Cameroon Man Jailed for Ordering 'Gay' Bailey's Irish Cream

A man was arrested in Cameroon after he was caught drinking Bailey's Irish Cream, an Irish whiskey and cream-based liquor that apparently only gays and women imbibe.

Metro U.K. reports that men who drink Baileys are now at risk of up to five years in prison, plus fines.

Attorney Michel Togue of Cameroon said these stereotypes are often used in prosecutions, saying he had represented three men who were jailed for five years for dressing effeminately.

"To catch people having sex, to catch them in the act, you have to break the law. You have to violate their privacy, which is an offense," said Togue. "But the police will not focus on the offense of breaking the privacy of someone, but they will focus on the fact that they saw two people of the same gender having sex."

Mirror notes that although homosexuality has been illegal in Cameroon since 1972, disgruntled neighbors, family members or scorned lovers often make accusations of homosexuality -- and there doesn't even need to be proof.

And this isn't the first time it's happened, either. In January 2013, The National Post reported that in November 2011, a Cameroon court sentenced two men to five years in prison for "looking gay" and ordering Bailey's Irish Cream. The Court of Appeals eventually acquitted the men after more than a year in jail.

Human rights and gay rights advocates pointed to the ruling as a prime example of the country's harsh anti-gay laws, and urged President Paul Biya to release all other imprisoned under these laws.