Ugandan High Court Rules That Country’s Rolling Stone Newspaper Must Cease Outing Those It Perceives To Gay

The Guardian reports that a group of Ugandan identified as gay in a newspaper cover story headlined “Hang Them” has won damages and, more importantly, a court injunction ordering the paper not to repeat the exercise in violent anti-gay hate. The Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law in Uganda, said that a high court judge ruled that the story featured in the Ugandan-based Rolling Stone newspaper, which printed names, addresses, and photographs of roughly 100 individuals it named as the country’s “top homos” violated their constitutional rights to privacy and safety. The court awarded the three plaintiffs in whose names the case was brought forward over four hundred pounds each. The front page of Rolling Stone, begun by journalism graduates from Makerere University in Kampala, reportedly with the help of high-ranking government officials, claimed that the county’s homosexual community aimed “to recruit 1,000,000 children by 2012,” raiding schools, and that they must be stopped. The Civil Society Coalition filed the complaint against the newspaper on behalf of three individuals named in the article, and the high court ruled that Rolling Stone was not to publish any further stories. In delivering its ruling, the court noted that the issue was not homosexuality, but the “fundamental rights and freedoms” of those named, particularly through the incitement to violence. Adrian Jjuuko, of the Civil Society Coalition, said that the “ruling firmly established the principle that constitutionally protected rights belong to all Ugandans, whatever their perceived sexuality.” One of the applicants, Kasha Jacqueline, said “While this injunction is a positive step for gay people in Uganda, the fact remains that the government of Uganda has for long been mute about the discrimination, threats and violence faced by LGBT people in Uganda.” It is believed that Giles Muhame, the manager editor of Rolling Stone, who contends that it is remains his duty to expose “the evil in our society,” is preparing an appeal to the ruling.