In 2023, the Ugandan Parliament passed legislation further criminalizing the identities and actions of the LGBTQ+ community. Now, on Wednesday, April 3, 2024, Uganda’s Constitutional Court failed to repeal the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act. The Court struck down two sections and two subsections such as those that restricted healthcare access for LGBTQ+ people or required people to report alleged acts of same-sex behavior. Nonetheless, the Court unanimously upheld the rest of the Act including the imposition of life sentences for consensual same-sex relationships.
By upholding the Ant-Homosexuality Act, the Court is further endangering the lives of Ugandan LGBTQ+ individuals. According to the Ugandan LGBTQ+ coalition known as Convening for Equality, the year after Yoweri Museveni assented to the Act was ridden with “despicable state-sanctioned witch hunts,” that sought to harm LGBTQ+ individuals physically and online. Many of the organizations that support and advocate for the rights of the queer community in Uganda, such as Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), are also under threat. In March 2024, SMUG was shut down after 20 years of providing education on sexuality and healthcare services because its name appears to violate the anti-LGBTQ+ law.
The adoption of the Anti-Homosexuality Act into law also has numerous economic consequences for the Ugandan government. Following its adoption, the U.S. imposed visa restrictions on Ugandan officials and removed Uganda from a program that allows sub-Saharan African countries to trade duty-free with the U.S. Also, the World Bank halted new lending to the Ugandan government, saying “Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act fundamentally contradicts the World Bank Group’s values.”
Despite opposition from the government, LGBTQ+ activists in or from Uganda continue to fight against the discriminatory and offensive law. “The Ugandan judiciary cannot legislate the Ugandan LGBITQ community out of existence. [We are still here] The Anti-Homosexuality Law will soon meet its inevitable demise and our inherent Human Rights will continue to be non-negotiable,” posted Clare Byarugaba on X. Byarugaba joined GLAAD earlier this year at the World Economic Forum in Davos urging corporate leaders to speak out for LGBTQ equality and safety worldwide.
LGBTQ+ advocate and Executive Director of SMUG, Frank Mugisha also took to X, writing “We continue to call for this law to be repealed and we are calling on all governments, UN partners, and multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and the Global Fund to likewise intensify their demand that this law be struck down.
GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis writes, “Uganda’s anti-homosexuality act has already brought so much destruction upon the Ugandan people. Advocates have been violently persecuted, health organizations have been shut down, families have been broken apart. This court ruling will only further alienate Uganda from the global community. It demonstrates how at risk the LGBTQ community is, in Uganda and around the world.”
Uganda is among more than 30 other African countries that criminalize LGBTQ people who already face extreme violence just for existing. Though the Constitutional Court failed to uphold the constitutional rights of the people, organizations such as Convening for Equality are planning appeals to the Ugandan Supreme Court. Hopefully, the Court will follow the example of countries such as Mozambique, Botswana, and South Africa which, among others, have repealed anti-LGBTQ laws through legal reform and judicial decisions.