GLAAD ELEVATES ADVOCATES IN UGANDA AND RESPONDS TO COURT RULING UPHOLDING DANGEROUS ANTI-LGBTQ LAW

GLAAD: “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.”

(April 3, 2024) – GLAAD, the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization, is responding to news overnight that Uganda’s constitutional court refused to nullify or suspend its harshly anti-LGBTQ law passed last year that drew condemnation from human rights advocates around the world.

The law imposes life sentences for consensual same-sex relationships, includes provisions that make “aggravated homosexuality” a crime punishable by death, and bans promotion of homosexuality as a violation punishable by up to 20 years in jail. The court struck down provisions requiring people to notify law enforcement about same-sex behavior as violations of individual rights.

LGBTQ advocates in or from Uganda are responding:

Clare Byarugaba: 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.

 #RepealAHA23

Byarugaba joined GLAAD earlier this year at the World Economic Forum in Davos urging corporate leaders to speak out for LGBTQ equality and safety around the world.

Frank Mugisha and SMUG (Sexual Minorities Uganda): We continue to call for this law to be repealed and we are calling on all governments, UN partners, and multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and the Global Fund to likewise intensify their demand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:
“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.”

Additional background:

After the law was passed, 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. The World Bank Group also announced the suspension of new loans to Uganda.

GLAAD: Uganda is among more than 30 other African countries that criminalize LGBTQ people who already face extreme violence just for existing. The law passed last year expands on the 2014 Anti-homosexuality Act, and is the first law of its kind to outlaw identifying as LGBTQ.

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow interviewed Frank Mushiga last year about connections between anti-LGBTQ activism in Uganda and a U.S.-based group Family Watch International, identified as an anti-LGBTQ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for spreading disinformation about sexuality, gender identity and gender expression. The group is from Gilbert, Arizona.

SMUG, the leading LGBTQ advocacy organization in Uganda, was shut down by an appeals court because its name appears to violate the anti-LGBTQ law. SMUG has provided education on sexuality and advocated for health services since 2004, and has been fighting to be legally recognized for more than a decade.