GENEVA (22 March 2023) – UN High Commissner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Wednday said the adoptn Uganda of dranian new legislatn targetg lbian, gay and bisexual people was vastatg and eply disturbg, and lled on Print Yoweri Meveni not to promulgate to law. “The passg of this discrimatory bill – probably among the worst of s kd the world – is a eply troublg velopment,” said the High Commissner.
Contents:
- UGANDA: NEW ANTI-GAY BILL FURTHER THREATENS RIGHTS
- IS IT NOW LEGAL TO BE GAY UGANDA?
- UGANDA'S LGBTQ MUNY IS ' SHOCK' OVER NEW MEASURE, GAY ACTIVIST SAYS
- UGANDA'S ANTI-GAY LAW: HOW RTRICTED ARE LGBTQ RIGHTS AI?
UGANDA: NEW ANTI-GAY BILL FURTHER THREATENS RIGHTS
Once aga, Ugandan lawmakers are lnchg a sthg attack agast sexual mori by proposg a new law that uld make illegal to say that you are gay, lbian, or transgenr. * human rights watch uganda gay *
The bill is a revised and more egreg versn of the 2014 Anti-Homosexualy Act, which rerced existg prison sentenc for same-sex nduct and outlawed the “promotn of homosexualy, ” but was stck down by a urt on procral grounds. Like s precsor, the 2023 Anti-Homosexualy Bill expands on the crimalizatn of same sex acts, cludg broad prohibns on acts such as touchg another person “wh the tentn of mtg the act of homosexualy. But the bill go much further by also crimalizg any person who “holds out as a lbian, gay, transgenr, a queer, or any other sexual or genr inty that is ntrary to the bary tegori of male and female, ” wh a punishment of up to ten years prison.
Uganda’s penal already punish “rnal knowledge agast the orr of nature, ” which is terpreted to mean homosexual relatns, wh a punishment of life prison, although the provisn, a lonial remnant, is rarely enforced. The retroductn of the Anti-Homosexualy Bill follows months of hostile rhetoric agast sexual and genr mori by public figur Uganda, as well as ernment crackdowns on LGBT-rights groups and other human rights groups, ernment crics, and civil society.
IS IT NOW LEGAL TO BE GAY UGANDA?
A versn of Uganda’s "kill the gays" bill will likely bee law, after years of mpaigng. * human rights watch uganda gay *
A January 2023 draft report by the bure intified 26 nonernmental anizatns, cludg SMUG, that acced of “promotg homosexualy” and lurg schoolchildren to homosexualy through “forced recment. Francis Takirwa the puty manr of land forc the Ugandan ary, ed the handover of a renovated muny health facily to ll for excludg gay people om receivg health servic, sayg, “Don’t e our health facili to treat homosexuals. The troductn of the 2023 Anti-Homosexualy Bill is not the first time Parliament has attempted to recrimalize homosexualy sce the 2014 Act was stck down.
Wh five months of the passg of the 2013 Anti-Homosexualy Act LGBT people faced a notable crease arbrary arrts, police abe and extortn, loss of employment, evictns and homelsns, and sr fled the untry. When Uganda's Constutnal Court clared the notor Anti-Homosexualy Act "null and void" on Augt 1, the untry's lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and tersex (LGBTI) muny and human rights activists breathed a llective sigh of relief. The law also banned "aidg and abettg homosexualy" and keepg any home, room, or place "for the purpos of homosexualy, " provisns which led some Ugandan landlords to evict their LGBTI tenants.
Durg the vote on the Anti-Homosexualy Act, Rebec Kadaga, the parliament speaker and one of the bill's biggt cheerlears, flagrantly ignored objectns om the prime mister and another legislator that there was no quom.
UGANDA'S LGBTQ MUNY IS ' SHOCK' OVER NEW MEASURE, GAY ACTIVIST SAYS
* human rights watch uganda gay *
In short, that the urt stck down the Anti-Homosexualy Act on the quom issue was a victory self for the le of law: Parliamentary procre is equently flouted, and lawmakers rarely see any nsequenc. The judge led that Lokodo had the right to shut down the workshop, allegg that participants, simply by talkg about human rights for gay people, were "promotg" or "cg" same-sex acts that were prohibed by Article 145. The judge even suggted that ndom distributn to gay people uld be unlawful -- a cisn that is pecially flammatory given Uganda's high HIV rat and failure recent years to make progrs tacklg the spread of the vis.
" 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.
UGANDA'S ANTI-GAY LAW: HOW RTRICTED ARE LGBTQ RIGHTS AI?
A 2011 BBC documentary sensatnally labeled Uganda "the world's worst place to be gay, " but many LGBTI Ugandans reject that pictn as oversimplifyg a plex lol ntext which activists have managed to hold hard-earned ground the face of hostily.