One year later, Uganda’s anti-LGBTQ+ law is destroying families, lives, & future peace

​​In May 2023, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni signed one of the harshest anti-LGBTQ+ laws in the world. A year on, the law has worsened the state of LGBTQ+ rights and has become a model shaping the thoughts of other African leaders in regard to queerness — it has also led to a major setback despite the decade-long fight against homophobia.

In its genocidal fantasies, the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 stipulates long prison sentences and allows executions for certain types of same-sex activities, making Uganda the first predominantly Christian nation in the world with capital punishment criminalizing homosexuality. 

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Uganda cited Dobbs to back an anti-LGBTQ crackdown. Americans should be worried too.

The ruling shows “how easily it might be deployed in our country for the same thing,” one expert said.

The original bill, passed in March 2023, drew global condemnation after the 387 members of the Ugandan parliament voted that gay people should be executed by firing squad for consensual sex. A similar law like this was previously passed in 2014, but it was struck down on procedural errors.

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Philip and his friends’ lives took a turn for the worse after the latest bill was passed.

“It all began the very moment the parliament began discussing the bill that the LGBTQ atmosphere began to deteriorate,” the 30-year-old told LGBTQ Nation.

Homosexuality was already illegal in Uganda dating back to colonial rule, but the introduction of draconian laws with capital punishment gravely disrupted the country’s already existing anti-LGBTQ+ climate, exacerbating the predicaments of the LGBTQ+ community.

A surge in abuse against the LGBTQ+ community began in Uganda before the bill was even signed — including mob attacks, rape, extortion, and torture. However, Museveni legally endorsed and emboldened anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments when he signed the bill two months later after it was passed by his nation’s parliament, hence defying pressures from human rights organizations and Western governments.

Before the bill passed, gay men like Philip only got stares and were catcalled in public for being femme, but now it gets you attacked because Africans associate femme with being gay, Philip said.

“I was about to board a bus with two of my friends last September when we were attacked and beaten up over our feminine mannerisms. A stranger accosted us to ask why we were behaving like women. We ignored and tried walking away when he pulled one of my friends back and struck him in the face,” Philip told LGBTQ Nation.

“Before we could process what just happened, he started yelling ‘Homo! Homo!'” he continued. “Before we knew it, we were surrounded by people who began hitting us with whatever they could find. They beat us up badly for no reason while onlookers stood by and just watched.”

Public assault against queer people has always been prevalent in Uganda, as the police seldom protect LGBTQ+ individuals from abuse and harassment. Now, crimes committed against the LGBTQ+ community are fully backed by the law, while the police actively participate through arbitrary arrests and extortion.

This was the case of John, a 29-year-old gay man living in Uganda, who was hospitalized after an attack and then extorted by the police after they learned he was gay.

According to Convening For Equality (CFE), a civil rights group in Uganda, over 1,000 cases were recorded in the last eight months involving public attacks, arrests, torture, and house evictions of queer Ugandas. Human rights violations saw a spike from 306 between January and August last year to 1,253 recorded between September and May of this year.

One of the extreme features of this law is that it criminalizes people simply for identifying as or knowing anyone who is LGBTQ+. Family relationships have also been strained or destroyed because the bill obligates family, friends, and members of the community to report individuals in same-sex relationships to the authorities.

Akello, a 25-year-old gay man living in Uganda, disclosed how his parents, who kicked him out four years ago, called the police to arrest him in the small apartment he shares with a friend a week after the bill was signed.

“I was still preparing for work that morning when the police stormed our apartment with my father and arrested me and my friend,” Akello told LGBTQ Nation. “We were locked up and tortured for two weeks before they eventually let us go.”

Akello and his friend were locked up, beaten up, and only fed once a day. They were also attacked on multiple occasions by the inmates occupying the same cell with them for being femme, and the police did nothing.

“By the time we returned, we were given a quit notice by our landlord to evict the apartment in two days,” he added.

LGBTQ+ Ugandans often face rejection and expulsion from their homes, which not only isolates them but also strips them of essential support systems and compounds their vulnerability. 

Alex, a 21-year-old student, had to drop out of school after being kicked out by his family in October because he was gay. Now, he squats in abandoned buildings and buses with other community members who were kicked out by their families or evicted by their landlords. Many of these individuals rely on sex work and hard labor to survive.

The law also threatens landlords and people who support LGBTQ+ people with imprisonment, prompting multiple evictions and job losses. By making it illegal to rent property to LGBTQ+ people, eviction cases are on the rise as landlords and the public— fully backed by the law — are boldly discriminating and evicting people on mere suspicion that they are queer. 

Charles and Julius were also attacked by their neighbors, who have always been hostile towards them since they moved into their apartment. “We had to flee, abandoning most of our belongings and running for our dear lives,” said Charles. 

 “Our neighbors were homophobic and always treated us with contempt, but it was the president who gave them permission to attack us when he signed that bill,” he added.

With the threat of imprisonment, many queer Ugandans have also lost their jobs because employers do not want to be associated with criminals. Additionally, businesses owned by queer people were disrupted by landlords who housed them.

One of the most harrowing impacts of the law has been the intensifying of the public health crisis surrounding HIV/AIDS in Uganda. Aggravated homosexuality laws drove LGBTQ+ individuals away from essential healthcare services, exacerbating the challenge of controlling the epidemic. It also created an environment of fear, making LGBTQ+ individuals abandon healthcare services in fear of discrimination, arrests, and attacks — leading to delayed treatment, interrupted medication regimens, and overall worsened health outcomes.

Healthcare for LGBTQ+ individuals is not recognized in Uganda and most African countries. It is non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that provide free healthcare for LGBTQ+ people, but now these organizations are being targeted.

Misinformation about healthcare has proliferated unchecked, and propaganda circulating on social media accuses clinics that cater to LGBTQ+ people of trafficking and “recruiting” people into homosexuality, an offense that carries a 20-year prison sentence in Uganda. Most staff working in these clinics quit their jobs due to the country’s anti-LGBTQ+ climate, leaving queer people with no means of accessing healthcare and treatments.

Human rights organizations and LGBTQ+ activists have also found themselves navigating a treacherous landscape in the past months because a clause in the bill targets activism with 20 years imprisonment for the promotion of homosexuality. The increase in arrests, harassment, intimidation, and surveillance of LGBTQ+ activists has made it more dangerous for activists to operate, as they too can be targeted under its provisions, thereby crippling LGBTQ+ advocacy and human rights organizations for both Uganda and other African countries.

A prominent Ugandan LGBTQ+ rights activist, Steven Kabuye, was stabbed in January and left for dead outside his home with a knife embedded in his stomach. Kabuye, the executive director of the advocacy group Colored Voice Truth to LGBTQ, was attacked and left in critical condition by two men who had allegedly been following him for several days. Thankfully, Kabuye was able to make a full recovery and relocated to Canada. 

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Fear and repression have driven many activists underground, forcing them to adopt clandestine methods to continue their work. Social media, once a medium for organizing and spreading awareness, has become a double-edged sword. While it offers a platform for connection and mobilization, it also exposes activists to surveillance and harassment.

Nevertheless, there has been a persistent effort to resist and offer support. Activists continue to document abuses, provide safe spaces, and offer legal assistance to those persecuted under the law. The law also drew widespread condemnation from Human rights organizations, foreign governments, and international bodies. The World Bank halted new loans while the U.S. ejected Uganda from a preferential trade deal and imposed sanctions against its leaders.

In April, Uganda’s Constitutional Court upheld the country’s draconian anti-gay bill in a case where the law was being challenged. However, the court voided a few sections that it said violated rights to health, privacy, and freedom of religion.

One year after the enactment of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023, the lives of LGBTQ+ Ugandans have been profoundly and adversely affected. LGBTQ+ people in Africa thrived by creating and maintaining a community that kept them safe. Now, the lack of safe spaces where they can express their identities and seek support affects their mental health and threatens their overall well-being. 

The ongoing health crisis against the LGBTQ+ community is highly dangerous and could exacerbate the HIV/AIDS crisis, not only in other African countries with draconian laws but across and beyond the continent as well.

For many, the future appears bleak, leading to a sense of hopelessness and despair. But while resistance and support efforts persist, the path forward remains fraught with challenges.

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