The challenge of being gay and lesbian in Uganda, a highly religious and deeply conservative Christian country, is constant isolation, insults, threats and violence. That’s exactly what a Ugandan tabloid Rolling Stone, an anti-gay newspaper, did when on November 1, 2010 again published pictures of 14 men it identified as the “generals” of the gay movement in Uganda. In its lead article, entitled “Men of shame part II,” the Rolling Stone identified the men by personal details, including names and home towns.
This is not the first time the Rolling Stone, which has no relation to the US magazine, is publishing pictures of people it believed to be gays or lesbians. In its previous publication, the paper also quoted an unnamed religious leader calling for gays to be hanged.
The paper’s Monday publication comes at a time when the Ugandan politicians are debating an anti-gay legislation that would sentence some homosexuals (serial offenders, those who are H.I.V. positive and others) to life in prison or even death. Homosexuality in Uganda is punishable by life imprisonment in some instances.
According to Ugandan and international newspapers, the paper’s Monday edition was motivated by “a cross-section of heartless homosexuals is seriously recruiting and brainwashing unsuspecting kids into gay circles,” wrote Giles Muhame, the editor of the Rolling Stone.
