Pride and Prejudice
Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill undermines progress against homophobia
As we observe the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia on 17 May 2023, there seem to be fewer milestones to celebrate when it comes to tolerance of LGBTQI+ communities around the world.
Far too often, LGBTQI+ people are singled out for hate-motivated violence, or even murdered. Many are mistreated and even disowned by their own families. Homophobia is a reality that most live with on a daily basis with several African countries which consider homosexuality a crime. One such country is Uganda, whose parliament passed a watered-down anti-homosexuality bill that originally criminalised people for simply identifying as LGBTQI+.
When it was first approved in March 2023, the proposed legislation outraged human rights defenders. Later on, the bill was returned to parliament after President Yoweri Museveni suggested changes.
The bill, which originally proposed 20 years imprisonment for even identifying as LGBTQ+, was returned to parliament. Museveni asked lawmakers to reconsider and clarify certain aspects of the bill. He said the clause penalising people who identify as gay would have led to the prosecution of people simply for their physical appearance.
Same-sex acts have long been illegal in Uganda as a legacy of colonial rule. The Bill is one of the toughest pieces of anti-gay legislation on the continent. Under the new proposed Bill, homosexual conduct will still be illegal, but identifying as homosexual without conducting in homosexual acts will not be outlawed.
The bill, however, retains its more extreme elements, including the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality,” which includes sex with a minor, having sex while HIV positive and incest.
The bill was passed with an overwhelming majority, with only one MP opposing it. The next step will be for the president to sign it into law. The harmful Bill stands in marked contrast to a positive wave of decriminalization taking place in Africa and across the world, in which harmful punitive colonial legislation is being removed in country after country.
A small win that we can celebrate on International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia is that the controversial bill has been amended after it was widely condemned by international human rights groups, individuals and organisations.
UNAIDS has warned that passing the bill into law would undermine Uganda’s efforts to end AIDS by 2030, by violating fundamental human rights including the right to health and the very right to life.
Speaking out against the Bill, EFF leader Julius Malema rightfully said “We can’t celebrate human rights in South Africa yet there is another part of Africa that is not celebrating human rights.”
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