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.
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 *
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. 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.
UGANDA'S LGBTQ MUNY IS ' SHOCK' OVER NEW MEASURE, GAY ACTIVIST SAYS
* human rights watch uganda gay *
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.
UGANDA'S ANTI-GAY LAW: HOW RTRICTED ARE LGBTQ RIGHTS AI?
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.