Lesbians targeted by Ugandan tabloid, Kenyan school
East African tabloid newspapers returned last week to their hateful tradition of outing alleged and actual LGBT citizens, this time with a front-page article that listed alleged lesbians in Uganda.
The article in the Hello tabloid of May 29 came less than two weeks after a Kenyan tabloid listed that country’s “top” 14 gays and lesbians, and 15 months after a Ugandan tabloid published a similar list of what it called “Uganda’s 200 Top Homos.”
Such articles stir up anti-LGBT feelings and often lead to harassment and violence against alleged LGBT people. Homophobic landlords have evicted tenants whose names they see in such lists, homophobic parents have disowned children whose names they find listed, and homophobic bosses have fired employees whom the tabloids target.
Ugandan LGBT rights activist David Kato was murdered in January 2011, a few months after the Ugandan tabloid Rolling Stone published his name and photo, among those of many other alleged lesbians and homosexuals, under the heading “Hang Them.”
After the LGBT rights group Sexual Minorities Uganda sued the newspaper, the Ugandan High Court ordered it to stop publishing names of alleged LGBT people and to pay each of three individual plaintiffs (Kato, Kasha Jacqueline, and Pepe Onziema) a fine of 1.5 million Ugandan shillings (about $450.) Kato was murdered shortly after that verdict was announced.
That verdict did not stop other tabloids from publishing similar lists. It’s a continuing “media witch hunt,” commented Ugandan LGBTI rights activist Kasha, the publisher of Kuchu Times.
“This is the very reason why Kuchu Times exists — to counter such hateful media,” she stated.
The latest Hello list included some well-known LGBTI rights activists — Kasha, LGBTI security advocate Sandra Ntebi, and researcher/straight ally Stella Nyanzi — but also many alleged lesbians whose have kept their sexual orientation private and whose safety is jeopardized by this article.
The Hello list came just one day after the tabloid published a sensationalized account of Ugandans’ participation in the Pride festival in Birmingham, England, under the headline “Ugandan Gays Hold Sex Fest in UK.”
Alleged lesbians have been under attack both in Uganda and in Kenya, where five students were targeted by anti-lesbian school officials. The following account is a summary of a Kuchu Times article:
Kenyan students sue school that expelled them for alleged lesbianism
Five female students were expelled May 18 from their school in Nairobi after they were found asleep in one girl’s dormitory room after a night of partying and book discussions.
The students were suspended on charges of lesbianism on April 8, then expelled on May 18. They have sued the school in the High Court, accusing it of acting without valid reason and seeking readmission on the grounds that their expulsion violated their rights under the Kenyan Basic Education Act and Children Act.
For more information, see articles in Kuchu Times and the Daily Nation.
Related articles
- Kenyan Paper Shamed for Its ‘Top Gays’ List (May 2015, advocate.com)
- Tabloid joins politician, bishops in targeting LGBTI Kenyans (May 2015, 76crimes.com)
- Ugandan film focuses on fatal effects of anti-gay media
- Uganda study probes anti-gay acts, offers brighter future
- How to stir up anti-gay violence, Ugandan style
- Prominent Ugandan gay activist seeks U.S. asylum (May 2014, 76crimes.com)
- Family rejection, threats follow anti-gay Ugandan law
- Here we go again: Uganda tabloid lists alleged gays
Reblogged this on JerBear's Queer World News, Views & More From The City Different – Santa Fe, NM and commented:
The naming and shaming tactics of homophobic tabloids in Africa continue…
Unfortunately, most progressive Christians in the US are unaware of how the extreme right evangelical preachers are stirring up the flames of hate. In addition to helping widows, and orphans, real Christians need to make others aware of the plight of LGBT people in Uganda, The Gambia, Cameroon, Kenya, and other countries where being LGBT is criminalized.
I don’t see evidence of “the real reason Russia made those laws.” My impression is that the “real reason” is that anti-gay Russian politicians believe incorrectly that pedophiles and homosexuals are the same thing.
And, by the way, I’m heterosexual.
— Colin Stewart, editor/publisher of this blog
I see in the Putin interview that he assumes that homosexuality and pedophilia are essentially the same, so he defends the Russian law against any positive mention of homosexuality as if it were a law against pedophilia. That’s wrong.
I know that every category of human being contains some bad apples. As a result, I don’t believe that categories of human beings that include disreputable, criminal elements should be excluded from normal human activities based on that categorization. Prevention and punishment should be based on what’s individually appropriate, case-by-case, not on the basis of category, whether that category has to do with sexual orientation, race, ethnic origin, religion, height, hair color, or whatever.
— Colin Stewart, editor/publisher of this blog