The Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014 was an act passed by the Parliament of Uganda on 20 December 2013, which prohibited sexual relations between persons of the same sex. The act was previously called the “Kill the Gays bill” in the western mainstream media due to death penalty clauses proposed in the original version, but the penalty was later amended to life in prison. The bill was signed into law by the President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni on 24 February 2014. On 1 August 2014, however, the Constitutional Court of Uganda ruled the act invalid on procedural grounds.
The act would have broadened the criminalisation of same-sex relations in Uganda domestically. It also includes provisions about persons outside of Uganda who are charged with violating the act, asserting that they may be extradited to Uganda for punishment there. The act also includes penalties for individuals, companies, and non-governmental organisations that aid or abet same-sex sexual acts, including conducting a gay marriage. Furthermore, the act enables the Ugandan government to rescind international and regional commitments it deems outside of the interest of the act’s provisions.
Same-sex relationships have been illegal in Uganda since colonial rule – as they are in many African countries, especially former British colonies– and before this Act was passed, they were punishable by incarceration in prison for up to 14 years. The act was introduced as the Anti Homosexuality Bill, 2009 by Member of Parliament (MP) David Bahati on 14 October 2009. A special motion to introduce the bill was passed a month after a two-day conference was held in which three Christians from the United States asserted that homosexuality is a direct threat to the cohesion of African families. The international community, however, assailed the law, accusing the Ugandan government of encouraging violence against LGBT people with the law. The United States imposed economic sanctions against Uganda in June 2014 in response to the law, the World Bank indefinitely postponed a $90 million aid loan to Uganda and the governments of Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway halted aid to Uganda in opposition to the law; the Ugandan government defended the bill and rejected condemnation of it, with the country’s authorities stating President Museveni wanted “to demonstrate Uganda’s independence in the face of Western pressure and provocation”.
Several sources have noted that the act has exacerbated both the endemic homophobia in Uganda and the associated discussions about it. Others more specifically claim that such legislative actions are the result of politicized homophobia, a rhetorical tool used to further the interests of political leaders in the form of gaining popularity and/or distracting from corrupt behaviour.
In a letter dated 28 December 2013 to the speaker and members of the Ugandan parliament, President Museveni expressed dismay that the bill had been passed without the required quorum.
On 14 February 2014, President Museveni announced that he would sign the bill into law. According to the government, his decision was based on a report by “medical experts” who said “homosexuality is not genetic but a social behavior.”
A few days later, he retracted this announcement and asked the US for scientific advice about whether homosexuality is genetically pre-determined or a choice. He indicated he needed to know “whether, indeed, there are people who are born homosexual”, in which case it would be wrong to punish them. He said that he would not sign the bill until that matter had been clarified.
Museveni publicly signed the bill into law on 24 February and afterwards said that, based on a scientific study he commissioned, people are not born homosexual.
The act provides specific definitions of “the offence of homosexuality” and “aggravated homosexuality”. A person who commits either offence can receive life imprisonment. “The offence of homosexuality” is defined to include various same-sex sexual acts. “Aggravated homosexuality” is defined to include a same-sex sexual act: with a person under the age of 18; committed by a person who is HIV-positive; by a parent or guardian of the person with whom the act is committed; by a person in authority over the person with whom the act is committed; with a disabled person; by a serial offender; or by a person who administers any drug, matter, or thing with the intent to stupefy or overpower another person to enable a same-sex act to be committed. A person charged with “aggravated homosexuality” is forced to undergo an HIV test. A person who attempts to commit “the offence of homosexuality” can receive imprisonment for seven years. A person who attempts to commit “aggravated homosexuality” can receive life imprisonment.
Among other things, the act also criminalises a person who “aids, abets, counsels, or procures another to engage in an act of homosexuality” and provides a possible penalty of seven years imprisonment. A person who “purports to contract a marriage with another person of the same sex” commits the “offence of homosexuality” and can be imprisoned for life. A person that conducts a marriage ceremony between persons of the same sex can be imprisoned for a maximum of seven years. An institution that conducts this type of marriage can have its licence cancelled. A person who promotes or abets homosexuality, as broadly defined by the bill, can be fined and imprisoned for five to seven years except that if the person were a corporate body, business, association, or non-governmental organization, its registration can be cancelled and the “director, proprietor or promoter” can get seven years imprisonment. A person charged with an offence under the act may be extradited to Uganda, as provided under existing extradition law.
Review by the Constitutional Court of Uganda
On 1 August 2014, the Constitutional Court of Uganda ruled the act invalid as it was not passed with the required quorum. Bahati then announced that the government will appeal to the Supreme Court of Uganda to overturn the ruling. A 13 August 2014 news report, however, said that the Ugandan attorney general had dropped all plans to appeal, per a directive from President Museveni who was concerned about foreign reaction to the act and who also said that any newly introduced bill should not criminalize same-sex relationships between consenting adults.
