LGBTQ+ Rights in Uganda

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Bilde: Rebecca Vassie

Laws prohibiting same-sex sexual acts were first put in place under British colonial rule in the 19th century. Those laws were not changed when the criminal laws were updated in 1950 and remained following independence in 1962. According to the 1950s legislation, it is illegal to have “carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature”, to attempt this, or to permit someone else to do this. Originally, the law only targeted men, but it was changed in 2000 so that “grossly indecent acts” between women were criminalised as well. The Act also extended the criminalising of such acts to both homosexuals and heterosexuals, outlawing both oral sex and anal sex, regardless of sexual orientation.

The 1950s law against same-sex acts was rarely enforced, but in the 2000s, the targeting of the LGBTQ+ community by politicians, the police, and the media, increased.

In 2009, anti-gay workshops were being held by US evangelicals and their Ugandan allies. A short time later, a member of the Ugandan parliament introduced an Anti-Homosexuality bill, calling for the death penalty for so-called “aggravated homosexuality”. The bill also criminalised the promotion or recognition of such activity by any individual or organisation from inside or outside of Uganda. It would also criminalise anyone who let gay people rent or use their premises.

The bill brought the world’s attention to the situation in Uganda. It was heavily criticised by UN officials, and several Western countries threatened to withdraw aid to the country.

However, the bill also strengthened anti-gay forces in society. A Ugandan magazine outed 100 suspected LGBTQ+ people with full names, pictures and addresses. One of the gay activists on the list was found brutally murdered in his home the following year.

By the time Parliament voted on the Anti-Homosexuality bill, the death penalty had been reduced to life imprisonment due to international pressure. Passed by Uganda’s parliament in December 2013, President Museveni, after some wavering, signed the bill into law in February 2014. 30 000 people gathered at a rally to thank the president.

The act was only in force for five months before it was annulled on a technicality. During that time, the Ugandan police arrested numerous people for identifying as LGBTQ+ and people who were identified or accused by others of being gay, lesbian or transgender. Some people were arrested when reporting crimes against them; others were beaten and groped by police and other detainees in custody. Some LGBTQ+ people fled the country as refugees, others attempted suicide.

In 2019 it was clear that some members of parliament wished to revive the 2014 bill. Uganda’s Minister for Ethics and Integrity, Simon Lokodo, asserted that “Homosexuality is not natural to Ugandans, but there has been a massive recruitment by gay people in schools, and especially among the youth, where they are promoting the falsehood that people are born like that. Our current penal law is limited. It only criminalises the act. We want it made clear that anyone who is even involved in promotion and recruitment has to be criminalised. Those that do grave acts will be given the death sentence.”

In May 2021 the Ugandan Parliament passed a new bill, without the death sentence, but President Museveni refused to sign it. He returned it to Parliament, arguing that many of its measures already existed in the legislation from 1950. There is reason to believe that he does not wish to further aggravate Uganda's relationship with the UN or with its donor countries. The situation for the LGBTQ+ community in Uganda still remains perilous; recent mass arrests prove that the government has got the laws it needs to break human rights.

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