Homosexuality in Uganda

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Geographical location of Uganda

Homosexuality is in Uganda taboo in much of the local society, homosexual acts are illegal in Uganda.

illegality

Homosexual acts are illegal in Uganda under Sections 145 and 148 of the 1950 Criminal Code. Until the Penal Code Amendment Act 2000 was reformed , only homosexual acts between men were criminal offenses. Since 2000 homosexual acts among women are also a criminal offense.

Recognition of same-sex couples

On September 29, 2005, President Yoweri Museveni signed a law expressly forbidding same-sex marriages in the country. In connection with this draft law in Uganda, the government had strongly encouraged homophobia in the population in the media and through statements by various government politicians.

Social situation

Because of their illegality, LGBT people are pushed into the social underground. Ugandan Radio Simba was fined $ 1,000 and publicly apologized by the state in 2004 after starring homosexual people on a live talk show.

In August 2006 , the Ugandan tabloid Red Pepper outed 50 people who were exposed to various forms of hostility.

In October 2010 a Ugandan magazine and its editor Giles Muhame called for the murder of homosexual people in the country. David Kato , pictured on the front page, was murdered shortly after a successful trial against the newspaper.

In August 2012 the first Gay Pride in Uganda took place in Entebbe .

Bombastic , Uganda's first gay and lesbian magazine , was published in February 2015 . With a circulation of 15,000 it was distributed free of charge. It could also be downloaded online. An initial reaction from the political side warned of possible arrests of the Bombastic makers.

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Cancellation of Gay Pride 2016 due to threats of violence
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Political situation

The situation of gay men and lesbian women in Uganda has been very dramatic since around 2005. According to §145a of the Ugandan Penal Code, sexual acts that “offend nature” can be punished with a fine or up to 14 years imprisonment. This section is often used to intimidate, persecute and imprison homosexual men. Lesbian women are also increasingly exposed to persecution. According to information from Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), there were eight cases in 2009 that were tried in court on the basis of this paragraph. In 2009, media campaigns were also repeatedly started that incite against homosexuals and carry out forced outings. Such campaigns are often supported by religious leaders or politicians.

A new bill by the Ugandan government from 2009 to 2011 (?) Provides that homosexual acts are to be imprisoned for life. Aid or preferential treatment should be punished with seven years. The same sentence should apply to anyone who rents an apartment or a house to homosexuals. People with religious, political, economic or social influence who do not report relevant violations of the law to the authorities would face three years in prison.

Homosexuals may even face the death penalty if the bill is implemented. Relatives and friends would face seven years in prison if they do not denounce homosexuals. In addition, landlords would have to fear imprisonment if they were to rent housing to homosexual people. In addition, according to the legislature's ideas, homosexuals who are sick with AIDS should not receive any medical treatment. Human rights or other organizations that campaign for the rights of lesbians and gays should be banned.

The draft law sparked international protests by governments and human rights organizations in 2009. The UN in Geneva strongly condemns Uganda's request. Various countries such as Germany, Sweden and Norway considered in 2009 to cancel Uganda's development aid, and an exclusion from the Commonwealth was called for. In the USA, the elitist fundamentalist network The Family and several politicians associated with it came under fire because both the initiator of the law, David Bahati, and the Ugandan President Museveni are considered central members of The Family in Africa. Despite the threats in their own country, a conference was held on February 14th entitled “Standing on the side of Love. Reimagining Saint Valentine's day “in Kampala, Uganda, which campaigned for the decriminalization of homosexuality in Uganda. The conference was organized by members of the IDAHO committee.

The human rights activist Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera , founder of Freedom and Roam Uganda (FARUG), an organization that campaigns for homosexual rights in Uganda, received the Martin Ennals Award in 2011 . The human rights activist Frank Mugisha , founder of the organization Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), was honored with the Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize and the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in the same year .

Uganda 2009 Anti-Homosexuality Bill

Protests against the law in New York City

In October 2009, the Ugandan MP David Bahati , a member of the evangelical organization The Family , introduced a law into parliament called the Uganda 2009 Anti-Homosexuality Bill , which would criminalize entering into or celebrating same-sex relationships. A life sentence for homosexuals and the introduction of prison sentences for homosexuals with an HIV infection are planned. According to this bill, people, companies, media and organizations who campaign for LGBT rights should also be punished. The requirement for the death penalty has been removed from the bill. The law was initiated in the background by US citizens like Scott Lively , Caleb Lee Brundidge and Don Schmierer, who held talks with David Bahati and several other government officials at a conference in Uganda. Human rights organizations and politicians from several countries have protested sharply against a planned tightening of gay laws in Uganda. US Congressmen and the French State Department have urged Uganda not to implement the proposed change in the law. The Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom and Canada told President Museveni at a Commonwealth Summit in November 2009 that such legislation was wholly unacceptable from their countries' perspective. The proposed law is also condemned by the European Parliament in a resolution. The German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development , Dirk Niebel , stressed in a conversation with the German Press Agency that he wanted to call in the Ugandan ambassador. The federal government is threatening to cut development aid if the law is passed; a step-by-step plan has already been developed for this. The proposed law failed in 2010/2011.

Uganda 2012 Anti-Homosexuality Bill

In February 2012, David Bahati again introduced an Anti-Homosexuality Bill as a bill in parliament, which provides for a tightening of penalties for homosexual acts, this time not calling for the death penalty. On December 20, 2013, the law was passed by parliament . It should come into effect after being signed by the President. In February 2014, President Yoweri Museveni signed the law. The following day, the Red Pepper tabloid published a list of 200 known suspected homosexuals.

As a result of the tightening of the laws in Uganda, a number of western industrialized countries, including Sweden, the United States and the Netherlands, have suspended their development aid for Uganda. The World Bank stopped a $ 90 million loan to the Ugandan government.

On August 1, 2014, Uganda's constitutional court declared the law null and void. The number of votes in parliament was not sufficient. Supporters of the law announced an appeal to the country's Supreme Court.

See also

Web links

Commons : LGBT in Uganda  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Movie

The film Call Me Kuchu deals with LGBT activists in Uganda and the murder of David Kato .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b BBC News: Homosexuality in Africa , 2002 (English)
  2. ↑ Human Rights Watch: Uganda Press Homophobia Raises Fears of Crackdown (English)
  3. ↑ BBC News: Fine for Ugandan radio gay show (English)
  4. ↑ BBC News: Ugandan 'gay' name list condemned (English)
  5. ↑ Queer: Outing Campaign in Uganda
  6. ↑ Krone: Newspaper in Uganda calls for the murder of 100 gays
  7. ↑ Val Kalende: Gay Ugandans: Loud and Proud. The Huffington Post, August 15, 2012, accessed October 17, 2012 .
  8. ↑ Lea Bork: Homosexuals in Uganda: Their Voices, Their Stories, Their Lives. dw.de, February 23, 2015, accessed on February 26, 2015 .
  9. ^ Website of SMUG, Sexual Minorities in Uganda . As of December 10, 2009.
  10. ↑ Amnesty International: So-called anti-homosexuality law in Uganda calls for drastic penalties . As of December 10, 2009.
  11. ↑ Spiegel Online article: Uganda is considering the death penalty for gays . As of December 10, 2009.
  12. ↑ Foundation for the Human Rights of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender Archive Link ( Memento of the original from January 10, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . As of December 10, 2009. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / hirschfeld-eddy-stiftung.de
  13. ↑ Lesbian and Gay Association Germany: Press archive ( Memento of the original from February 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . As of December 10, 2009. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.lsvd.de
  14. ↑ a b Bloomberg: Uganda to Drop Death Penalty, Life in Jail for Gays
  15. ↑ Queer Amnesty ( Memento of the original from January 26, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Visited on January 18, 2010  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.queeramnesty.ch
  16. ↑ tuckenalarm.com: Uganda: Forced reversal instead of the death penalty for gays
  17. ^ Victory Column: Urgent: Petition for Uganda's gays and lesbians
  18. ↑ Handelsblatt: Government is considering the cancellation of aid for Uganda , status: December 14, 2009
  19. ↑ a b Interview of the American National Public Radio with the religion expert and journalist Jeff Sharlet
  20. ^ IDAHO Committee Paris: Uganda: Conference against the anti-homosexuality bill gathers 200 participants . Archived from the original on May 10, 2013. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 19, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.dayagainsthomophobia.org
  21. ↑ Die Standard: Ugandan activist excellent  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , May 4, 2011@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / diestandard.at  
  22. ^ Jeff Sharlet , "C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy," Little, Brown and Company (Sept. 2010) ISBN 0316091073
  23. ↑ BBC News: Uganda MP urges death for gay sex (English)
  24. ↑ a b The Times : Uganda proposes death penalty for HIV positive gays , November 28, 2009 (English)
  25. ↑ Pinknews: Ugandan MP proposes that gays should be executed (English)
  26. ↑ Queer: Uganda: Death Penalty for Gays?
  27. ↑ Queer.de: Uganda - But no death penalty for gays
  28. ↑ Pambazuka News: Bahati's bill: A convenient distraction for Uganda's government ( Memento of the original from January 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.pambazuka.org
  29. ↑ IPS News: Uganda: Helping Hand For Homophobia From US Christians (English)
  30. ↑ Queer.de: Protests against gay persecution in Uganda
  31. ↑ Queer.de: European Parliament condemns Uganda
  32. ↑ Niebel: Pay more attention to human rights when it comes to aid Ruppert Mayr and Christoph Sator, dpa . Retrieved February 20, 2010.
  33. ↑ Queer: Uganda revives anti-gay law
  34. ↑ ORF Online: Homosexuals face life imprisonment in Uganda
  35. ↑ Homosexuals face life imprisonment ( memento from February 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) tagesschau.de from February 24, 2014
  36. ↑ The newspaper pillories gays ( memento from February 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) tagesschau.de from February 25, 2014
  37. ↑ zeit.de:Uganda, World Bank stops credit
  38. ↑ Uganda: Constitutional Court overturns anti-homosexual law , Spiegel online , August 1, 2014