Uganda’s latest “Kill the Gays” law is causing an exodus of LGBTQ+ Ugandans who fear persecution and violence. The proposal, which mandates life imprisonment for anyone convicted of engaging in homosexual sex, is among the most extreme anti-LGBTQ+ measures anywhere in the world, according to the Biden administration.
Conservative evangelical groups from the U.S., including the Arizona-based organization Family Watch International, have been instrumental in promoting anti-LGBTQ+ agendas in Uganda and other African nations. The groups have been targeting countries in the region, where harsh penalties for homosexuality have been on the books since the British imposed them in the 19th century, and where conservative Christian and Muslim populations have been ripe for anti-LGBTQ+ proselytizing.
The “Kill the Gays” bill has been rejected by the U.S. and the European Parliament, but welcomed by anti-LGBTQ+ allies in Uganda. President Yoweri Museveni congratulated lawmakers who stood up to “international pressure and shielded Uganda’s moral fabric during the passing of the bill.” Museveni accused liberal Western influences of promoting homosexuality in the country and throughout Africa.
As a result of the bill, LGBTQ+ Ugandans are being threatened with violence and persecution, forcing them to flee the country. “The government and the people of Uganda are against our existence,” said Mbajjwe Nimiro Wilson, a 24-year-old refugee now living in a shelter in neighboring Kenya. Wilson was cornered by a hostile crowd on the street as he tried to buy groceries. “They kept saying, ‘We will hunt you. You gays should be killed. We will slaughter you,'” he told The New York Times. “There was no option but to leave.”
The “Kill the Gays” bill is also having an impact on neighboring Kenya, where lawmakers are introducing legislation to criminalize homosexuality, ban Kenyans from identifying as LGBTQ+, and grant citizens the power to arrest anyone they suspect of being gay. The bill would also return gay refugees like Wilson to their home countries.
As Africa continues to struggle with issues of LGBTQ+ rights, these bills and laws are causing widespread concern among human rights activists, who worry that they will lead to increased violence and persecution against LGBTQ+ people on the continent.