Uganda Kill The Gays Bill Exposé: Scott Lively, David Bahati, David Kato

by David Badash

In this exposé, Current TV’s Mariana van Zeller went to Uganda and filmed the video below, “Missionaries of Hate,” “that examines whether the growing influence of American religious groups led to a movement that would make homosexuality a crime punishable by death in the African country.”

She asks, “Must we wait for Kato’s murder to be solved before we can safely say that “men of God” and leaders of state are inciting hatred?”

It’s a frightening exposé on Uganda’s “Kill The Gays” bill, Scott Lively, David Bahati, David Kato, and the evils of American Evangelical Christians.

If this is the kind of work Current TV’s new boss, Keith Olbermann will support, we’re all for it!

Read: “David Kato’s Death Result Of Hatred Planted By U.S. Evangelicals”



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Ugandan Lesbian Brenda Namigadde Freed, UK Court Bans Media from Saying Her Name

by Tanya Domi

Brenda Namigadde, a Uganda lesbian who is fighting deportation to Uganda, has been released tonight, United Kingdom-based LGBT Asylum News just tweeted late this afternoon. The judge however, Lord Justice Maurice Kay, has prohibited the government, press and any one else in the United Kingdom from speaking or writing her name.

Readers, if you are in disbelief about the veracity of the directive, just visit the LGBT Asylum News website, which has changed its home page from “Brenda Namigadde Updates” to “BN Updates.”

Namigadde was scheduled to attend a Royal Court of Appeal injunction hearing on Monday before Judge Kay. No mainstream media in Britain have reported on her case since the hearing was conducted.

Read: “Ugandan Lesbian Facing Certain Deportation Death Wins Temporary Reprieve“

When The New Civil Rights Movement spoke to the UK Border Agency press about Brenda Namigadde’s status  just two hours ago, the press officer said that the court has directed that the subject’s name can not be referenced. The official statement provided to us from a UK Border Agency spokesperson said:

“We are disappointed by the court’s decision. The government has made it clear that it is committed to stopping the removal of asylum seekers who have genuinely had to leave particular countries because of their sexual orientation or gender identification. However, when someone is found not to have a genuine claim we expect them to leave voluntarily.”

LGBT Asylum News is reporting, ”BN’s Judicial Review deadline in on Friday. This is not a hearing but the deadline for receipt of new evidence which would, in the case of BN, show the specific threat if she was to be removed.”

“If this review is accepted then a fresh claim for asylum can proceed.”

Without further corroboration, it is unclear if Namigadde has lost her case for asylum for the moment at least and she may be pending deportation once again. More to come on the asylum case of Ugandan Brenda Namigadde. Stay tuned.

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Suspect Arrested in Kato Murder

By Advocate.com Editors

Ugandan police officials say a man has confessed to murdering David Kato last week after an unspecified "personal disagreement" with the prominent gay rights activist.

Reuters reports that the suspect, Nsubuga Enock, was arrested Wednesday and confessed to the crime. A police spokesman said the motive wasn't robbery, nor, he claimed, was it the result of Kato's LGBT activism work that resulted in a Ugandan tabloid newspaper publishing his photo in October below the words "Hang Them."

"He has confessed to the murder, police spokesman Vincent Ssetake told Reuters regarding Enock. "It wasn't a robbery and it wasn't because Kato was an activist. It was a personal disagreement but I can't say more than that."

Kato's driver has also been arrested in connection with the murder, Reuters reports. Enock is scheduled to appear in court Wendesday evening.

Kato was found beaten to death with a hammer in his home last week. Violence erupted during his funeral in the village of Mukono, Uganda, when a pastor grabbed the mike and began screaming, provoking strong reaction from Kato’s friends.

"The world has gone crazy," the pastor said. "People are turning away from the scriptures. They should turn back, they should abandon what they are doing. You cannot start admiring a fellow man."

Read the full story here.

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A Tale of Two Stones

By Andrew Harmon

One is a seminal American magazine that has published top-shelf writers from Hunter S. Thompson to P.J. O’Rourke.

The other is a ratty tabloid notorious for harassing gays in print with such headlines as “100 Pictures of Uganda’s Top Homos Leak.”

Perhaps it was only a matter of time before Rolling Stone would pursue legal action against the Ugandan newspaper that has co-opted its legendary name.

In an upcoming issue of the American magazine that hits newsstands on Friday, Rolling Stone takes aim at its tabloid impostor, published in the Ugandan capital of Kampala. In October, the small newspaper printed on its front page a photograph of prominent gay rights activist David Kato, one of several plaintiffs who successfully sued the paper following the article. He was murdered last week.

On Tuesday Rolling Stone provided to The Advocate its Editor’s Note for the issue; it reads in full:

“The tragic murder in January of David Kato, a gay activist in Uganda, once again drew international attention to the vile and hate-filled rhetoric of a newspaper calling itself Rolling Stone. Last fall, the paper – which is not affiliated in any way with the magazine – published the addresses of Kato and others it identified as “Top Homos” under a chilling headline: Hang Them.

“We immediately sent the paper a cease-and-desist letter, ordering it to stop using our name, and we are exploring every available legal option to help end its ugly campaign. Kato himself had bravely taken on the hatemongers: Last month, after he sued the newspaper, Uganda’s highest court ordered it to pay damages and stop inciting violence against gays and lesbians. We honor him and his heroic example.”

The Ugandan paper has been on Rolling Stone’s radar for at least a few months: Shortly after the "Hang Them," article, the real mag addressed its ersatz agitator’s antigay propaganda, calling it “vile and hateful.” Last month the Ugandan High Court ordered the tabloid to cease publishing photos of private LGBT citizens, but its managing editor, Giles Muhame, wrote in a rambling January press release that "The newspaper will fight homos on different fronts," and that the publication's managers "have resolved to register our grievance with the President’s office."

"We did the right thing to show those pictures," Muhame said in an interview with Lez Get Real. "The tabloid will win the appeal. We must expose criminals."

Rolling Stone magazine does not own the rights to the name in Uganda, which could prove problematic in any attempt to force the antigay tabloid to change its title. “We own the copyright for the name in many, many countries. But who would have thought we'd have to own the copyright in Uganda?" Rolling Stone cofounder and publisher Jann Wenner told New York magazine last year.

Attorneys say this is a matter of trademark, not copyright, because the tabloid has grafted a well-known name, as opposed to lifting the actual content from Rolling Stone. As for any successful legal recourse against the newspaper, don't hold your breath: “I don’t know what leg they have to stand on,” Jimmy Nguyen, a media and entertainment attorney in Los Angeles, said of Rolling Stone’s cease-and-desist attempts. “In general, you can’t get trademark rights without at least using and, in some countries, having to register the mark, and being the first to do so. If Rolling Stone magazine is not the first to use the "Rolling Stone" trademark for a print publication in Uganda, it would be an uphill battle."

Under international doctrine, most countries recognize basic intellectual property rights, especially for famous brands. “But I’m wondering what the legal system in a country like Uganda would do,” said Peter Weinberg, an IP attorney in Gibson Dunn & Crutcher’s Denver office. “They do have trademark laws. How they’re enforced I don’t know.”

But the publicity generated by any legal action could have value, namely in quashing any possible brand confusion, Nyugen noted—even if it’s a stretch to assume any affiliation between the two publications in the first place.

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Nightly Wrap Up With New Mexico GLBTQ Centers

Maggie Gallagher on anal sex.  Who?

The New Cheating Rules.

Obama walks marriage tightrope.

Lesbian teens sue after blocked entering pep rally as same-sex couple.

Understanding Uganda.


JFK, Tucson and Fear

Weekly Reader:  ROTC, Triangle Square, and the Death of the Civil Rights Movement

Exploring Chicago's Gay History.

Ugandan Lesbian Can Stay in U.K.

By Advocate.com Editors

A lesbian from Uganda who faced being deported back to her home country will be allowed to remain in the United Kingdom under a temporary reprieve.

The U.K. high court granted Brenda Namiggade the temporary stay Friday, after David Kato, a gay Ugandan activist, was found dead in his home. It is suspected that he was murdered for being gay, as he has publicly said he feared for his life.

Namiggade has been living in the U.K. since 2002 and applied for asylum so she could become a permanent legal resident there. However, an immigration judge overseeing her case said there was no evidence that Namiggade was a lesbian. She was scheduled to be deported to Uganda Friday from Heathrow Airport and had even been escorted to the airport, where she heard the news that she would be allowed to remain in her adopted country, according to the BBC.

Namiggade, 29, told The Advocate Thursday that she was so worried she had been unable to eat for days. Antigay Ugandan lawmaker David Bahati said she would be welcome to return as long as she “abandon or repent her behavior.”

“I’m not going to repent, because that’s who I am,” Namigadde said. “David Bahati is going to put a death penalty on me.”

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Cops: Kato's Death Not Homophobia-Related

By Advocate.com Editors

Police in Kampala, Uganda, are saying that the murder of LGBT activist David Kato was not due to homophobia, but that he was killed during a robbery.

Suspect Arnold Senoga has been arrested in relation to Kato's death, Reuters reports. They are also looking for Nsubuga Enock, who was living with Kato since the activist bailed him out of prison Monday. Enock's criminal record shows he has been involved in multiple robberies.

Neighbors said they had seen Enock walking out of the house wearing Kato's clothing, and carrying his briefcase, which is one of the items missing from Kato's home.

"We are now trying to establish what relationship Kato had with Enock, whether or not they were relatives and why Kato posted his bail," Kampala police spokeswoman Nabakooba said in the report.

Despite police reports, Kato was on record as saying that he feared his life was in danger because he was a gay activist, especially after local newspaper Rolling Stone (no relation to the U.S. publication) printed the names and faces of prominent gay people, including Kato, on a cover last year. A previous edition of the newspaper published 29 photos of gay people as well as their names and some of their addresses.

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Ugandan Gay Activist Murdered

By Julie Bolcer and Andrew Harmon

David Kato, a prominent Ugandan gay rights activist in threatened in October with hanging on the front page of a Kampala newspaper, was found brutally beaten to death Wednesday at his home.

Kato was the advocacy officer for Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), which confirmed his murder in a news release. He was one of the plaintiffs who won a case against the Rolling Stone newspaper earlier this month (despite a shared title, the Uganda publication has no affiliation with the American magazine).

“David has been receiving death threats since his face was put on the front page of Rolling Stone Magazine, which called for his death and the death of all homosexuals,” said SMUG. “David’s death comes directly after the Supreme Court of Uganda ruled that people must stop inciting violence against homosexuals and must respect the right to privacy and human dignity.”

Mark Bromley of the Council for Global Equality said concerns remain for the safety of the other litigants in the case, who sued the newspaper after it posted "100 Pictures of Uganda's Top Homos," accompanied by the words "Hang Them."

"Our mandate and focus is to make sure that the U.S. government, our State Department, our embassy, and our leaders in Congress to understand and respond to this human rights tragedy," Bromley said.

According to Bromley, State Department officials have been watching the case closely. "Clearly it's a high priority for them," Bromley said. 

The Guardian reports that Kato was bludgeoned to death at his home in the town of Mukono in the afternoon. Witnesses saw a man fleeing the scene in a car.

SMUG called for the police and government to investigate the murder seriously and for religious leaders, politicians, and media to stop demonizing LGBT people. David Bahati, a member of parliament with close connections to American evangelicals, continues to push for a bill that would impose the death penalty on gay people in some circumstances.

Val Kalende, the board chair at Freedom and Roam Uganda, said in the news release,“David’s death is a result of the hatred planted in Uganda by U.S Evangelicals in 2009. The Ugandan Government and the so-called U.S Evangelicals must take responsibility for David’s blood!”

SMUG executive director Frank Mugisha said, “No form of intimidation will stop our cause. The death of David will only be honored when the struggle for justice and equality is won. David is gone and many of us will follow, but the struggle will be won. David wanted to see a Uganda where all people will be treated equally despite their sexual orientation.”

Burial arrangements for Kato are under way for Friday afternoon at his ancestral home in Namataba, Mukono District.

The BBC offers an obituary. Kato was a primary school teacher turned activist who proudly claimed the label of the first out gay Ugandan.

Read Jeff Sharlet's October cover story for The Advocate on the deadly consequences of antigay rhetoric in Uganda.

Update:

U.K. human rights activist Peter Tatchell released the following statement on Kato's murder:

"David will live on in our memories. He will also live on through the rights and equalities that LGBTI Ugandans will win eventually thanks to his many years of tireless groundwork and campaigning. I express my admiration and appreciation to all the members of SMUG who are battling for LGBTI freedom in conditions of great adversity and danger. Their courage and tenacity is awesome.

"This savage killing will, I hope, finally prompt Uganda's political, religious and media leaders to cease their homophobic witch-hunts. Their hatred helps create the bigoted atmosphere that leads to queer-bashing violence."

The U.S. embassy in Kampala has also issued a statement on Kato's death:

"The U.S. extends its sympathies to David's family, friends and human rights colleagues. David's courageous devotion to promoting the universal human rights of members of Uganda's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community improved the lives of minority populations in Uganda and throughout Africa, and his selfless dedication to defending human rights and speaking out against injustice served as inspiration to human rights defenders around the world."

The White House issued this statement from President Obama:

"I am deeply saddened to learn of the murder of David Kato. In Uganda, David showed tremendous courage in speaking out against hate. He was a powerful advocate for fairness and freedom. The United States mourns his murder, and we recommit ourselves to David’s work.

"At home and around the world, LGBT persons continue to be subjected to unconscionable bullying, discrimination, and hate. In the weeks preceding David Kato’s murder in Uganda, five members of the LGBT community in Honduras were also murdered. It is essential that the Governments of Uganda and Honduras investigate these killings and hold the perpetrators accountable.

"LGBT rights are not special rights; they are human rights. My Administration will continue to strongly support human rights and assistance work on behalf of LGBT persons abroad. We do this because we recognize the threat faced by leaders like David Kato, and we share their commitment to advancing freedom, fairness, and equality for all."

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Ugandan gay activist murdered, another’s life hangs in the balance

David Kato Kisulle

By Jamie McGonnigal

Ugandan activist David Kato Kisulle has been murdered in his home in Kampala, according to the Box Turtle Bulletin and the BBC.

He was found having been beaten in the skull with a hammer a his home and there is little more information than that at this time. What we do know is that Kato was featured in the Ugandan tabloid Rolling Stone, which featured names and photos of gay men under the headline “HANG THEM!”

Kato was one of three plaintiffs seeking a permanent injunction against the tabloid, which was successful. And in recent days, he had told friends of several death threats he’d received and was in fear for his life.

Since the introduction last year of the “Anti-Homosexual Bill” which has come to be known as the “Kill the Gays Bill” has been the topic of outrage from LGBT organizations around the country. MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow has brought this bill to light in the US and featured the author of the bill, David Bahati in a two-part interview last month.

Today’s murder also highlights an important case regarding Ugandan Brenda Namigadde living in the UK and facing deportation back to Uganda after failed please for asylum. All Out has launched a campaign to keep Brenda in the UK, which may quite literally save her life.

“Kill the Gays Bill” Author Bahati said of Namigadde:

“Brenda is welcome in Uganda if she will abandon or repent her behaviour. Here in Uganda, homosexuality is not a human right. It is behaviour that is learned and it can be unlearned. We wouldn’t want Brenda to be painting a wrong picture of Uganda, that we are harassing homosexuals.”

It would seem Bahati may be correct, Uganda is doing far worse than harassing homosexuals.

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Uganda Opposition Leader Would Decriminalize Homosexuality

By Julie Bolcer

Kizza Besigye, the top opposition leader in Uganda who is challenging President Yoweri Museveni, suggested he would decriminalize homosexuality if elected.

According to IC Publications, Besigye said Monday that police in Uganda have more pressing concerns than investigating homosexuality, though he stressed the he was speaking for himself and not the four-party opposition group he leads. His remarks were filmed for a town hall dialogue that will air on Ugandan television as the county prepares for a vote on February 18.

"This is something that is done in the privacy of people's rooms, between consenting adults," he said.

This month, the Uganda high court ruled that media cannot out gay activists, citing their right to privacy. Rolling Stone newspaper, which lost the case, has vowed to appeal the ruling.

However, parliament member David Bahati has vowed to move forward with his reprehensible bill that would expand the list of crimes punishable by death related to homosexuality. President Museveni has urged Bahati to be cautious with the bill given the international outrage it generated, reports IC Publications.

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Newspaper Vows to Appeal Uganda Ruling

By Julie Bolcer

The managing editor of the Rolling Stone newspaper in Uganda has vowed to appeal a Monday high court ruling that bans media from outing gay people in the African country.

High court judge Vincent Musoke-Kibuuke ruled that the outings violated the constitutional right to privacy and endangered the lives of gay people. The case was brought against Rolling Stone for outing gay rights campaigners it called "Uganda's top homos" and publishing their addresses last year under the “Hang Them” headline, but the ruling applies to all media in Uganda.

According to The Independent, Giles Muhame, the managing editor of the Rolling Stone, plans to appeal the ruling. The high court awarded about $650 to the three plaintiffs and ordered Rolling Stone to pay legal fees.

“However, Muhame who says Rolling Stone is ‘exposing the evil in our society’ told The Independent that the newspaper’s lawyers were already preparing an affidavit to set foot in the court of appeal. ‘We are also going to get signatures from Ugandans,’ he added.”

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Uganda Court Bans Media Outings

By Julie Bolcer

A Ugandan judge ruled Monday that media companies cannot out gay people in the African country, citing the constitutional right to privacy in a decision that could help activists fighting the proposed bill that would impose the death penalty for homosexuality.

According to Agence France-Presse, the judge issued a permanent injunction against the newspaper Rolling Stone, which last year published the photos and addresses of more than 20 gay rights campaigners. One issue included the headline “Hang Them” with calls for execution from an unidentified evangelical pastor.

The case focused on Rolling Stone but the ruling extends to all media, reported AFP. The French news agency spoke with John Francis Onyango, who represented three gay rights campaigners from the umbrella group Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG).

“High court judge Vincent Musoke-Kibuuke also ruled that the petitioners' lives were threatened since the story exposed them to potential attacks from vigilantes, Onyango said,” reported AFP. “The petitioners were awarded 1.5 million Uganda shillings (about 650 dollars or 500 euros) and Rolling Stone was ordered to pay all legal fees incurred by SMUG.”

SMUG executive director Frank Mugisha hailed the ruling in a brief telephone interview with The Advocate.

“The view of the organization is that at least we are happy that the Ugandan judiciary is independent and they have expressed that all people are entitled to privacy regardless of their sexual orientation,” he said. “This is a move to show the Ugandan government that indeed they should decriminalize homosexuality.”

Mugisha, who was not a party to the suit but helped the petitioners with their case, said the ruling could boost efforts to combat the bill pending in parliament that would impose the death penalty on gay people in certain instances. The ruling follows a successful effort in the United Nations General Assembly last month to restore sexual orientation to a resolution against extrajudicial executions.

“It will be very helpful because these people look at things that are related within the bill and within the media,” he said. “The media has also played a very big role in this.”

Read the full ruling here.

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Anti-LGBT Ugandan Pastor Martin Ssempa Charged With Blackmail

Angela Dallara, GLAAD's National News/Transgender Advocacy Fellow

 

Ugandan pastor Martin Ssempa has been charged with blackmail for allegedly paying a man to falsely accuse another pastor of sexual assault. Ssempa is notorious in Uganda and around the world for his anti-LGBT sentiments and past efforts.

Ssempa, along with seven other anti-LGBT Christian activists, is accused of hiring and paying a man named Robson Matovu to claim that he was sodomized by Pastor Robert Kayanja of Rubaga Miracle Centre Cathedral in Kampala. According to the Advocate, no evidence was found to support the sexual assault claim, and the charges were retracted. “In retracting their statements, the complainants said they had been mobilized to make false accusations against Pastor Kayanja in order to tarnish his name,” a report reads. The Ugandan newspaper New Vision indicates that although several arrests have been made, police have thus far been unable to take Ssempa into custody, suggesting that he “eluded” them.

This development comes after various headlines Ssempa has recently made regarding his opposition to equality for the LGBT community, including his displays and graphic descriptions of gay pornography at his Ugandan church while asking, “Is this what Obama wants to bring to Africa?” He is also strongly supportive of the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill that would make physical acts with members of the same sex punishable by the death penalty. He has organized demonstrations and spoken out in public for the bill—often associating the LGBT community with pedophilia, insisting that he is a protector of children, and claiming that Uganda as a country opposes LGBT rights.

Jim Burroway, editor of the Box Turtle Bulletin, notes the implications of this story in the context of Uganda’s current political climate. “Public charges of sodomy are a common way to settle political and other scores in Uganda. Should the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill become law with its death penalty and other heightened penalties for advocacy on behalf of LGBT people or failure to report gay people to police, such conspiracies will increase and carry far greater dangers. The bill will mean that no one will be safe, including straight people.”

GLAAD has reported in the past about the struggle for LGBT people in Uganda, and has worked with pro-LGBT religious advocates in the country (such as Bishop Christopher Senyonjo) to amplify their voices. We have also recognized Ssempa’s homophobia and his impact even in America, as well as his connection to this dangerous bill. If the charges against Ssempa and his colleagues turn out to be true, they will serve as a perfect example of the extreme tactics being used by anti-LGBT activists in order to ensure that equality is not brought to our community in Uganda and elsewhere.

GLAAD will continue to monitor coverage of this story and report on the latest updates.

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"Poo-Poo" Pastor Charged With Blackmail

By Advocate.com Editors

Martin Ssempa, the Ugandan pastor who incites LGBT hatred by telling congregants that gay people eat feces, has been charged with blackmailing another pastor.

Ssempa is one of eight antigay Christian activists accused of paying a man to falsely claim another pastor, Robert Kayanjay, sodomized him. No evidence was found to verify the claim and the charges of sodomy were taken back. “In retracting their statements, the complainants said they had been mobilised to make false accusations against Pastor Kayanja in order to tarnish his name,” reads a report.

Read more here.

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