French pop star
latest target of African outing campaign

A French pop star is the latest victim of a campaign against all things gay by the Cameroon media. Yannick Noah, a 45-year-old tennis player-turned-singer originally from Cameroon, was long known for dalliances with woman before being added to the list of over 50 entertainers, athletes, and politicians accused of being gay by homophobic African tabloids. With headlines screaming "The Queers Are Among Us!" the magazines are selling like hotcakes in Cameroon, where homosexuality is not only taboo but also illegal. Noah, who won the French Open in 1983, was not available for comment. Many other celebrities accused of being gay have strongly denied it. "Men making love to other men...may be normal in the West, but in Africa, and Cameroon in particular, it is unthinkable," said Jean-Pierre Amougou Belinga, publisher of the antigay tabloid L'Anecdote. The stories follow a Christmas Day rant from Victor Tonye Bakot, the Catholic archbishop of Cameroon's capital, Yaounde, in which he blasted same-sex marriage and adoption by gays. (Advocate.com)