Ugandan Activist Frank Mugisha Scared He Might Be Poisoned By Anti-Gay Thugs

After penning an insightful op-ed about the plight of  LGBT people in his native Uganda for The New York Times last month, Frank Mugisha has been on the receiving end of some nasty death threats.

Anow recent article in a local Kampala newspaper smearing him as a liar has put him in even more danger:

“It said that everything we are saying is not true,” he told Michelangelo Signorile in a radio interview. “That we are just trying to get sympathy in the Western world. They put my picture in the newspaper with all these hate words and of course I got a lot of bad emails, bad phones, a lot of harassment against me.”

Mugisha is even worried anti-gay foes might try to poison him.

“Every day of my life here in Uganda I have to be careful of what I do,” he said. “It has reached the point that where I even have to be careful when I’m going to get food in a restaurant, to be sure that the food I’m getting—that I trust the restaurant—because I’m scared I could get poisoned.”

Mugisha is worried about ending up like fellow activist David Kato, who was murdered in his home after his name and photo were published in a local paper. And while we admire Mugisha’s efforts to combat homophobia, we worry for his life too.

Say safe, Frank.