“Being different shouldn’t be a crime. In Uganda, it’s a life sentence.”
In Uganda, being gay isn’t just misunderstood, it’s illegal. Under Section 145 of the Penal Code Act, any form of “carnal knowledge against the order of nature” is punishable by life imprisonment. But even this colonial-era statute isn’t enough for Uganda’s lawmakers. As of early 2023, Parliament is considering new legislation—the Anti-Homosexuality Bill—that threatens to introduce even more draconian penalties, including the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality.”
This legal framework does more than threaten jail time, it institutionalizes a culture of hate, fear, and sanctioned violence. In Uganda, your very existence can make you a target. And the criminalization of homosexuality doesn’t exist in isolation, it emboldens both state and societal actors. The ripple effect touches every facet of life:
Police abuse: Arbitrary arrests, beatings, and invasive “anal exams” are common under the guise of enforcing the law.
Mob violence: Community lynchings are often incited by homophobic sermons or viral social media “exposés.”
Educational expulsion: Queer students, or those merely suspected, are expelled without proof or due process.
Religious demonization: Churches endorse so-called “corrective” measures; from prayer camps to forced marriages.
Family rejection: Parents disown their children, citing religious doctrine and fear of legal consequences.
And the state? It remains silent—or worse, complicit.
One survivor of police detention recounted being stripped, beaten, and paraded before journalists, his only crime: being suspected of being gay. His story is horrifying but far from unique. In Uganda today, you don’t need to do anything to be persecuted, just existing is enough.
Uganda’s legal hostility to LGBTQ+ people is a colonial legacy. British Victorian laws, imported during colonization, planted the seeds of criminalization. While Britain has since repealed these archaic codes, Uganda has entrenched and, now, seeks to expand them. Ironically, leaders frame these laws as “defending African culture,” ignoring their European origins.
Politicians and religious leaders alike claim that LGBTQ+ rights are a form of Western imperialism—while enforcing Western-authored laws. This contradiction fuels a dangerous cycle: law empowers hate, hate demands law.
As pressure builds for the passage of the new Anti-Homosexuality Bill, the climate in Uganda grows more hostile by the day:
Homes are raided, and queer Ugandans live double lives—one for survival, one for truth.
Social media is weaponized, with users doxxed and outed to online mobs.
Tabloids publish names and photos, with headlines like “Hang Them!” sparking physical attacks.
The impact stretches beyond public humiliation. Schools interrogate and expel students, sometimes subjecting them to medical exams and public shaming. Hospitals turn away patients, and many queer individuals avoid care altogether, fearing arrest or exposure.
International bodies like the United Nations and Human Rights Watch have condemned Uganda’s legal persecution of LGBTQ+ people. Yet, the government portrays such criticism as an attack on its sovereignty—further digging in its heels.
Ironically, much of the anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment is funded by Western evangelical movements. While same-sex marriage is legal in the U.S., American pastors are on the ground in Kampala, spreading anti-gay propaganda.
Uganda stands at a dangerous crossroads. If the Anti-Homosexuality Bill passes, it will mark not just a legal escalation, but a humanitarian crisis. For LGBTQ+ Ugandans, the threat is no longer looming—it’s here.
