This legislation, officially known as the “Anti-homosexuality law 2023”has yet to be signed into law by President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled the country with an iron fist since 1986.
The law, criticized by the UN and the United States, was approved on March 21 in Parliament in a hectic session with numerous amendments, with which neither legislators nor analysts know exactly its content.
But, according to LGBT+ rights defenders, if Museveni ratifies the law, anyone who participates in acts homosexual he can be sentenced to life in prison. Repeat offenders face the death penalty.
Although this capital sentence has not been applied in Uganda for years, this is a sad consolation for members of the LGBT+ community like Alex, whose name has been changed for security reasons.
Online messaging groups offer support and solidarity, but are also a constant reminder of the dangers people are exposed to homosexual in Uganda.
Even before the law was voted, many opted for exile to neighboring Kenya, South Africa, Europe or North America.
“I would love to leave Uganda,” Alex, who shares a small apartment on the outskirts of Kampala with three people, with the blinds drawn to keep out prying eyes, tells AFP.
“I don’t know if I’m sure and I don’t deserve to die for being who I want to be“, he defends.
“On the other hand, I have the impression that we must fight for our freedom (…) If we don’t do it, who will fight for our freedom?”, he reflects.
– “To much fear” –
A anti-homosexuality law enacted in 2014 led Western countries to cut off their international aid. The Ugandan Constitutional Court eventually annulled the text due to a technical error in the vote.
Museveni must now mediate between the support of the population for this law and the risks of international reprisals.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, denounced a law “probably among the worst of its kind in the world.” The United States threatened “repercussions,” especially economic ones.
In recent months, religious and political leaders have shared unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about the homosexualaccused among other reasons of attacking children at the request of opaque international forces.
“Ugandans have become radicalized, the situation is worse” than in 2014, Franck Mugisha, executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda, a women’s rights organization, told AFP. homosexualwhose activities were suspended by the authorities last year.
“Before, it was disadvantaged Ugandans who felt most in danger and wanted to flee. Now even the wealthy are in the crosshairs,” says Mugisha.
But the countries of the region, such as Kenya or Tanzania, also repress the rights of homosexual. And exile to the West is not easy, even for those who have money to pay for the trip.
Philemon, a bar owner in Kampala, tried to leave the country to join his partner in Denmark, but his visa was refused twice.
The relationship suffers from the situation. His partner visits him every six months, but now he is “too afraid to come to Uganda,” the 25-year-old tells AFP.
– “I deserve to be happy” –
“The law is very ambiguous,” says John, a 26-year-old queer technician, who he believes opens the way for “blackmail.”
The legislation also endangers the friends and family of LGBT+ Ugandans, because it forces them to report if they suspect someone with “intent to commit homosexual offence.” Failing to do so can result in a six-month prison sentence.
“My mother knows that I am gay. She has my back and cares about me, but if this becomes law, I know she’s just going to abandon me,” Alex says crying.
Like many members of the LGBT+ community, the young man tries to leave the country, but has few options.
“I was starting to meet new people and get familiar with my sexuality and then all this happened,” he laments.. “Do I not deserve to be happy?”
