Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023

Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023
Parliament of Uganda
Long title An Act to prohibit any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex; to prohibit the promotion or recognition of sexual relations between persons of the same sex; and for related matters.
Citation	Act No. 6 of 2023
Territorial extent	Uganda
Passed by	Parliament of Uganda
Passed	21 March 2023
Assented to by	Yoweri Museveni
Assented to	26 May 2023
Vetoed	20 April 2023
Type of veto	Package
Veto overridden	2 May 2023
Commenced	30 May 2023
Legislative history
Bill citation	Anti-Homosexuality Bill, 2023
Introduced by	Asuman Basalirwa (JEEMA)
Introduced	3 March 2023
Committee responsible	Legal and Parliamentary Affairs
Considered by the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee	9 March 2023
Second reading	21 March 2023
Third reading	21 March 2023
Reconsidered by the Parliament of Uganda after veto	2 May 2023
Voting summary	348 voted for 1 voted against 208 absent
Summary
Under the act, 'aggravated homosexuality' is punishable by death, and 'promotion' (including advocacy of 'normalisation') of homosexuality is punishable by fines and imprisonment for up to 20 years.
Status: Not fully in force

The Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023 is an act of the Parliament of Uganda that restricts freedom of speech on LGBT civil rights and introduces harsher penalties for certain types of homosexual acts. On 21 March 2023, the bill was read a third time, and was then sent to President Yoweri Museveni for assent.^[1] On 21 April 2023, Museveni returned it to Parliament,^[2] which passed it again with minor amendments on 2 May. On 26 May, Museveni signed the bill.^[3][4]

The act prescribes life imprisonment for sex between two people of the same biological sex and the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality". The latter offence includes "serial offenders", same-sex rape, sex in a position of authority or procured by intimidation, sex with persons older than seventy-five, sex with the disabled and mentally ill, and homosexual acts committed by a person with a previous conviction of homosexuality. Further, under its provisions, the promotion (including normalisation) of homosexuality is punishable by imprisonment for up to 20 years and fines.

The bill is highly popular within Uganda according to polls, and was voted for nearly unanimously by Parliament.^[5] The United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and the European Union, and several local and international NGOs have condemned it.