Ugandan LGBTQ Activists Speak Out Against Anti-Homosexuality Act
A group of LGBTQ and intersex activists from Uganda traveled to D.C. this week to raise awareness about the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023. The legislation would impose a “mandatory” death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality,” and life imprisonment for anyone convicted of same-sex relations. Furthermore, the bill would punish the “promotion, recruitment and funding” of LGBTQ-specific activities in Uganda, including holding out as a lesbian, gay, transgender, a queer or any other sexual or gender identity that is contrary to the binary categories of male and female. The measure’s provision that would require Ugandans to report LGBTQ-specific activities to authorities would create “a moral police force.”
During their visit, the activists spoke at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in D.C. about the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023. Sexual Minorities Uganda Executive Director Frank Mugisha, GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders Senior Manager of Organizational Culture and Community Partnerships Quin Mbabazi, and Chapter Four Uganda Executive Director Nicholas Opiyo participated in a panel discussion moderated by Maria Burnett, senior associate of CSIS’ Africa Program. Jessica Stern, the special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ and intersex rights rights, also participated in the discussion.
Mugisha, Mbabazi, Opiyo, and Jacqueline Kasha Nabagesara also met with officials from the White House, the State Department, and the U.S. Agency for International Development, as well as representatives from the Council for Global Equality. The activists also briefed the Congressional Equality Caucus.
The U.S. subsequently cut aid to Uganda and imposed a travel ban against officials who carried out human rights abuses when President Yoweri Museveni signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act in 2014, which imposed a life sentence upon anyone found guilty of repeated same-sex sexual acts. The law was known as the “Kill the Gays” bill because it previously contained a death penalty provision. Uganda’s Constitutional Court later struck down the law on a technicality.
Mugisha noted there has been an increase in violence against LGBTQ and intersex Ugandans over the last year. Uganda’s National Bureau for Non-Government Organizations forced Sexual Minorities Uganda to shut down last August. “We’re seeing a very systematic, targeted group that is targeting the LGBTQ community, and we’ve seen that Ugandans have sort of been prepared for this legislation,” said Mugisha during the CSIS panel.
Jessica Stern reiterated the Biden-Harris administration’s criticisms of the Anti-Homosexuality Act, saying, “The U.S. has significant concerns about the Anti-Homosexuality Act that the Parliament of Uganda passed on March 21. If the Anti-Homosexuality Act is signed into law and enacted, it would threaten the human rights of Ugandan citizens, jeopardize progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS, deter tourism and investment in Uganda, and damage Uganda’s international reputation.”
Stern warned the U.S. would reconsider foreign assistance to Uganda if Museveni signs the Anti-Homosexuality Act. “We are investing the potential impact of the Anti-Homosexuality Act on U.S