Global Courant
Nairobi, Kenya — Pretty Peter flipped through frantic messages from friends back home in Uganda.
The transgender woman is relatively safe in neighboring Kenya. Her friends feel threatened by Uganda’s latest anti-gay law, which prescribes the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality.”
Just like Pretty Peter, frightened Ugandans are looking for a way out. Some have stayed indoors since the law was signed on Monday, fearing they will be targeted, she said.
“Right now, homophobes have been given permission by the government to attack people,” the 26-year-old said, standing in a room decorated with gloomy portraits from a global project called “Where Love is Illegal.”
“My friends have already seen a change of mindset among their neighbors and are working to obtain papers and transport money to take refuge in Kenya,” she said.
That’s a challenge: A message to Pretty Peter read, “Me and the girls want to come, but things are too hard.” Another said only one person had transportation and some did not have passports.
Homosexuality has long been illegal in Uganda under a colonial-era law that criminalizes sexual activity “against the order of nature.” The penalty for that crime is life imprisonment. Pretty Peter, who wanted to be identified by her chosen name out of concern for her safety, fled the country in 2019 after police arrested 150 people at a gay club and paraded them before the media before accusing them of public disturbance.
The new law, signed by President Yoweri Museveni, was widely condemned by human rights activists and others abroad. The signed version did not penalize those identifying as LGBT+, following an outcry over an earlier draft. Museveni had sent the bill back to the National Assembly in April asking for changes that would differentiate between identification as LGBTQ+ and homosexual acts.
Still, the new law prescribes the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality,” which is defined as cases of sexual relations with people infected with HIV, as well as with minors and other categories of vulnerable people. A suspect convicted of “attempting aggravated homosexuality” could face up to 14 years in prison. And there’s a 20-year prison sentence for a suspect convicted of “promoting” homosexuality, a broad category that affects everyone from journalists to human rights activists and campaigners.
After the bill was signed, US President Joe Biden called the new law “a tragic violation of universal human rights”. The United Nations Human Rights Office said it was “shocked”. A joint statement from the leaders of the UN AIDS program, the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the Global Fund said Uganda’s HIV response progress “is now in serious jeopardy” as the law may hinder health education and outreach.
As activists and academics battle the new law to stop its enforcement, LGBTQ+ people in Uganda have been chilled by growing anti-gay sentiment there.
The new law is the culmination of years of efforts by legislators, church leaders, and others. Dozens of university students marched to the parliamentary chambers in the capital, Kampala, on Wednesday to thank lawmakers for passing the bill, underlining the fervor of the bill’s supporters.
The new bill was introduced in the National Assembly in February, days after the Church of England announced its decision to ordain civil marriages for same-sex couples, angering religious leaders in many African countries. Homosexuality is a criminal offense in more than 30 of the 54 African countries. Some Africans view it as behavior imported from abroad and not as a sexual orientation.
Uganda’s most senior Anglican clergyman, Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba, has said publicly that he no longer recognizes the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury as the spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion. In a statement released after the bill was signed, Kaziimba spoke of “the diligent work” of lawmakers and the president in passing the bill.
However, he added that life imprisonment is preferable to the death penalty for the most serious homosexual crimes.
There were signs that a new anti-gay law would be introduced in late 2022. There was widespread concern over reports of alleged sodomy in boarding schools. A mother at a leading school accused a male teacher of sexually abusing her son.
Even some signs of solidarity or support with LGBTQ+ people were seen as a threat.
In January, a tower at a children’s park in the city of Entebbe that was painted rainbow colors had to be reworked after residents said they were offended by what they saw as an LBTGQ+ connection. Mayor Fabrice Rulinda agreed, saying in a statement that authorities must “curb all vices that would corrupt the minds of our children”.
In Kenya, Pretty Peter has been following events closely.
“Ugandans have been fed with a lot of negativity towards the LGBT in recent days, and the government is trying to get its muscles to flex,” she said of the administration of 78-year-old Museveni, who has been in office since 1986 as one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders.
Pretty Peter said Kenya, a relative haven in the region despite the criminalization of same-sex relationships, is not as safe as she and other LGBTQ+ exiles would like. Yet Kenya is home to an estimated 1,000 LGBTQ+ refugees and is the only country in the region to offer asylum based on sexual orientation, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency.
There is a sense of threat in a remote safe house on the outskirts of Nairobi.
“We have been evicted twice before because neighbors were uncomfortable and accused us of bringing bad values around their children. We were also attacked once at a club in Nairobi, so you really have to be on the lookout,” Pretty Peter said.
