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

Contents:

• UGANDA PASSED ONE OF THE WORLD’S HARSHT ANTI-GAY LAWS. LGBTQ PEOPLE SCRIBE LIVG THERE AS ‘HELL’
• UGANDA'S ANTI-GAY LAW: HOW RTRICTED ARE LGBTQ RIGHTS AI?
• HOMOSEXUALY: THE UNTRI WHERE IS ILLEGAL TO BE GAY
• LGBT RIGHTS AI: WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?
• WHERE IS IT ILLEGAL TO BE GAY AI?
• THE NEW ANTI-GAY BILL PROPOSED GHANA WILL DTROY LIV
• MAPPG ANTI-GAY LAWS AI
• KENYA FILM BOARD BANS GAY DOCUMENTARY, LLG "AN AFONT"
• AIN GAYS AND LBIANS BAT BIAS

UGANDA PASSED ONE OF THE WORLD’S HARSHT ANTI-GAY LAWS. LGBTQ PEOPLE SCRIBE LIVG THERE AS ‘HELL’

The act outlaws gay marriage Uganda, punish same-sex acts wh life imprisonment, and lls for the ath penalty for “aggravated homosexualy” – which clus sex wh a mor or otherwise vulnerable person, havg sex while HIV posive and ct. In recent weeks, disturbg vios have surfaced showg mountg hostily towards lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and tersex dividuals Uganda sce the retroductn of the Anti-Homosexualy Bill.

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

On Meveni’s remendatn, the law prcrib rehabilatn for nvicted homosexuals to change their sexual orientatn, even though scientists say so-lled nversn therapy is harmful and effective. The Church of Uganda openly fied the Archbishop of Canterbury, Jt Welby, and supported the Anti-Homosexualy Act, accg the global head of the Anglin Church of misterpretg the Bible. The Anti-Homosexualy Act of 2023 is a revival of a prev versn nicknamed the “Kill the Gays” Bill that Uganda’s parliament passed 2014 but which was blocked urt on a technily.

Image source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Kamala Harris has been a vol supporter of LGBTQ rightsUS Vice-Print Kamala Harris who is on a tour of three Ain untri - Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia - has drawn cricism over her support for LGBTQ Ghana, a speech llg for "all people be treated equally" she appeared to cricise a bill before the untry's parliament which crimalis advocy for gay rights and propos jail terms for those that intify as lbian, gay, bisexual, or untry's Speaker Alban Bagb later lled her remarks "unmocratic" and urged lawmakers not to be "timidated by any person" Tanzania, a former mister spoke agast US support for LGBTQ rights ahead of the vis and Zambia some opposn policians have threatened to hold is homosexualy still outlawed? In the same month, the high urt Barbados stck out laws that crimalised gay July last year, the urts Antigua and Barbuda clared a law crimalisg same-sex acts between nsentg adults Febary 2021, Angola's Print Joao Louren signed to law a revised penal to allow same-sex relatnships and ban discrimatn on the basis of sexual 2020, Gabon reversed a law that had crimalised homosexualy and ma gay sex punishable wh six months prison and a large fe.

HOMOSEXUALY: THE UNTRI WHERE IS ILLEGAL TO BE GAY

Mozambique and the Seychell have also scrapped anti-homosexualy laws recent there are untri where existg laws outlawg homosexualy have been tightened, cludg Nigeria and 's parliament recently passed a law to crack down on homosexual activi, promptg wispread source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Campaign agast LGBTQ rights some Ain untri has tensified recent weeksAnd some untri, efforts to get the laws removed have May 2019, the high urt Kenya upheld laws crimalisg homosexual acts.

And many plac, breakg the laws uld be punishable by long prison of the 53 untri the Commonwealth - a loose associatn of untri most of them former Brish loni - 29 have laws that crimalise homosexualy. Although the origal Brish laws applied only to men, untri that crimalise homosexualy today also have penalti for women who have sex wh Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn (Ilga) monors the progrs of laws relatg to homosexualy around the says the ath penalty is the legally prcribed punishment for same-sex sexual acts Bnei, Iran, Mrania, Sdi Arabia, Yemen and some northern stat of five untri - Afghanistan, Pakistan, Qatar, Somalia, and the Uned Arab Emirat - there is no legal clary and the ath penalty uld be source, AFPImage ptn, An Indian gay rights activist protts agast a urt lg 2013 upholdg a law which crimalis gay repealed the ath penalty for nsensual same-sex sexual acts observers note that the risk of prosecutn some plac is mimal. For example, a 2017 report on Jamai by the UK Home Office said that Jamai was regard as a homophobic society, but that the "thori do not actively seek to prosecute LGBT persons".

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

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.

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".

Image source, Getty ImagIn 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 muny. Gee 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". "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 May.

WHERE IS IT ILLEGAL TO BE GAY AI?

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. Though ls harsh than Uganda's new law, the Promotn of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Fay Valu Bill propos a three-year prison sentence for anyone who intifi as LGBTQ and a 10-year sentence for anyone who promot homosexualy.

THE NEW ANTI-GAY BILL PROPOSED GHANA WILL DTROY LIV

Gay 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 orientatn. 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". "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 says.

The home affairs mister has threatened to shut down NGOs promotg gay rights, while even the print has weighed , statg somewhat bizarrely that "even ws disapprove" of same-sex attu is ditive of wispread social norms, and ed laws, across much of the ntent. This map, provid by the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn (ILGA), shows where homosexual activi or clatns are crimalized, cludg thirty-three Ain untri.

BotswanaAnyone who has "rnal knowledge of any person agast the orr of nature"—a phrase often ed legal s to refer to homosexual activy—n be sentenced to prison for up to seven years.

MAPPG ANTI-GAY LAWS AI

EgyptEgyptian law do not specifilly proscribe nsensual homosexual relatns between adults, but other laws—cludg those banng bchery and prostutn—have been ed to imprison gay men the past.

Members of the South Ain Lbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenr and Intersex (LGBTI) muny chant slogans as they take part the annual Gay Pri Para, as part of the three-day Durban Pri Ftival, Durban, South Ai, on June 24. LiberiaLiberian law f homosexualy—along wh oral sex and sex or sexual touchg between unmarried heterosexual persons—as "viate sexual terurse, " which is classed as a first-gree mismeanour rryg a one-year prison sentence.

Twelve stat northern Nigeria—which is predomantly Mlim—have adopted shariah law, unr which the maximum penalty for homosexual activy between men is ath, and for women is whippg and/or imprisonment. In southern areas ntrolled by Al-Shabab, a strict terpretatn of sharia law is implemented and homosexual sex is punishable by SudanThe world's youngt untry punish what lls "rnal terurse agast the orr of nature" wh a prison sentence of up to 10 years. A gay uple, who wish to rema anonymo, who fled adly persecutn their home untry due to their sexual-orientatn is pictured durg an terview the Kenyan pal, Nairobi, on January 12, 2012.

KENYA FILM BOARD BANS GAY DOCUMENTARY, LLG "AN AFONT"

A group of people om the gay, lbian and transgenr muny South Ai monstrate outsi the Parliament Cape Town agast proposed chang to the nstutn that would repeal a prohibn on discrimatn on the grounds of sexualy, on May 19, 2012. Uganda’s Parliament passed a bill Tuday eveng that will crimalize intifyg as LGBTQ, addg to the discrimatn gay Ugandans face a untry where same-sex acts already rry a sentence of life imprisonment.

” It also outlaws the “promotn of homosexualy” wh a prison sentence of up to 20 years for anyone who advot for LGBTQ rights or provis fancial support to anizatns that do so.

AIN GAYS AND LBIANS BAT BIAS

Law uld be the first to crimalise intifyg as lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer (LGBTQ): Rights WatchUganda’s parliament has passed sweepg antigay legislatn that propos tough new penalti for same-sex relatnships and crimalis anyone intifyg as LGBTQ. While more than 30 Ain untri, cludg Uganda, already ban same-sex relatnships, the new law passed on Tuday appears to be the first to outlaw merely intifyg as lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer (LGBTQ), Human Rights Watch said.

Frank Mugisha, executive director of Sexual Mori Uganda, a leadg gay rights anisatn whose operatns were spend by thori last year, told the AFP news agency earlier this month that he had already been undated wh lls om LGBTQ people over the new bill. Sheila didn’t have to experience all this pa”, and the Natnal Gay and Lbian Human Rights Commissn scribed Lumumba’s ath as “part of a pattern of attacks and vlence agast LGBTIQ+ persons the untry”.

This n easily and clearly be seen untri like Kenya, Uganda or Nigeria, where homophobia, police btaly and polil reprsn e hand hand and together serve to silence margalised and opprsed sectns of society and nsolidate the power of tablished polil forc.