German
English
Ukrainian
23
Sep
Sep
Queer Emergency Aid Uganda - LGBTIQ* from Uganda
LSVD⁺ – Queer Diversity Association
WE AID Family
Uganda is considered one of the most dangerous countries for lesbians and gay men. It repeatedly attracts international attention due to threats to tighten existing criminalisation laws. Since 2009, the Hirschfeld-Eddy Foundation, the human rights foundation of the LSVD, has been working with Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), since 2012 with Freedom and Roam Uganda (FARUG) and since 2016 also with the Support Initiative for People with Congenital Disorders Uganda (SIPD).
In May 2023, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni massively tightened the criminalisation of queer people in Uganda. The draft law was passed by parliament in March and then revised again. Since then, the death penalty can be imposed for so-called serious homosexuality. The new law also contains an article prohibiting the ‘promotion of homosexuality’.
Anyone who does not conform to gender norms is at risk: landlords terminate leases, employers dismiss employees – all of this is required by law, as it is considered support for homosexuality. For queer Ugandans, who have built up an amazing infrastructure over the past decades, this is a disaster and life-threatening. The article makes it clear that this law poses a threat to EVERYONE, including heterosexuals. They could be falsely accused of homosexuality at any time, or simply suspected of not denouncing queer people, providing them with medical care, renting them an apartment or giving them a job. This law deprives Ugandans of their constitutional rights and enables arbitrariness and violence against parts of the population. Disinformation campaigns and false information about same-sex love and lifestyles and trans* people dominate the media.
The recently published report by the Strategic Response Team of Uganda's Convening For Equality documented 180 cases of evictions, 159 incidents of discrimination, 176 cases of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by state actors between January and August 2023. 180 cases of evictions, 159 incidents of discrimination, 176 cases of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by state actors, and at least 18 forced anal examinations by the police, which are internationally recognised as torture. (Read more in English).
Activists from FARUG (Freedom and Roam Uganda) talk about the consequences of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in the English article: Holy hatred: The Ugandan Cleanse - A talk with Ugandan LBQ+ activists by Tash Dowell
[...]
