The Ugandan Parliament passed a law on Tuesday which would, among other draconian provisions, make it illegal for people to identify as LGBTQ. The law expands on the 2014 Anti-Homosexuality Law, which when passed (and struck down that same year due to procedural measures), criminalized broad same-sex acts by adults. The new 2023 amendment identifies deviators of the law as those whose sexual orientation and gender identity are “contrary to the binary categories of male and female.”
Uganda is among more than 30 other African countries that criminalize LGBTQ people who already face extreme violence just for existing. However, this is the first law of its kind to outlaw simply identifying as LGBTQ, according to the Human Rights Watch (HRW).
“While we’ve seen momentum toward LGBTQ decriminalization and vocal support from global leaders like Pope Francis, this is a significant step backwards,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD President and CEO. “The LGBTQ community has always existed in Uganda. Laws criminalizing LGBTQ relationships, identity, and even allyship, will only bring harm on an already marginalized population, along with their friends and family.”
In the 2023 expansion of the law, Uganda is set to criminalize coming out up to 10 years with offenses “aggravated homosexuality” punishable by death.
“A person who commits the offense of aggravated homosexuality and is liable, on conviction, to suffer death,” read the amendments, presented by the chairperson for legal and parliamentary affairs Robina Rwakoojo. Aggravated homosexuality is considered to be a vague term used for acts committed without consent or if the “victim” has a disability, is a child or is HIV positive, according to the HRW.
Individuals will be subject to health examination to assess their HIV status.
The law’s language is more extreme, but similar to Russia’s “Gay Propaganda Law,” and US states’ (i.e. Oklahoma and Florida) “Don’t Say Gay (or Trans)” Law, which uses promises to “protect children” to rationalize criminalizing education or advocation of LGBTQ history and equality. For Uganda, criminalizing LGBTQ promotion extends to support by family and friends.
While Uganda’s penal code already punishes “carnal knowledge against the order of nature,” which makes any consensual same-sex adult relationships punishable by life in prison, it’s rarely been enforced in recent history. With the imposition of this new law, this will likely change.
“One of the most extreme features of this new bill is that it criminalizes people simply for being who they are as well as further infringing on the rights to privacy, and freedoms of expression and association that are already compromised in Uganda,” said Oryem Nyeko, Uganda researcher at Human Rights Watch.
Many others have spoken out as the new law is expected to soon reach Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni for assent.
“This law is very extreme and draconian…it criminalizes being an LGBTQ person, but also they are trying to erase the entire existence of any LGBTQ Ugandan,” Frank Mugisha, one of the lead LGBTQ advocates in Uganda and executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), told Reuters. Earlier in March, Mugisha said “Ugandans have been radicalized to hate LGBTQ persons…” on Twitter.
Ugandans have really been radicalized to hate LGBTQ persons what went wrong ?.
— Dr. Frank Mugisha (@frankmugisha) March 4, 2023
In August 2022 SMUG was ordered by the Ugandan government to immediately shut down after refusing to approve the organization.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken also condemned the bill.
“The Anti-Homosexuality Act passed by the Ugandan Parliament yesterday would undermine fundamental human rights of all Ugandans and could reverse gains in the fight against HIV/AIDS. We urge the Ugandan Government to strongly reconsider the implementation of this legislation,” Blinken tweeted.
The Anti-Homosexuality Act passed by the Ugandan Parliament yesterday would undermine fundamental human rights of all Ugandans and could reverse gains in the fight against HIV/AIDS. We urge the Ugandan Government to strongly reconsider the implementation of this legislation.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) March 22, 2023
Mark Bromley, Council Chair for The Council For Global Equality, a Washington-based advocacy group that brings together world leaders with a mission of advancing human rights, said at the Carnegie’s Summit for Democracy panel: “Advancing respect for human rights” that LGBTQ Ugandans never stopped fighting against autocracy and for democracy.
“We see strength of the Uganda society. They are fighting, they are stronger than they were 11 years ago. They are building that democracy,” said Bromley.
The Council For Global Equality also tweeted their disapprovial of the law.
“A horrible update: #Uganda just passed a law that criminalises identifying as #LGBTQ— an escalation of the institutional marginalization our community faces in the country. Today & every day, we’re unwavering in our solidarity with our global community,” The Council For Global Equity tweeted
Every day, the list of countries of concern for #LGBTQIrights grows. Domestic situations are devolving quicker than we can anticipate. Let’s be candid: as advocates, this hits hard. Friends, how are you feeling?
— The Council for Global Equality (@Global_Equality) March 22, 2023
The White House also spoke out. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters in a press briefing that the White House has grave concerns over the passing of the law. If the bill “is signed into law and enacted, it would impinge upon universal human rights, jeopardize progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS, deter tourism and investment in Uganda, and damage Uganda’s international reputation,” said Jean-Pierre. “The bill is one of the most extreme anti LGBTQI+ laws in the world,” she said, adding “human rights are universal – no one should be attacked, imprisoned or killed simply because of who they are or who they love.”
With this, Alejandra Caraballo, a civil rights attorney and clinical instructor at the Harvard Law School Cyberlaw Clinic, condemned the bill as an extension of the Alliance Defending Freedom’s anti-LGBTQ legislative agenda in the US on Twitter.
The Alliance Defending Freedom, the group behind nearly all anti LGBTQ legislation and litigation in the US, and their allies have helped to push “Kill the Gays” bills like this in Africa. Make no mistake. This is their end goal.https://t.co/kDke96vnmI pic.twitter.com/qAEdzGFn8L
— Alejandra Caraballo (@Esqueer_) March 22, 2023