Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
Uganda’s Constitutional Court has upheld the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, which imposes life imprisonment on anyone convicted of homosexual acts, criminalises the “promotion of homosexuality” and provides for the death penalty in some cases. Petitioners against the law say it violates basic rights enshrined in Uganda’s constitution and breaks international human rights commitments. The court did strike down sections on failing to report homosexual acts to police and restrictions on letting property for use for “homosexual purposes” – but largely kept in place the legislation signed last May by President Yoweri Museveni. The Ugandan court cited the recent US Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v Wade (Dobbs) and its overruling “of the broader right to individual autonomy” as one of the justifications for its decision.