Uganda's anti-gay law: how rtricted are LGBTQ rights Ai? | Rters

Contents:

• UGANDA ANTI-HOMOSEXUALY BILL: LIFE PRISON FOR SAYG YOU'RE GAY
• UGANDA'S ANTI-GAY LAW: HOW RTRICTED ARE LGBTQ RIGHTS AI?
• UGANDA’S ANTI-GAY LAWS ARE A NEW APARTHEID. I URGE PRINT MEVENI TO THK AGA
• LGBT RIGHTS AI: WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?
• IS IT NOW LEGAL TO BE GAY UGANDA?
• UGANDAN PRINT SIGNS ANTI-GAY LAW THAT INCLUS DEATH PENALTY AS A PUNISHMENT
• A NEW ANTI-GAY LAW UGANDA LLS FOR LIFE PRISON FOR THOSE WHO ARE NVICTED
• UGANDA'S LGBTQ MUNY IS ' SHOCK' OVER NEW MEASURE, GAY ACTIVIST SAYS
• ‘WE WILL HUNT YOU’: UGANDANS FLEE AHEAD OF HARSH ANTI-GAY LAW
• NO, UGANDA IS NOT MAKG ILLEGAL TO BE GAY (AGA)
• GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN KAMPALA, UGANDA

UGANDA ANTI-HOMOSEXUALY BILL: LIFE PRISON FOR SAYG YOU'RE GAY

Homosexual acts are already illegal Uganda but this bill troduc many new crimal well as makg merely intifyg as gay illegal for the first time, iends, fay and members of the muny would have a duty to report dividuals same-sex relatnships to the was passed wh wispread support Uganda's parliament on Tuday eveng. The fal versn has yet to be officially published but elements discsed parliament clu: A person who is nvicted of groomg or traffickg children for purpos of engagg them homosexual activi fac life prisonIndividuals or stutns which support or fund LGBT rights' activi or anisatns, or publish, broadst and distribute pro-gay media material and lerature, also face prosecutn and imprisonmentMedia groups, journalists and publishers face prosecutn and imprisonment for publishg, broadstg, distributn of any ntent that advot for gay rights or "promot homosexualy"Death penalty for what is scribed as "aggravated homosexualy", that is sexual abe of a child, a person wh disabily or vulnerable people, or s where a victim of homosexual asslt is fected wh a life-long illnsProperty owners also face risk of beg jailed if their premis are ed as a "brothel" for homosexual acts or any other sexual mori rights' activiA small group of Ugandan MPs on a mtee sctisg the bill disagreed wh s premise.

They argue the offenc seeks to crimalise are already vered the untry's Penal Co 2014, Uganda's nstutnal urt nullified another act which had toughened laws agast the LGBT clud makg illegal to promote and fund LGBT groups and activi, as well as reeratg that homosexual acts should be punished by life imprisonment, and was wily nmned by Wtern urt led that the legislatn be revoked bee had been passed by parliament whout the required quom.

UGANDA'S ANTI-GAY LAW: HOW RTRICTED ARE LGBTQ RIGHTS AI?

Supporters of the new law say is need to punish a broar array of LGBTQ activi, which they say threaten tradnal valu the nservative and relig East Ain addn to same-sex terurse, the law bans promotg and abettg homosexualy as well as nspiracy to engage homosexualy.

Meveni has not mented on the current proposal but he has long opposed LGBTQ rights and signed an anti-LGBTQ law 2013 that Wtern untri nmned before a domtic urt stck down on procral recent weeks, Uganda thori have cracked down on LGBTQ people after relig lears and policians alleged stunts were beg reced to homosexualy month, thori arrted a sendary school teacher the eastern district of Jja over accatns of "groomg of young girls to unnatural sex practic" was subsequently charged wh gross cency and is prison awag police said on Monday they had arrted six people acced of nng a work that was "actively volved the groomg of young boys to acts of sodomy".

UGANDA’S ANTI-GAY LAWS ARE A NEW APARTHEID. I URGE PRINT MEVENI TO THK AGA

Qu Karala, 29, a member of the lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, tersex and queer (LGBTQ) muny and a sgle mother of one pos for a picture wh rabow lours at the offic of Rella Women's Empowerment Program, for LGBTQ rights advocy, after a Rters terview Kulambiro suburb of Kampala, Uganda April 4, 2023.... Apartheid tried to rob black South Ains of their humany and their digny bee of the lour of their sk; homophobia tri to rob people of their humany and their digny bee of who they I married 2015, the South Ain Anglin church, which I had grown up, revoked my licence to officiate as a prit. We gui them and keep close ntact at all phas-takg special re of each and every gut at all tim as their nfintial and tsted travel is safe, as I mentned earlier, as long as the culture is rpected and there is no public showg of There is a spl the queer muny, where some say they refe to vis and spend their money homophobic plac, where others feel is important to vis those plac and be visible to change hearts and mds.

LGBT RIGHTS AI: WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?

A member of the Lbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenr (LGBT) seen reactg after Kenya's High Court led to uphold the Brish-era penal that crimalis gay sex (Photo: 24 May 2019)In the latt sign of risg homophobia different Ain untri, a Kenyan opposn MP is leadg a mpaign for parliament to further crimalise the untry's small LGBTQ Peter Kaluma's move after neighbourg Uganda adopted a tough new anti-gay law, rejectg threats by US Print Joe Bin to impose sanctns and travel rtrictns on "anyone volved ser human rights ab" I met Mr Kaluma - a member of veteran Kenyan opposn polician Raila Odga's Orange Democratic Movement - he was stg behd his sk at his office the pal Nairobi, proof-readg and makg rrectns to a bill that he tends to table parliament soon. "We want to prohib everythg to do wh homosexualy, " Mr Kaluma tells me, addg that his bill will be much broar than the legislatn passed by Uganda's parliament and approved by Print Yoweri Meveni Ugandan law is regard as one of the harsht anti-LGBTQ laws the propos life imprisonment for anyone nvicted of homosexualy, and the ath penalty for so-lled aggravated s, which clu havg gay sex wh someone below the age of 18 or where someone be fected wh a life-long illns such as the other si of the ntent, MPs Ghana earlier this month unanimoly voted favour of amendments to the untry's anti-gay legislatn, phg closer to beg enacted to law. Gay paras, drag shows, wearg the lours, the flags, the emblems of the LGBTQ group, " Mr Kaluma sex is already illegal Kenya, but the ernment n also be tolerant of gay people - for example, has given asylum to people om other Ain untri, cludg Uganda, who faced persecutn their home untri bee of their sexual Kaluma tells me he wants their asylum to be revoked, and for them to leave a small, hidn church set up to offer fort and support to LGBTQ people central Nairobi, the female pastor says Mr Kaluma's bill is g "a lot of panic, anxiety, fear".

It fuels some kd of vlence that now people are planng but holdg back on, " she tells Kenyans believe that gay rights are agast their relign - whether Christian or MlimAlthough the meetg Uganda was billed as an attempt to protect the "sovereignty" of Ain stat, was actually -sponsored by an Amerin Christian right-wg anisatn, Fay Watch Internatnal (FWI) Kapya Kaoma, a Zambian prit the Anglin Church and an amic at Boston Universy the US, says Ain untri are beg targeted by FWI and siar US-based anisatns, and that the impact of s lobbyg has been "horrible and humane" parts of Ai, fuellg what he lls "ant homophobia".

"It is one thg to say: 'I don't agree wh you beg gay', but we didn't have the ant one, where policians now are sayg: 'You go to jail for life, you go to jail for talkg about beg gay, you go to jail bee you're livg wh your fellow woman', " Dr Kaoma 's Mormon founr Sharon Slater ni that the group promot anti-gay laws Ai. "Fay Watch oppos legislatn that penalis a person for havg sexual attractns or for how they intify, " she says an emailed rponse to the Slater addrsed Ain lawmakers, clerics and mpaigners at their fom Uganda's laki cy of Entebbe March, and later appeared a group photo wh Print Meveni at his official more than 20 years, Mrs Slater has lobbied ernments on what she lls "fay valu" and has ma her missn to mpaign agast children and young people beg given Comprehensive Sexualy Edutn (CSE), a curriculum-based sex tn programme champned by the Uned Natns and other c a Uned Natns Populatn Fund (UNFPA) manual for out-of-school youths east and southern Ai, sayg promot homosexualy and is too explic. "It sensis children to sex, " she Slater also quot om the manual, cludg l which say that facilators of lsons should have "a ntral, acceptg attu towards homosexualy" I ntact Maria Bakaroudis, UNFPA's CSE specialist for east and southern Ai, for ment, she says she is not keen to talk about the "opposn", as she refers to adds that the manual is only a guile, and each untry n tailor to su their Bakaroudis fends CSE, sayg provis "life-savg rmatn" to curb high rat of untend pregnanci, HIV, and sexually transmted 's LGBTQ muny has been wagg a long-nng mpaign to mand equal rightsAlthough Mr Kaluma attend the meetg Uganda -sponsored by FWI, he ni workg wh the group on his bill, which he says will propose a ban on teachg CSE sayg is part of the "LGBTQ agenda".

IS IT NOW LEGAL TO BE GAY UGANDA?

The Ugandan law is regard as one of the harsht anti-LGBTQ laws the propos life imprisonment for anyone nvicted of homosexualy, and the ath penalty for so-lled aggravated s, which clu havg gay sex wh someone below the age of 18 or where someone be fected wh a life-long illns such as the other si of the ntent, MPs Ghana earlier this month unanimoly voted favour of amendments to the untry's anti-gay legislatn, phg closer to beg enacted to law. Image source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Many Kenyans believe that gay rights are agast their relign - whether Christian or MlimAlthough the meetg Uganda was billed as an attempt to protect the "sovereignty" of Ain stat, was actually -sponsored by an Amerin Christian right-wg anisatn, Fay Watch Internatnal (FWI) Kapya Kaoma, a Zambian prit the Anglin Church and an amic at Boston Universy the US, says Ain untri are beg targeted by FWI and siar US-based anisatns, and that the impact of s lobbyg has been "horrible and humane" parts of Ai, fuellg what he lls "ant homophobia".

The AHA clus the ath sentence for some nsensual same-sex acts, prohibs anizatns om “normalizg” sexual diversy through clive programmg and requir everyone Uganda, cludg health workers, to report people who might be lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr or queer (LGBTQ) to the police.

UGANDAN PRINT SIGNS ANTI-GAY LAW THAT INCLUS DEATH PENALTY AS A PUNISHMENT

While not specific to health, asserted that the AHA was “misterpreted” by velopment partners, that only tend to prevent the “open promotn of homosexualy, pecially among children and vulnerable groups”; that “no activi of dividuals, groups, pani or anizatns” would be affected by the AHA; and that the ernment was mted to the provisn of servic to all Uganda, whout discrimatn. • June 10: Followg the arrt of two gay men his area, the client, who is a [key populatns] ordator at a ernment health facily, was threatened wh vlence by their lleagu at work and people the muny, who said he was rponsible for the actns of the two who had been arrted bee he was always the one supportg them and givg them treatment.

" World lears who nmned the Anti-Homosexualy Act, and some s whheld or redirected aid while asssg the law's impact, did the right thg -- but failg to nmn other ser human rights ab by Meveni's regime, such as torture by the police and ary, the killgs of unarmed prottors 2009 and 2011, and ongog threats to civil society, they leave the imprsn of prrizg the rights of LGBTI people over other ncerns.

Certaly, there are plenty of other ntenrs for the moniker: Nigeria, spe havg passed an equally egreg anti-gay law that crimaliz acts such as "the public show of same-sex amoro relatnship directly or directly" has received only a actn of the ternatnal nmnatn directed at Uganda. In Rsia, too, gays mt ntend wh btaly om vigilante groups while fightg legislatn that prohibs makg posive statements about homosexualy -- legislatn that is spillg over to nearby untri, such as Kyrgyzstan, which has proposed even harsher laws agast so-lled gay "propaganda.

A NEW ANTI-GAY LAW UGANDA LLS FOR LIFE PRISON FOR THOSE WHO ARE NVICTED

Succsfully challengg homophobia and transphobia, Uganda and beyond, requir an endurg mment to workg wh lol civil society activists to challenge myriad anti-LGBTI polici -- not simply fleetg attentn to a one-off e célèbre such as featg Uganda's Anti-Homosexualy Act. 'Uganda's Print Yoweri Meveni has signed one of the world's tought anti-LGBTQ laws, cludg the ath penalty for "aggravated homosexualy, " fiance of Wtern nmnatns and potential sanctns om aid relatns were already illegal Uganda, as more than 30 Ain untri, but the new law go much impos pal punishment for some behavur, cludg transmtg a termal illns like HIV/AIDS through gay sex, and stipulat a 20-year sentence for "promotg" homosexualy.

UGANDA'S LGBTQ MUNY IS ' SHOCK' OVER NEW MEASURE, GAY ACTIVIST SAYS

However, Alex Kofi Donkor, founr of LGBT+ Rights Ghana, says what happened Uganda is 'barbaric, ' and that people should not be crimalized for their and other activists have vowed to lnch a legal challenge to the law, which Meveni was shown signg at his sk wh a goln pen a photo tweeted by Uganda's 78-year-old lear has lled homosexualy a "viatn om normal" and urged lawmakers to rist "imperialist" prsure. Print's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), s flagship HIV/AIDS activists Uganda ' shock' over anti-gay legislatn, fearg mass arrtsAnti-LGBTQ bill passed Uganda ed as 'low-hangg u' to distract public, rearcher saysIn a jot statement on Monday, PEPFAR, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the Jot Uned Natns Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) said the law put Uganda's fight agast HIV/AIDS " grave jeopardy. Anyone who tri to have same-sex relatns uld be liable for up to a law also cre the ath penalty for anyone nvicted of “aggravated homosexualy, ” a term fed as acts of same-sex relatns wh children or disabled people, those rried out unr threat or while someone is unnsc.

Lawmakers did add language makg clear that anyone spected of beg a homosexual would not be punished unls they engaged same-sex rt of the law remaed the same, cludg mandatg a prison term of up to 20 years for anyone who promot homosexualy, a vague provisn that activists fear uld be ed to target agenci supportg L.

‘WE WILL HUNT YOU’: UGANDANS FLEE AHEAD OF HARSH ANTI-GAY LAW

The law, which also enurag the public to report any spected acts of homosexualy, ntas ambiguo language that mak difficult to who allows premis to be ed for same-sex relatns uld face up to seven years prison, and a person nvicted of homosexualy uld be sent for “rehabilatn. Policians first drew up a siar measure 2009, but when was signed to law 2014, the urt stck down on procral over the past few years, polil lears, along wh domtic and ternatnal relig anizatns, began rampg up anti-gay mpaigns and warng about what they ll a threat to fay valu.

"I will ask them to take me to vote for that, to kick them out, kick LGBT people out of Kenya pletely, " he after Uganda enacted one of the most dranian anti-LGBT laws on Earth, Kenya uld be poised to follow su wh a siarly formulated bill that punish gay sex wh prison or even ath some s, acrdg to a draft of the law and two lawmakers backg parliament. Some regnal lawmakers ame the issue as an almost existential battle to save Ain valu and sovereignty, which they say have been battered by Wtern prsure to pulate on gay draft of Kenya's Fay Protectn Bill, seen by Rters, mirrors many aspects of the Ugandan law, which was signed by Print Yoweri Meveni at the end of May to the dismay of the LGBT muny, human rights mpaigners and Wtern sex is punishable by at least 10 years jail unr the proposed Kenyan law, while "aggravated homosexualy", which clus gay sex wh a mor or disabled person or when a termal disease is passed on, brgs the ath penalty. "We nnot travel the road of women marryg their fellow women and men marryg their fellow men, " he said at the proposed Kenyan law reflects a signifint gree of agreement and ordatn on anti-gay polici between lawmakers across the regn, acrdg to the draft of the bill as well as Rters terviews wh the Kenyan MPs and activists.

"The Uned Stat  advanc efforts around the globe to protect LGBTQI+ persons om vlence  and abe, crimalizatn, discrimatn, and stigma, and to empower lol  LGBTQI+  movements and  persons, " the spokperson said rponse to qutns about this REIGNS AT NAIROBI PRIDEThe Kenyan bill would toughen up a lonial-era statute unr which gay sex was already illegal, though the olr, ls tailed law was rarely proposed law would signal the ath knell for Kenya's stat as a place of relative refuge for gay people East Ai as the only untry the regn to host refuge fleeg persecutn bee they are draft bill stipulat that no one should be granted asylum on grounds of persecutn lked to sexual orientatn. Anticipatn of the new legislatn, and the anti-gay rhetoric polics and the media om public figur such as Ali and Kaluma that has acpanied , is already stg a chill over the LGBT muny, acrdg to anizers of the Pri event Nairobi this Kacha, one of the anizers, said that unlike prev years the lotn was not disclosed advance out of fear that anti-gay activists would target the event. "Kenya as a untry don't feel like home anymore, " she advot and opponents of the Fay Protectn Bill say has a good chance of beg law, boosted by the enactment of the Ugandan law and well-anized and fanced anti-LGBT polil Dias, executive director of the Gay and Lbian Coaln of Kenya, also ced last year's electn of Ruto.

NO, UGANDA IS NOT MAKG ILLEGAL TO BE GAY (AGA)

KAMPALA, Uganda — Members of Uganda’s LGBTQ muny are shock and fear beg arrted after Parliament passed a measure that would make a crime to intify as gay and impose tough sentenc that clu the ath penalty certa s, an activist said “Anti-Homosexualy Bill, 2023” was passed wh a near-unanimo majory by lawmakers  the east Ain untry, where anti-gay sentiment ns ep.

Ronald Kabuubi / APThe legislatn will next be sent to Print Yoweri Meveni, who has repeatedly nounced homosexualy, to be signed to Mugisha, one of a few Ugandans who live openly as gay, told Rters he was sred the measure would trigger “mass arrts of lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer persons and mob vlence toward LGBTQ muni. There’s gog to be a lot of trma and s of mental health that will lead to a lot of suici, ” he relatns were already illegal Uganda, but supporters of the new law say is need to punish a broar array of LGBTQ activi, which they say threaten tradnal valu the nservative and relig East Ain measure clus steep sentenc that clu ath for “aggravated homosexualy” and life prison for same-sex relatns.

GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN KAMPALA, UGANDA

Mbajjwe Nimiro Wilson, 24, a gay man om Uganda, a safe hoe Otieno for The New York TimIn a spartan safehoe wh flimsy curtas and no furnure northwt of the Kenyan pal, Nairobi, people om neighborg Uganda clung to the few valuabl they uld snatch while fleeg harsh new legislatn targetg them back home.

A lbian uple clenched the one smartphone that held photos om happier days, gog on dat and dancg began leavg after Uganda’s Parliament passed a sweepg anti-gay bill late March that threatens punishment as severe as ath for some perceived offens, and lls for life prison for anyone engagg same-sex relatns.

In terviews, more than a dozen gay Ugandans who had fled to Kenya scribed how their iends, fay and neighbors turned agast them over the past year, as renewed anti-gay sentiment swept over the nservative Parliament, lawmakers promoted the basels allegatn that there was a plot to promote homosexualy schools.