Uganda - May 2023

On 26 May, President Yoweri Museveni signed into law the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, a piece of legislation that further restricts the already severely constrained rights of LGBTQIA+ people in Uganda. The law, which was initially passed by Parliament on 21 March 2023 before being returned to legislators by Museveni for reconsideration, was left largely unamended when passed a second time on 2 May 2023. It still criminalises the ‘promotion of homosexuality’, meaning that anyone who advocates for LGBTQIA+ rights or finances such advocacy could face a prison sentence of up to 20 years. It also continues to prescribe the death penalty for the crime of ‘aggravated homosexuality’ (where same-sex relations are carried out in one of a select list of ‘aggravating’ circumstances, e.g. where the offender is a ‘serial offender’ or the victim is under 18). However, on the recommendation of Museveni, the law no longer criminalises identifying as an LGBTQIA+ person.

Sources: Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023, Ugandan Parliament (1), Human Rights Watch (1), Ugandan Parliament (2), Human Rights Watch (2), Reuters