The Ugandan Media Is Exacerbating Anti-LGBT Violence

via Kasha Jacqueline on Twitter.

Exposed! So read the headline of Red Pepper, a tabloid in Uganda whose editors saw fit to publish the names of 200 suspected gays. As anti-LGBT tensions in African countries like Nigeria and Uganda intensify, openly gay people are left feeling just that—exposed.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time the press has attempted to target and publically out people for associating, supporting or participating in the LGBT community. On February 5, The Nigerian Observer printed the names of 57 people said to be members of the House of Rainbow Fellowship, a Christian organization that reaches out to LGBT communities in Nigeria.

The newspaper advocated that the friends, family and neighbors of the ‘accused’ report them to police where they would be arrested under the crime of homosexuality. By February 6, the online article had been deleted, but arguably, the damage was already done.

A week into 2014 marked the signing of the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Bill into law. The legislation brought forth by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan bans not only marriage, but targets those who support gay-rights and imposes a 10-year jail sentence for anyone involved with LGBT organizations of any kind.

Since the law came into effect, there have been a rash of violent attacks on LGBT people carried out by police and citizen vigilantes. Two days before Valentine’s, 14 young men were mobbed in the country’s capital of Abuja. The New York Times reported that they were dragged out of bed and beaten by a group wielding nail-studded clubs and whips.

In late January, a video was released online showing two gay men who were forced to perform anal sex in public by a mob who jeered and filmed the act on their cellphones.

The danger for LGBT people is very real in Nigeria, and things are only going to get worse—so says Jide Macaulay, the project director and founder of House of Rainbow. Macaulay is an openly-gay reverend of Nigerian descent who has dedicated years to helping LGBT people in Nigeria. House of Rainbow is primarily a Christian organization whose mandate is one of reconciliation between sexuality and spirituality. The House of Rainbow Church in Nigeria was established in 2006, before tensions over sexual orientation came to the forefront of political and social discourse in the country.

via Kasha Jacqueline on Twitter.

When word got out that The Observer had apparently outed potential members of House of Rainbow, Macaulay took to the phones. Having left Nigeria due to safety concerns, once in 2008 and again in 2011, he would have to try and control the crisis from London.

Macaulay has had a difficult relationship with the Nigerian media for years. Local newspapers would often publish the locations of House of Rainbow meetings, putting members in danger and exposing the organization to threats.

“Unfortunately, Nigerian media are ignorant,” explains Macaulay.

Journalists would also attend meetings undercover and secretly record sessions. Macaulay’s home address and contact information was published as well, and as the threats to his personal security/safety escalated, so did instances of harassment and violence.

“I had to have a military officer with me everywhere I went,” says Macaulay. In September 2008, he returned to London. Several days later, his former home in Nigeria was vandalized.

Macaulay was born in England but was raised for some time in Nigeria. He holds degrees in law as well as theology, and recently a post-graduate certificate in pastoral theology from Anglia Ruskin Cambridge.He feels that God has called him to help people in places like Nigeria, where homosexuality is seen as being contrary to African cultural values and religion.

After a few harrowing days, Macaulay was cautiously pleased to report that none of the names listed by The Observer were in fact members of House of Rainbow. Fortunately, the information collected by the paper had been inaccurate—though of course the fact these lists are being published in the first place is highly troublesome.

Weeks later, upon seeing his own name printed in the list of 200 “top homosexuals” in Red Pepper, Macaulay had seen enough. “There is no doubt of the intention of the newspaper in printing these names,” he said. “There will be backlash and further violence towards these people. This is no longer just a case for Ugandans.”