NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Pretty Peter flipped through frantic messages from friends back home in Uganda.
The transgender woman is relatively safe in neighboring Kenya. His friends feel threatened by the latest anti-gay legislation in Uganda prescribing the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality”.
Scared Ugandans are looking for a way out like Pretty Peter did. Some have stayed indoors since the law was signed on Monday, fearing they could be targeted, she said.
“Right now, homophobes have been given government validation to attack people,” the 26-year-old said, standing in a room decorated with grim portraits of a global project called “Where Love is Illegal.”
“My friends have already seen a change in attitude among their neighbors and are working to get papers and transport money to take refuge in Kenya,” she said.
It’s a challenge: A message to Pretty Peter read, “Me and the girls want to come, but things are too difficult.” Another said only one person had transportation and some did not have passports.
Homosexuality has long been illegal in Uganda under a colonial-era law criminalizing sexual activity “against the order of nature”. The penalty for this offense is life imprisonment. Pretty Peter, who wanted to be identified by name chosen out of concern for her safety, fled the country in 2019 after police arrested 150 people at a gay club and paraded them to the media before accusing them of nuisance public.
The new law signed by President Yoweri Museveni has been widely condemned by rights activists and others abroad. The signed version did not criminalize those who identify as LGBT+, following an outcry over an earlier draft. Museveni had sent the bill back to the National Assembly in April, asking for changes that would differentiate identifying as LGBTQ+ from engaging in homosexual acts.
However, the new law provides for the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality”, which is defined as cases of sexual relations involving people infected with HIV, as well as with minors and other categories of vulnerable people. A suspect convicted of “aggravated homosexuality attempt” can be imprisoned for up to 14 years. And there’s a 20-year prison sentence for a suspect convicted of “promoting” homosexuality, a broad category that affects everyone from journalists to activists and rights activists.
After the law was signed, US President Joe Biden called the new law a “tragic violation of universal human rights”. The United Nations human rights office said it was “appalled”. A joint statement from leaders of the UN AIDS programme, the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the Global Fund said Uganda’s progress in its response to HIV “is now in grave jeopardy”, as the law can hinder health education and awareness.
As a legal challenge to the new law has been mounted by activists and scholars seeking to block its enforcement, LGBTQ+ people in Uganda have been chilled by growing anti-gay sentiment there.
The new law is the result of years of effort by lawmakers, church leaders and others. Dozens of university students marched to parliamentary chambers in the capital, Kampala, on Wednesday to thank lawmakers for enacting the bill, underscoring the fervor of the bill’s supporters.
The new bill was introduced in the National Assembly in February, days after the Church of England announced its decision to bless civil marriages of same-sex couples, outraged religious leaders in many African countries. Homosexuality is criminalized in more than 30 of the 54 African countries. Some Africans see it as a behavior imported from abroad and not a sexual orientation.
Uganda’s highest Anglican cleric, Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba, has publicly stated that he no longer recognizes the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury as the spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion. In a statement released after the bill was signed, Kaziimba spoke of the “diligent work” of lawmakers and the president to enact the law.
However, he added that life imprisonment is preferable to death for the most serious homosexual offences.
There were signs that a new anti-gay bill was coming at the end of 2022. There had been widespread concern over reports of alleged sodomy at boarding schools. A mother from a reputable school has accused a teacher of sexually abusing her son.
Even some signs of solidarity or support with LGBTQ+ people were seen as a threat.
In January, a tower at a children’s park in the town of Entebbe that had been painted in rainbow colors had to be reworked after residents said they were offended by what they saw as a LBTGQ+ connection. Mayor Fabrice Rulinda agreed, saying in a statement that the authorities “must fight against all the vices that would corrupt the minds of our children”.
In Kenya, Pretty Peter followed the events closely.
“Ugandans have been fed a lot of LGBT negativities in recent days, and the government is trying to flex its muscles,” she said of the administration of Museveni, 78, who has held the post for 1986 as one. of Africa’s oldest leaders.
Pretty Peter said Kenya, a relative haven in the region despite its criminalization of same-sex relationships, is not as safe as she and fellow LGBTQ+ exiles would like. Still, Kenya hosts around 1,000 LGBTQ+ refugees and is the only country in the region to offer asylum on the basis of sexual orientation, according to the UN refugee agency.
In an isolated refuge on the outskirts of Nairobi, a sense of threat remains.
“We have already been evicted twice because the neighbors were uncomfortable and accused us of bringing bad values to their children. We were also attacked once at a club in Nairobi so you really have to watch their backs,” said Pretty Peter.