Uganda’s Anti-LGBTQ Bill Sparks Fear and Uncertainty Among LGBTQ Community

Frank Mugisha, the executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) and a prominent gay rights activist, finds himself inundated with desperate pleas for help on a daily basis.

“People want my intervention,” he says, reflecting on the hundreds of messages flooding his inbox. “I get so many WhatsApp messages – ‘I want food’, ‘I can’t work anymore’, ‘People know I’m LGBTQ and I can’t go back’, ‘I’m worried’, ‘I need housing’, ‘People are calling’, ‘I’m being blackmailed’, ‘I’m being trailed’… It’s overwhelming.”

In recent days, these messages have become increasingly desperate as Uganda’s LGBTQ community faces a new wave of hostility and persecution. The Ugandan parliament passed one of the world’s harshest anti-homosexuality bills on March 21, threatening anyone found guilty of same-sex relations with life imprisonment – pending approval from President Yoweri Museveni.

The proposed legislation goes even further, prescribing the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality,” defined as sexual relations with minors or individuals above the age of 75, as well as for repeat offenders. Additionally, activists and journalists advocating for LGBTQ rights could face up to 20 years in prison under the bill. The legislation also mandates friends, family, and neighbors to report suspected LGBTQ individuals to the police, or face a six-month jail term.

The bill’s passage by an overwhelming majority in parliament, where all but two of the 389 politicians present voted in favor of it, has sent shockwaves through Uganda’s LGBTQ community and its allies. Fox Odoi-Oywelowo, one of the dissenting voices in parliament, condemned the legislation, but faced threats and intimidation for his stance.

“There were people who called me to tell me that they will stone me,” Odoi-Oywelowo recounts. “There were those who called me to tell me that they will hang my children.”

Already, anxiety is rampant within Uganda’s LGBTQ community. Members are making plans to flee the country, while others have stopped seeking healthcare for fear of arrest. Some have even been evicted from their homes.

Adrian Jjuuko, the executive director of the Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF) in Kampala, warns that the bill’s passage could lead to an increase in violent assaults against LGBTQ individuals in Uganda, where homophobia is deeply entrenched.

Uganda’s penal code, a remnant of the colonial era, currently criminalizes same-sex relations, but is rarely enforced. However, the looming threat of the new anti-homosexuality bill has reignited fears among the LGBTQ community. SMUG was shut down last August by the state-run Uganda NGO Bureau, and HRAPF was listed as under investigation in a leaked report earlier this year.

The bill’s fate now rests in President Museveni’s hands, as pressure mounts from both domestic supporters and international critics. While Museveni has yet to publicly indicate his stance, he has previously referred to gay people as “deviants,” urging the West to refrain from imposing its ideals on Uganda.

For Frank Mugisha and many others in Uganda’s LGBTQ community, the future remains uncertain. Safety concerns weigh heavily on their minds as they navigate a landscape increasingly hostile to their existence.