Gay Ugandans Outed and Threatened With Death in Tabloid's 'Hit List'

(Oct. 19) -- A Ugandan tabloid newspaper is making headlines itself today for publishing what appears to be a hit list targeting gay men in a notoriously homophobic country, The Associated Press is reporting.

An Oct. 9 article in Uganda's "Rolling Stone" (which has no relation to the American magazine by the same name) carried the headline "100 Pictures of Uganda's Top Homos Leak" with a yellow banner that said "Hang Them." The men's photos, names and addresses were listed inside.

A Ugandan man reads the headline of the Ugandan newspaper 'Rolling Stone' in Kampala, Uganda, Oct. 19.

The Oct. 9 edition of the Ugandan newspaper Rolling Stone reveals the identity of allegedly gay members of Ugandan society and calls for public punishment against those individuals.

Since the list was published, at least four gay Ugandans have been attacked and others have gone into hiding, human rights activist Julian Onziema told AP. The story was printed just before the anniversary of a controversial bill introduced into parliament that would have made some homosexual acts a capital crime in Uganda. After an international outcry, the bill was not passed, but some say the number of attacks on gays has increased since it was introduced.

"Before the introduction of the bill in parliament, most people did not mind about our activities. But since then, we are harassed by many people who hate homosexuality," Patrick Ndede, 27, told AP. "The publicity the bill got made many people come to know about us, and they started mistreating us."

And as AOL News writer Paul Wachter noted earlier this year:

Homosexuality remains a crime in much of sub-Saharan Africa, punishable by up to 14 years in prison. The official position of the Vatican and Western Anglican churches is to oppose the Ugandan bill, though Pope Benedict XVI made no mention of it when he received the Ugandan ambassador last year, and some African Anglican Church leaders have expressed support for it.

The "Rolling Stone" article, for its part, claims that gays and lesbians are trying to "recruit" 1 million children and that a deadly disease causing "shattered flesh" was spreading through the gay community in the country.

The government's Media Council ordered the newspaper to stop printing but said the order was based on necessary paperwork the newspaper had not filled out, not the contents of the story.

Read more at The Associated Press.

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