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Members of Uganda’s LGBTQ community are shocked and fear arrest after parliament passed a new law that makes it a crime to identify as gay, and impose tough sentences that include the death penalty in certain cases, activists said on Wednesday.
The “Anti-Homosexuality Bill, 2023” was passed with a near majority by lawmakers in the east African country where anti-LGBTQ sentiment runs deep.
Frank Mugisha, one of the few Ugandans living openly as gay, told Reuters he feared the law would lead to “mass arrests of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people and mob violence against the LGBTQ community.”
“LGBTQ people will be afraid to go to health centers for services … there will be a lot of trauma and mental health cases that will cause a lot of deaths,” he said.
Internationally condemned law
Same-sex relationships are already illegal in Uganda, but supporters of the new law say it is necessary to punish a wide range of LGBTQ activities, which they say threaten traditional values in conservative and religious East African nations.
These include steep sentences that include death for “aggravated homosexuality” and life in prison for same-sex relationships. More serious homosexuality applies to the same activity with people under 18 years of age or when the perpetrator is HIV positive, among other categories, according to the law.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that the law would undermine human rights and “reverse the gains in the fight against HIV/AIDS” and called on authorities to reconsider the implementation of the law.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also called on the Ugandan government to rethink the law, calling it “horrific and disgusting.”
“No one, anywhere, should have to fear because of anyone or their loved ones,” Trudeau said in a tweet.
The law passed by the Ugandan Parliament yesterday, known as the Anti-Homosexuality Act, is appalling and abhorrent – no one, no where, should have to live in fear because of someone or someone they love. We strongly urge Ugandan parliamentarians to reconsider this legislation.
The law will next be sent to President Yoweri Museveni, who has repeatedly denounced homosexuality, to be signed into law.
“This is a shocking moment for the LGBTQ community,” said Mugisha, whose charity supporting LGBTQ rights closed last year.
Mugisha said he will challenge the law in court on the grounds that it is unconstitutional, and violates various international treaties Uganda is a signatory to. He did not say when he would file a case.
Such a case would have a good chance of overturning the law, according to two Kampala-based lawyers contacted by Reuters.
“The law violates basic constitutional rights like privacy and freedom of speech, so actually based on the law, I think it will be a strong case,” said lawyer Adrian Jjuko.
Day 69:14 a.mUgandan LGBTQ activists say threats and violence will not end the fight for civil rights
Ugandan LGBT activist Pepe Julian Onziema helped shut down a 2014 law calling for the death penalty for homosexual acts. But despite the victory, he says anti-gay violence persists.
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