Evangelism, Draconian Laws, The AIDS Crisis, And Homophobia In Uganda

Abstract

The nation of Uganda has engaged in some of the harshest crackdowns on queer and homosexual rights in the world. Codified in national law in 2023 and upheld in court in April 2024. Why is this, what does this act entail, and how has this come to be? These laws are not unprecedented within Uganda’s history, both in the long and short terms, and connect with the response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the actions of fundamentalist groups both inside and outside Uganda. While there is a long and storied history with homophobia in Uganda, thisarticle will choose to focus on more recent history roughly within the last twenty-five years. To understand the present situation of queer rights in Uganda it is also important to look at the recent history leading up the current day. There have been multiple attacks on Uganda’s queer communities and rights groups both by the nation’s governmental bodies and private domestic groups such as two high profile cases with newspapers printed in the country.