LGBTQ+ activists say the Anti-Homosexuality Act, AHA, has given Ugandans an implicit license to abuse and discriminate against sexual minorities.
Two members of Uganda's LGBTQ+ community shared the following stories about their experiences since the law was enacted. Reuters has hidden one member's identity for safety reasons.
Days after the law was enacted in May this year, Sandra, who is lesbian, was summoned to her boss' office at the supermarket where she worked.
"My boss ... told me, I can't allow you to work for me anymore because of what is going on," Sandra, 23, recalled. He told her that if customers learned he was "hiring someone like you" it would ruin the company's reputation, she said.
Sandra, who said her parents ordered her to leave their house when they learned about her sexual orientation in 2019, could not afford her rent and was evicted from her house. She found a place to sleep at a shelter for homeless LGBTQ+ Ugandans.
She now works as an emergency responder at a different charity that helps LGBTQ+ people. When not at work, she said she keeps indoors and avoids social media to avoid drawing attention to herself.
When the law passed, an unidentified LGBTQ+ member, said her siblings and aunties told her people like her deserved the death penalty.
That pushed the 22-year-old over the edge, and she pondered ways to kill herself. She said she started overdosing on anti-depressants and didn't want to wake up at all. She also mulled hanging herself or drowning in a village well.
"As a person I felt suicidal because of my family was like if they give you, they told me themselves, even if they give you the death sentence for us we shall see it as justice because we believe in God and stuff like that is not right", she said.
She told Reuters she was admitted to a hospital, where she was stabilized and discharged.
While at least seven people have been charged under the AHA since its enactment in May, including two for alleged offenses that carry the death penalty, hundreds more have suffered torture, sexual abuse, intimidation and eviction at the hands of private citizens, according to a report released in September by rights groups.
The government has previously said the AHA is meant to criminalize same-sex activity and its promotion, not penalize LGBT Ugandans.
LGBTQ+ rights activists, private individuals and a lawmaker are seeking to overturn the law on constitutional grounds.
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