What It Is
The Ugandan government’s theme of persecution against the LGBTQ community continued this week, as President Yoweri Museveni signed a law with severe consequences for homosexual acts that occur in Uganda.
The law comes at a time when over 30 countries in Africa criminalize homosexuality, but Uganda has taken recent steps to ostracize it even further. The government recently shut down Sexual Minorities Uganda, an LGBTQ activist organization. The number of violent incidents against members of the LGBTQ community in Uganda has also skyrocketed this year.
The new law makes homosexual sex punishable by life in prison and makes “aggravated homosexuality”, which are homosexual acts done to children as well as to unconscious and disabled citizens, punishable by death.
Implications
The law also criminalizes “promoting homosexuality”, a non-specific term that carries up to a 20-year prison sentence. Several organizations, such as HIV treatment groups and human rights groups, believe this part of the law was created to target them.
Organizations that provide treatment for HIV and AIDS are worried that the new law will hinder their ability to provide HIV treatment, testing, and preventative services to the citizens of Uganda. According to AHF Uganda Cares, one organization that fights HIV, the HIV rate in Uganda used to be 18.5% and is now as low as 5.3%. This rate could surge now that treatment may have been criminalized.
Although this law severely increases the punishment for homosexual activity in Uganda, they’ve never been a safe place to be a sexual minority. In 2021, Forbes ranked Uganda as the 16th worst place in the world for gay travelers to visit. Higher-ranking countries on the list, such as Nigeria or Saudi Arabia, have been known to issue the death penalty for homosexual acts.
Along with condemning the law, US President Biden shared that Uganda’s government may soon face consequences from the United States.
“We are considering…the application of sanctions and restriction of entry into the United States against anyone involved in serious human rights abuses or corruption,” President Biden said in an official statement.
Uganda’s Response to Backlash
Uganda’s government has not backed down in the days since passing the law. Anita Among, the Parliament Speaker in Uganda, released a statement after the law was signed. In it, she dismissed the backlash from numerous other nations and human rights groups who want the act repealed.
“With a lot of humility, I thank my colleagues and the Members of Parliament for withstanding all the pressure from bullies and doomsday conspiracy theorists in the interest of our country.”
With President Museveni’s government not flinching, the Anti-Homosexuality Act will likely stay in effect. However, he will continue to have to deal with condemnation from foreign powers.
“We are appalled that the draconian and discriminatory anti-gay bill is now law,” the U.N. Human Rights Office wrote in a released statement. “It is a recipe for systematic violations of the rights of LGBT people & the wider population. It conflicts with the Constitution and international treaties and requires urgent judicial review.”
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