Is It Now Legal to Be Gay Uganda? | Human Rights Watch

Contents:

• UGANDA ANTI-HOMOSEXUALY BILL: LIFE PRISON FOR SAYG YOU'RE GAY
• UGANDA'S ANTI-GAY LAW: HOW RTRICTED ARE LGBTQ RIGHTS AI?
• 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
• IS IT NOW LEGAL TO BE GAY UGANDA?
• UGANDAN PRINT SIGNS ANTI-GAY LAW THAT INCLUS DEATH PENALTY AS A PUNISHMENT

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

Media ptn, Watch: Cheers and applse as Uganda pass anti-gay billPeople who intify as gay Uganda risk life prison after parliament passed a new bill to crack down on homosexual activi.

People are receivg lls that 'if you don't give me money, I will report that you are gay, '" they bill is one of the tought piec of anti-gay legislatn Ai.

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 bill's backers say they are tryg to protect children but Ms Byagaba said: "Whether you're heterosexual or homosexual, the ernment and parliament should troduce laws, or at least implement existg laws that protect all children - boys, girls om filement.

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

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.

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

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. 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.... * In 2017, Chad crimalised same-sex acts what the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn (ILGA) lled "a worryg example of legal regrsn the regn".

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

KAMPALA, March 21 (Rters) - Uganda's parliament passed a law on Tuday makg a crime to intify as LGBTQ, handg thori broad powers to target gay Ugandans who already face legal discrimatn and mob than 30 Ain untri, cludg Uganda, already ban same-sex relatns.

The new law appears to be the first to outlaw merely intifyg as lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer (LGBTQ), acrdg to rights group Human Rights Watch. 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.

[1/4]Bugiri Municipaly Member of Parliament Asuman Basalirwa, addrs the hoe as he participat the bate of the Anti-Homosexualy bill, which propos tough new penalti for same-sex relatns durg a stg at the Parliament buildgs Kampala, Uganda March 21, 2023.... 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".

IS IT NOW LEGAL TO BE GAY UGANDA?

It lls for the ath penalty for "aggravated homosexualy, " which is fed as same-sex relatns volvg HIV-posive people, children or other vulnerable people. It first gaed ternatnal notoriety 2009 when David Bahati, a member of the Ugandan parliament whose views were heavily fluenced by Amerin evangelils, troduced the now famo “Kill the Gays” bill. Unr the guise of “protectg the tradnal fay, ” the bill advoted for the ath penalty for “aggravated homosexualy” and the imprisonment of anyone “promotg” or failg to report homosexualy.

However, even though the law self fell, the spir lived on, as the bill had enjoyed wi-spread support Uganda, where 93 percent of Ugandans were opposed to homosexualy. For Christian fundamentalists, Uganda—an impoverished untry reverg om years of rptn and vlence—provid a blank nvas to project their missnary zeal and strong homophobia.

Sylvia Tamale observ, “ is not homosexualy that is un-Ain but the laws that crimalized such relatns…what is alien to the ntent is legalized homophobia, exported to Ai by the imperialists where there had been difference to and even tolerance of same-sex relatns.

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

On the heels of Wasswa’s murr, the recent threat of retroducg the “Kill the Gays” bill om member of Parliament (MP) Jam Buturo and other MPs, and the arrts of over one hundred spected homosexuals at an LGBTQ iendly bar, tapulted Uganda back to the ternatnal spotlight, signalg an latn of vlence and reprsn toward the Ugandan LGBTQ muny. Stemmg homophobia Uganda will be difficult; is fully entrenched Ugandan society and polics and is an easy way of unifyg an otherwise ethnilly and polilly divid populatn. This is not about the Wt exportg homosexualy to Ai or a “gay agenda”; is stead about right-wg Christian evangelils om the Wt g homophobia as a tool to tablish a foothold the Ain ntent, and lol Ugandan policians and “men of the cloth” profg om this narrative.