Uganda

[marshlander]

Just giving this thread a bump. The issue is more terrifying than ever for glbt people in Uganda. A new publication, Rolling Stone, is publishing photographs and addresses of alleged gay men under the headline "Hang Them". Several people have already been attacked in the street.

Muhame set up Rolling Stone with two fellow graduates of journalism school. He is dressed smartly in a button-down shirt, is friendly, laughs often and easily and says he has a girlfriend whom he hopes to marry some day.
He denies claims the newspaper is funded by American fundamentalist Christian groups, often accused of stoking homophobia in Africa.
"We called the paper Rolling Stone because it is a stone that is rolling and bringing out the evil in society. If people are promoting homosexuality then the stone is going to knock on their door and smoke them out," Muhame says, laughing.
He says it was not his intention that members of the public would attack the people featured in the newspaper, despite publishing their addresses.
"We published the areas where they live so that counsellors could find them and help them," he says. "We want a death penalty introduced for homosexuals who are trying to brainwash children but we don't want the public to attack them." more

Oh, so that's all right then! :mad: This is definitely one time it doesn't pay to be on the cover of the Rolling Stone :frown:

[eastofeden]

This is a sore issue with alot of Liberals here in the US and Mr Obama who invited one of the creeps (Rick Warren) who regularly went to Uganda and helped define these policies to speak at and lead a prayer during his inauguration...I had to plug my nose to vote for Obama myself...unlike the descriptions in the media he is so NOT a liberal....

Many Right Wing Republican Christians here in this counttry also helped shape these policies in Uganda...

I wish more coutnries were like Sweden who immediately took a stand against Uganda.

[marshlander]

Danny Glenwright, editor of the Gender Links Opinion and Commentary Service, recently wrote this article. I guess that lazy journalism is not only a problem in Africa, but it certainly has some devastating outcomes. I would love to hear about more African heroes. Why aren't there more people like Desmond Tutu? I guess there are many and we just don't get to hear about them.

If journalists did their job

[marshlander]

Just had this message from the folks at Avaaz.

If you haven't already signed this petition, please give urgent consideration to doing so.

"In 48 hours, the Ugandan Parliament may vote on a brutal new law that carries the death penalty for homosexuality. Thousands of Ugandans could face execution -- just for being gay.

We've helped stop this bill before, and we can do it again. After a massive global outcry last year, Ugandan President Museveni blocked the bill's progress. But political unrest is mounting in Uganda, and religious extremists in Parliament are hoping confusion and violence in the streets will distract the international community from a second push to pass this hate-filled law. We can show them that the world is still watching. If we block the vote for two more days until Parliament closes, the bill will expire forever.

We have no time to lose. Almost half a million of us have already joined the call -- let’s get to one million voices against Uganda's gay death penalty in the next 48 hours -- click here to take action, then forward this email to everyone:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/uganda_stop_homo...tion_2/?vl

For Frank and thousands of others, being gay in Uganda is already dangerous and terrifying. They are regularly harassed and beaten, and just months ago, gay rights activist, David Kato (pictured above), was brutally murdered in his own home. Now LGBT Ugandans are threatened by this draconian law which imposes life imprisonment for people convicted of same-sex relations and the death penalty for “serial offenders”. Even NGOs working to prevent the spread of HIV can be imprisoned for “promoting homosexuality” under this hate-filled law.

Right now, Uganda is in political turmoil -- in the wake of the Arab spring, people across the country are taking to the streets, protesting high food and gas prices. President Museveni has responded by violently cracking down on the opposition. This upheaval has provided religious extremists in Parliament the perfect chance to slip in the shelved anti-gay bill just days before Parliament closes and all proposed laws are wiped from the books.

Museveni backed away from this bill last year after international pressure threatened Uganda's aid and support. With violent protests sweeping the streets, Museveni is more vulnerable than ever. In the next 48 hours, let’s build a massive international outcry in support of respect for human rights, justice and tolerance and against the gay death penalty. Together we can save lives by stopping this bill -- sign below, then tell friends and family:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/uganda_stop_homo...tion_2/?vl

Earlier this year, we stood in solidarity with Uganda's equality movement to show that every human life, no matter what creed, nationality or sexual orientation, is equally precious. Our international petition condemning the gay death penalty law was delivered to Parliament – spurring a global news story and enough pressure to block the bill for months. When a tabloid newspaper published 100 names, pictures and addresses, of suspected gays and those identified were threatened, Avaaz supported a legal case against the paper and we won! Our community has funded security for gay rights activists and operational funding for gay rights organizations. Together we have stood up, time and time again, for Uganda’s gay community -- now they need us more than ever."

[Genersis]

Just had this message from the folks at Avaaz.

If you haven't already signed this petition, please give urgent consideration to doing so.

Tiz done.mile:

[posterpicture]

Just signed.
Not really relate to the topic but I found this inspirational.

[marshlander]

Thanks, Genersis and posterpicture. I didn't know about All Out. It would seem to be a professional campaigning organisation based in New York. I have put my normal reluctance to support such glossy looking groups to one side for the moment. Anything that makes a homophobic government pause in their actions, even for a moment, potentially spares a life.

[Dark Angel]

Signed it earlier thus smorning, from a friend who sent me it

[marshlander]

Well, the news is that the bill has run out of parliamentary time. It's not the end of the story, but it gives some breathing space. The petition carried 1.6 million signatures. If it helped at all it was worth it.

Frank Mugisha and other brave human rights defenders
delivering the Avaaz petition to the Ugandan Parliament
just before leaders dropped the gay death penalty law.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may...ll-shelved