepper may have scaled back its outing campaign following international protests after it outed 45 alleged gay and bisexual men in August.

There have been a series of government-backed attacks on the Ugandan LGBTI community in the last year, including an illegal police raid on the home of the lesbian leader of Uganda’s LGBTI movement, Victor Juliet Mukasa, in July 2005.

Red Pepper is reportedly owned by Salim Saleh.  According to Wikipedia, he is the half-brother of the homophobic President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni.

Formerly known as Caleb Akandwanaho, Saleh has faced allegations of corruption and the plundering of resources in the Congo.  A former Uganda army chief, he is now Minister of State for Microfinance in the Ugandan government.

The outing of lesbians is the latest in a series lurid, sensationalist homophobic exposes by Red Pepper. Last week, it published the name and photo of a young gay man who is being sought by the police on charges of homosexuality.

Gay sex is punishable in Uganda by life imprisonment, under laws originally introduced by the British colonial administration in the nineteenth century.

The same newspaper outed 45 supposedly gay and bisexual men in August.  The men outed last month include 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.’ They fear increased state and vigilante persecution.

At least five men were arrested soon after the male outing list was published.

Uganda’s Gay and Lesbian Alliance (GALA) reports that 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.

Peter Tatchell, campaign coordinator of OutRage!, said today that Uganda is the new Zimbabwe.

“President Yoweri Museveni is the Robert Mugabe of Uganda – a homophobic tyrant who tramples on democracy and human rights,” he commented.

SEE ALSO

Ugandan Gays Outed in Tabloid Witch-Hunt.  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. (UK Gay News, September 9, 2006)

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 (SM-UG) website