A judge in Uganda has granted an interim order restraining a local paper from any further publication of the identity of any person perceived by them to be gay, lesbian or homosexual.

The lead article in The Rolling Stone newspaper, which has no relation to the US magazine, entitled "Men of Shame Part II," pictured 14 men identified as the "generals" of the gay movement in Uganda.

Frank Mugisha, who heads a local gay rights group Sexual Minorities in Uganda (SMUG), said the paper's tactics caused wider suffering and secured the court injunction later Monday.

Homosexuality in Uganda is punishable by life imprisonment in some instances, and a lawmaker in 2009 introduced a bill calling for some homosexual acts to be punished with death. The bill has not yet been formally debated in parliament.

Giles Muhame, editor of the two-month-old Rolling Stone paper, told the AFP news agency that he would defy the ban.

"We will publish more pictures but in a diplomatic way, so that we can dodge the law," he said.
Muhame explained his paper's motivation for focusing on homosexuality in Monday's editorial.

"A cross-section of heartless homosexuals is seriously recruiting and brainwashing unsuspecting kids into gay circles," he wrote.

He said that while he had no evidence to suggest the 14 identified men were involved with youths, he believed exposing them had "news value."

Stosh Mugisha, who lives openly as a lesbian, had her picture published in the previous issue of Rolling Stone.

"I really suffered. I was forced to move away from my home," she said on Monday.
"Harassment definitely increased and it doesn't stop with people who are actually pictured," said Mugisha.

On Monday Rolling Stone published a further 14 names and photographs, after saying last month it would reveal 100 homosexual Ugandans. 15 names were identified last month, next to a headline which read: "Hang them".

High Court judge Vincent Musoke-Kibuuka said the publication was "an infringement or invasion of the right to privacy" of those identified, AFP reports. A further hearing is scheduled for November 23.
 

Source: AFP