Kenya
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When false rumors of a gay wedding broke out in Kenya, a series of riots closed the Kenya Medical Research Institute HIV prevention for two days for allegedly serving gay people (Campbell 1)
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Although the clinic reopened, the remaining stigma still serves a barrier to those who need the services
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Recently in Kenya, gay groups have "worked hard over the past few years to build strong relationships with AIDS groups representing women, sex workers, and people living with the disease, so they are part of a coalition" (Roehr 1168)
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Similarly to Malawi and Uganda, Kenyans are not welcoming of the international response to the homophobic actions, as they are looking to solve their own problems with their own people and governments (Campbell 2)
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LGBT activist groups in Kenya are hoping to align with South Africa and serve as a positive example to the rest of Africa with how to deal with internal strife and homophobia (Awondo 154)
Malawi
Steven Monjeza (26) and Tiwonge Chimbalanga (20), after being sentenced to 14 years hard labor
Participants at a World Social Forum in Nairobi in 2007 on the topic of African LGBT rights
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Uganda has become the face of African homophobia for many westerners who know only of the notorious Anti-Homosexuality Bill proposed in 2009 by David Bahati (Awondo 153)
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Driven by religious extremism in the form of US-fundend evangelical churches, the homophobia in Uganda stems from the innate atmosphere of Christian morality
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Large portions of the Ugandan HIV/AIDS relief came from the $15 billion President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which was channeled through US Christian groups that often had no public health or administrative experience with HIV/AIDS (Awondo 154)
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Much of the debate over HIV/AIDS in Uganda has come from a place of moral judment on those on the fringe of society, especially LGBT people, thus resulting in widespread anti-gay protest, anti-western sentiment, and support for the Anti-Homosexuality Bill (Roehr 1167)
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Huge pushback against gay marriage after the discovery of "engagement party" between the couple Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga
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Both men were denied bail, and kept in jail for a prolonged period of time while awaiting their continutally delayed trial
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Although the international community, including Amnesty International, protested their detainment, the couple was sentenced on May 20th, 2010 to 14 years in prison with hard labor, the maximum sentence
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The resulting sentence caused the Malawi police to close the Center for the Development of People in Blantyre, which "provides HIV testing, counselling, and outreach to MSM, claiming that the centre's prevention education materials were 'gay pornography'" (Roehr 1168)
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The situation in Malawi for LGBT people and MSM has declined significantly, as there is little access to HIV treatment due to the growing hostile environment
Uganda
Masked supporters of the LGBT community during a a protest against the anti-gay bill in Uganda
International Comparisons
Although the situation in South Africa is not ideal by any means, homosexual activity is still legalized - LGBT people in various African countries face far worse discrimination, stigma, and oppression for their sexuality. According to former UNAIDS director Michel Sidibe, 85 countries worldwide still have laws that criminalize sexual activity between same-sex adults, and seven countries still keep the dealth penalty for homosexual acts (Roehr 1166). In Uganda, Malawi, and Kenya, activists and LGBT people and organizations face censureship, arrest, and even death for speaking out.
Although LGBT South Africans face stigma and extensive barriers in accessing public health, the country on the whole has a "friendlier legal environment and several organizations for gay people" (Roehr 1168). South Africans activists have participated in demonstrations protesting the conditions of LGBT people all across Africa, and have one of the most strongly formed LGBT communities in Africa (Rispel 136). But to people in countries like Uganda, Malawi, and Kenya, South Africa's "gay leniency" comes from its relationship with the west - "too white, too European, that is why they have this gay marriage" (Roehr 1168).