UGANDAN PRESIDENT RETURNS ANTI-LGBTQ+ ACT

Michael K. Lavers of The Washington Blade, Courtesy of The National LGBT Media Association

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on April 20 sent his country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act back to Parliament for additional consideration before he signs it.

Chapter Four Uganda Executive Director Nicholas Opiyo during a panel that took place at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in D.C. on April 10 noted the measure would impose a “mandatory” death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality” and “anybody who is convicted of being engaged in same-sex relations” would face life in prison.

The bill would also punish the “promotion, recruitment and funding” of LGBTQ-specific activities in Uganda with up to 10 years in prison. Any “person who ‘holds out as a lesbian, gay, transgender, a queer or any other sexual or gender identity that is contrary to the binary categories of male and female’” would also face up to 10 years in prison. Opiyo also noted the measure’s provision that would require Ugandans to report LGBTQ-specific activities to authorities would create “a moral police force.”

Ugandan MPs passed the Anti-Homosexuality Act last month.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Victor Madrigal-Borloz, the independent U.N. expert on LGBTQ and intersex issues, are among those who are sharply criticized the measure.

The Monitor, a Uganda newspaper, on April 20 reported Museveni and lawmakers from his National Resistance Movement party “resolved to return the Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023, to the Committee on Legal and Parliamentary Affairs where deeper scrutiny and revisions will be made before the it is considered for assent.”

Museveni, according to the Monitor, praised lawmakers “for having rejected international pressure and shielded Uganda’s moral fabric during the passing of the bill.”

Deputy Attorney General Jackson Kafuuzi reportedly raised concerns about the bill’s reporting requirement during the meeting with Museveni. The Monitor further reported other lawmakers raised the prospect of “rehabilitation” of those convicted under the law.

Sexual Minorities Uganda Executive Director Frank Mugisha in a tweet described Museveni’s decision not to sign the bill as “progress.”

Twitter has removed a policy against the “targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals,” raising concerns that the platform is becoming less safe for marginalized groups. Twitter enacted the policy in 2018. “This decision to roll back LGBTQ safety pulls Twitter even more out of step with TikTok, Pinterest and Meta … at a time when anti-transgender rhetoric online is leading to real world discrimination and violence,” GLAAD said.

Openly LGBTQ+ Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin announced April 12 that she is seeking a third term in Wisconsin. Baldwin said she intends to continue fighting for the working class and families struggling with inflation, as well as opposing Wisconsin’s abortion ban. No Republicans have announced they are running for Baldwin’s seat, which will be critical for Democrats to hold if they want to maintain control of the Senate. Baldwin was the first person elected to Congress after announcing they were gay and was the first openly gay person elected to the Senate.

A transgender female player has been blocked from joining the second-tier of Australia’s women’s national basketball league after a panel ruled her ineligible to compete at the sport’s elite level. Basketball Australia issued a statement April 18 saying its three-member expert panel had deemed Lexi Rodgers to be ineligible to play in the NBL1 this season. The national governing body said it assessed the eligibility of prospective transgender players on a case-by-case basis at the professional and semiprofessional levels. “I am sad about the potential message this decision sends to trans and gender diverse people everywhere,” Rodgers wrote in an Instagram post.

The Rwandan government recognized same-sex relationships in a newly launched book for people who are under 24-years-old. The Comprehensive Sexuality Education Toolkit titled “Amahitamo Yanjye” (“My Choice”) seeks to curb teenage pregnancies recognizes and promotes education about homosexuality and other sexual orientations. The toolkit uses the “Genderbread Person” tool to educate young people. Rwanda is the only East African nation that treats sexual orientation as a private matter free from government interference through legislation to restrict certain sexual practices. Homosexuality remains criminalized in neighboring countries.