LGBT rights in Uganda
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Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Uganda face challenges, including legal restrictions, active discrimination, state persecution and community stigmatisation, which are not experienced by non-LGBT residents.[3] Same-sex sexual activity is illegal for both males and females in Uganda. Originally criminalised by British colonial laws introduced when Uganda became a British protectorate, these laws have been retained since the country gained its independence.[1]
LGBT rights in Uganda | |
---|---|
Status | Illegal since 1902 (as Protectorate of Uganda)[1] |
Penalty |
|
Gender identity | No |
Military | No |
Discrimination protections | None |
Family rights | |
Recognition of relationships | No recognition of same-sex unions |
Restrictions | Same-sex marriage constitutionally banned since 2005 |
Adoption | No |
Although largely unenforced for decades, attempts to reinvigorate their application has been ongoing since the 1990s. In the decades since, anti-gay rhetoric and efforts to introduce harsher laws have gained momentum, culminating in the Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023, which prescribes up to twenty years in prison for "promotion of homosexuality", life imprisonment for "homosexual acts", and the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality".[4] It came into force in 2023,[upper-alpha 1][2] making Uganda the only Christian-majority country to punish some types of consensual same-sex acts with the death penalty.[5] A similar law had been passed in 2014, but was later struck down as unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court of Uganda on legal technicalities.[6] Same-sex marriage has been constitutionally banned since 2005.[7] Some foreign governments and international organisations have rescinded funding to Uganda due to its extreme anti-LGBT legislation.[8]
LGBT people face severe discrimination in Uganda, actively incited by conservative political, religious and community leaders, with the upsurge in such activism since the 1990s encouraged or influenced by foreign anti-LGBT campaigners.[9][10][11] Violent attacks and harassment against LGBT people are common, often performed by state officials.[12]
Male same-sex sexual activity was present and largely unremarkable in many contexts in precolonial Ugandan society.[13][14][15][16]