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The government are , and no amount of will make it budge.

For, there's a clear reason for this; homosexuality provides African leaders with an opportunity to divert public attention from Africa's real problems.

For Peter Thatchell, homophobic attitudes in Africa are a that have now been claimed by African culture.

Are there on the part of the West as Joop from Holland suggests on Cameroon Online? Should we leave Africa to deal with homosexuality in whatever way it feels right?

Protests against the verdict are taking place in South Africa, the only African country to have . This however didn't stop a from being raped and killed in 2006.

In Uganda, the proprosed death penalty for homosexuals was over the past few months following international pressure according to one politician.

"Homosexuality is not a top priority for the people of Uganda," Deputy Foreign Minister Henry Okello Oryem said. "Our priority is to make sure there is food on the table of our people - that we deal with the issue of disease."

is still waiting for that change. suggests that he might be waiting a long time.

And last month , the corpse of a dead gay man was dug out, spat on and dumped outside the home of his elderly grandparents.

can no longer stay quite about gay rights in Africa. She runs a charity project in Malawi but refrained from speaking out in fear of sacrificing her work.

'I am angry. I am angry because the right to marry is the choice of an individual rather than a state...I am angry that so many are forced into the closets, furthering shame and stigma....These two men did something brave. They spoke up and they spoke out. No one in Malawi has done this publicly before.'

Maybe not in Malawi, but there are signs in that some African countries are making efforts to support 'sexual minorities'.

with a dinner and dance in front of the media.

Should we leave Africa to handle homosexuality at its own pace and however it wants?