A Ugandan judge has ordered a
Kampala newspaper to stop publishing photographs; names and addresses of gay
people after a campaign group sought a legal injunction.
The ruling comes after Rolling
Stone published a list of people it said were homosexual for the second time,
saying it wanted to “help them live responsible lives”.
Earlier this month Rolling Stone –
not linked to the American magazine of the same name – published a front-page
story listing what the paper said were Uganda’s 100 “top” homosexuals,
and an inside story calling for gay people to be hanged. Rights activists said
the story prompted attacks against at least four people.
Sexual Minorities Uganda asked the
country’s highest court to issue an injunction against publishing the faces of
gay people in future editions. “We now live in fear,” said Julian
Onzeima, the group’s co-ordinator. “The Rolling Stone paper has led to
people turning against us.”
Gay people in Uganda say they have
faced a year of attacks and harassment since an MP introduced a bill in October
2009 that would impose the death penalty for some homosexual acts and life in
prison for others. The bill has not come up for a vote.
The legislation was drawn up after
a visit by leaders of American conservative Christian ministries including a
“sexual reorientation coach”. The bill became political poison after
international condemnation, and many Christian leaders have denounced it.
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