LGBT rights in Uganda

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,^[A][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 due to legal technicalities.^[6]


LGBT people continue to face severe discrimination in Uganda, actively encouraged by religious and conservative political and community leaders.^[7][8][9] Violent attacks and harassment against LGBT people are common, often performed by state officials.^[10] Some organisations have rescinded funding to Uganda due to its extreme anti-LGBT legislation.^[11] Same-sex marriage has been constitutionally banned since 2005.^[12]


Male same-sex sexual activity was present and largely unremarkable in many contexts in precolonial Ugandan society.^{[13][14][15][16]}

Public opinion

A 2007 Pew Global Attitudes Project poll found that 96 percent of Ugandan residents believed that homosexuality is a way of life that society should not accept, which was the fifth-highest rate of non-acceptance in the 45 countries surveyed.^[78] A poll conducted in 2010, however, revealed that 11 percent of Ugandans viewed homosexual behavior as being morally acceptable. Among other members of the East African Community, only one percent in Tanzania, four percent in Rwanda, and one percent in Kenya had the same view.^[79]


A 2013 Pew Research Center opinion survey showed that 96 percent of Ugandans believed homosexuality should not be accepted by society, while four percent believed it should.^[80] Older people were more accepting than younger people: three percent of people between 18 and 29 believed it should be accepted, two percent of people between 30 and 49 and seven percent of people over 50.


In May 2015, PlanetRomeo, an LGBT social network, published its first Gay Happiness Index (GHI). Gay men from over 120 countries were asked about how they feel about society's view on homosexuality, how do they experience the way they are treated by other people and how satisfied are they with their lives. Uganda was ranked last with a GHI score of 20.^[81]


A poll carried out by ILGA found attitudes towards LGBT people had significantly changed by 2017: Fifty-nine percent of Ugandans agreed that gay, lesbian and bisexual people should enjoy the same rights as straight people, while 41 percent disagreed. Additionally, 56 percent agreed that they should be protected from workplace discrimination. Fifty-four percent of Ugandans, however, said that people who are in same-sex relationships should be charged as criminals, while 34% disagreed. As for transgender people, 60 percent agreed that they should have the same rights, 62 percent believed they should be protected from employment discrimination and 53 percent believed they should be allowed to change their legal gender.^[82] Additionally, according to that same poll, a third of Ugandans would try to "change" a neighbour's sexual orientation if they discovered they were gay.