The enactment of the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2014 caused public uproar across the international community. A number of aid donor states such as Sweden, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands have suspended aid to Uganda, while the World Bank has postponed foreseen loans to the country, in response to its newly introduced legislation. However, President Museveni shunned sharp international criticism and backed the new Act on the ground that, according to scientific evidence, no one is born homosexual. 

The annulment of the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2014 by the country’s Constitutional Court is certainly an encouraging development. Ultimately, however, the Ugandan government is likely to appeal against the ruling before the Supreme Court or even submit a new bill in Parliament in the near future, according to Human Rights Watch. Recently, the Herald has reported that legislative work on anti-homosexuality restarted in September 2014, with two MPs granted leave to prepare a new Bill. The same report estimates support from 254 out of 276 MPs, thereby exceeding the requisite one-third quorum and majority vote in Parliament (for want of which the 2014 Act was declared unconstitutional in August 2014). 

According to November 2014 reports, a new Anti-Homosexuality Bill is currently being drawn up, with a view to being presented before the Parliament by the end of the year. The new proposed Act outlaws the ‘promotion of homosexuality’ and imposes a sentence of imprisonment of up to 7 years. Activists are have expressed deep concerns as to the repressiveness and far-reaching scope of this new prohibition on the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality.

The Ugandan President has referred to gay people as ‘deviants’ and his wife has insinuated that homosexuality is being brought about by Western influence:  ‘You (Westerners) have imposed on us enough of your bad practices, right from guns, and we shall not allow homosexuality in Uganda because the Bible forbids it’. Upon signing the 2014 Act, President Museveni sought to ‘demonstrate Uganda’s independence in the face of Western pressure and provocation’ according to BBC. 

However, many commentators draw attention to the influence of the American evangelical Christian movement on the development of the Anti-Homosexuality Act. Pepe Onziema, transgender activist and programme director of SMUG (see below) in fact filed a law suit against American evangelist Scott Lively in the U.S. due to his perceived role in inciting persecution against homosexuals in Uganda. 

The UK Border Agency Operational Guidance Note Uganda (March 2013) notes that LGBTI persons in Uganda face ‘societal harassment, discrimination, intimidation, and threats to their well-being’ and that ‘the Ugandan authorities do not provide gay men, lesbians and bisexuals or those perceived as such with effective protection’. (3.11.13). The UK Home Office Country Information and Guidance (August 2014) reiterates that homosexual persons face persecution for reasons of their sexual orientation in the country. According to an October 2014 Amnesty International report, mob attacks and harassment have intensified in the country 2014, thereby leaving LGBTI persons exposed to high risks of violence by both state and non-state actors. The same report found that the Anti-Homosexuality Act, along with similarly repressive legislative instruments such as the Public Order Management Act 2013 and the Anti-Pornography Act 2013, has led to human rights abuses and greater targeting of LGBTI populations by non-state actors.

An October 2014 country of origin report by the Organization for Refuge, Asylum and Migration (ORAM) also provides evidence of persecution of LGBTI populations through widespread harassment and discrimination by state and non-state actors.

In October 2010 ‘Rolling Stone’ a Ugandan newspaper published the name, addresses and photos of 100 homosexuals under a yellow banner reading ‘hang them’. David Kato, a high profile campaigner for the rights of the LGBTI community successfully sued the newspaper. However, in January 2011, soon after his court win, David Kato was found murdered. The European Parliament issued this resolution regarding Kato’s murder in February 2011.   

David Kato’s story, along with those of others who face persecution in Uganda due to the sexual orientation and gender identity, has been made into a film ‘Call Me Kuchu’ reviewed here. The film highlights the role of the Evangelical movement in strengthening the homophobic attitudes within the country. 

Despite the above court ruling which prohibited the publication of names and photos of people claimed to be homosexual, a Ugandan newspaper publicly named the country’s ‘200 top homosexuals’ a day after the President signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act. 

The Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law Uganda were active against the Anti-Homosexuality Act and there is a wealth of information available on their website including a press release from SMUG calling for the Ugandan government to be more stringent in monitoring the press as private details of homosexuals, that can put them in grave danger, are still being published.  In May 2011 the Civil Society submitted a statement to the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Uganda’s parliament on 9th May 2011 condemning the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009 as unconstitutional.  The statement includes a list of organisations that make up the Coalition in the introduction to the statement and details of how the Bill violates the constitutionally protected rights to: freedom of speech, religion and conscience, assembly and association. A compilation by the Civil Society is available here in full with details of the Bill and responses to it.