It’s been five months since Uganda passed its anti-homosexuality law, and a recent report states that since then, one suspected gay person has been killed, 17 arrested, and many more driven to seek asylum outside Uganda. In Nigeria, a Ugandan-modelled anti-gay law signed in January has led to violence, homelessness, unemployment and a drop-off in HIV/Aids treatment. In supposedly liberal South Africa, meanwhile, it’s been just two months since the last report of a man killed for being gay. African academics and activists gathered at the University of Cape Town on Monday to try to make sense of the problem.