GATE has launched an online campaign to call attention to the desperate human rights situations faced by trans, gender diverse, and wider LGBTI communities globally. Join our #StopHate campaign for Trans Day of Visibility on Instagram and Facebook to demand a safer environment, both physically and online, for trans and gender diverse communities across the globe, and raise your voices to call on President Yoweri Museveni NOT to sign the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill into law.
ILGA World and GATE join individuals, governments, and institutions worldwide in condemning, in the most unequivocal terms, the passing of the ‘Anti-Homosexuality Bill’ in Uganda. We call on H. E. President Yoweri Museveni NOT to sign it into law.
This Bill is an affront to the principle of equality enshrined in the Constitution of Uganda, as it doubles down on the criminalization of some of its own citizens. Moreover, it ignores the country’s duty to “reinforce mutual respect and tolerance” – an obligation under the African Charter of Human and People’s Rights, which Uganda ratified almost forty years ago.
The Bill – an iteration of a similar provision that was struck down in 2014 on procedural grounds – goes directly against the principles of “mutual respect and tolerance”. It proposes the death penalty for the offense of ‘aggravated homosexuality’, life imprisonment for the ‘offense of homosexuality’, and up to 20 years in jail for ‘promoting’ homosexuality. It even includes a duty to report people who are suspected of engaging in consensual same-sex sexual acts, with failure to do so punishable by up to 6 months in prison.
Uganda is already among the 32 UN member States in Africa that criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations between adults. This bill seeks to make these provisions even harsher. As Pan Africa ILGA points out, “the increasing criminalization of LGBT people in Africa is disturbing”, particularly when countries from all regions of the world, from the Caribbean to Asia, have gone in the opposite direction in recent years and repealed such oppressive colonial-era laws.
If this bill were to become law, its consequences would be horrific – and not just for LGBT people, but for every citizen of Uganda. By punishing those who fail to report others who may be suspected of engaging in consensual same-sex sexual acts, this Bill would completely undermine every citizen’s right to privacy, potentially exposing anyone – whether LGBT or not – to blackmail or threats. It would deny people access to basic social services like shelter, healthcare, or education because every service provider would have a legal duty to report gender and sexual minorities.
Moreover, this Bill would severely impact the progress that Uganda has made in its response to HIV and AIDS. There is insurmountable evidence that criminalizing laws drives communities away from life-saving services. Under this Bill, efforts to reach key populations would become illegal, undermining the effectiveness of health workers’ interventions for the population at large. As UNAIDS pointed out, “By undermining public health, this law will be bad for everyone.”
From the United Nations and countries and international institutions worldwide, this harmful Bill has been unequivocally condemned. Politicians in Uganda have long tried to present ‘homosexuality’ as contrary to African values. But African values include equality, non-discrimination, mutual respect, and tolerance: all values that the ‘Anti-Homosexuality Bill’ would blatantly reject, despite them being enshrined in the African Charter of Human and People’s Rights and in the daily lives of Ugandan citizens.
This Bill would have catastrophic consequences: we call on President Yoweri Museveni NOT to endorse this bill, and we call on politicians in Uganda to refrain from fuelling hate against sexual and gender minorities. We will continue to remain in solidarity with our LGBT communities in the country and across the world.
Notes for editors
ILGA World – the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association – is a worldwide federation of more than 1,800 organizations from over 160 countries and territories campaigning for the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people. https://ilga.org
GATE – Global Action for Trans Equality is an international advocacy organization campaigning globally for trans, gender diverse and intersex equality. https://gate.ngo
Media contacts
Daniele Paletta – Communications Manager, ILGA World
media@ilga.org; +39 328 6811864; time zone: Central European Time
Naomhán O’Connor – Communications Manager, GATE
noconnor@gate.ngo; time zone: Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)