With Harsh Anti-L.G.B.T.Q. Law, Uganda Risks a Health Crisis

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The country had made great progress against H.I.V. Now terrified patients have fled clinics, and experts fear a resurgence.

For decades, Uganda’s campaign against H.I.V. was exemplary, slashing the country’s death rate by nearly 90 percent from 1990 to 2019. Now a sweeping law enacted last year, the Anti-Homosexuality Act, threatens to renew the epidemic as L.G.B.T.Q. citizens are denied, or are too afraid to seek out, necessary medical care.

The law criminalizes consensual sex between same-sex adults. It also requires all citizens to report anyone suspected of such activity, a mandate that makes no exceptions for health care providers tending to patients.

Under the law, merely having same-sex relationships while living with H.I.V. can incur a charge of “aggravated homosexuality,” which is punishable by death.

Anyone who “knowingly promotes homosexuality” — by hiring or housing an L.G.B.T.Q. person, or by not reporting one to the police — faces up to 20 years in jail. Scores of Ugandans have been evicted from homes and fired from jobs, according to interviews with lawyers and activists. » | Apoorva Mandavilli Photographs by Esther Ruth Mbabazi | Friday, January 19, 2024

Archbishop of Canterbury Urges Ugandan Church to Reject Deadly Anti-gay Law

PINK NEWS: The Archbishop of Canterbury has expressed his “grief and dismay” at a Ugandan law banning homosexuality in a letter urging Church officials in the country to reject it.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has rejected Uganda’s Anti-Homosexual Activity law, and is calling for Anglican Ugandans to oppose the bill. (Getty)
Lead bishop Justin Welby wrote to Ugandan Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba on Friday (9 June) publicly condemning Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act.

“I make this public statement with sorrow, and with continuing prayers for reconciliation between our churches and across the Anglican Communion,” Welby wrote.

“I am deeply aware of the history of colonial rule in Uganda, so heroically resisted by its people.

“But this is not about imposing Western values on our Ugandan Anglican sisters and brothers. It is about reminding them of the commitments we have made as Anglicans to treat every person with the care and respect they deserve as children of God.” » | Amelia Hansford | Friday, June 9, 2023

Hungary to Hold Referendum on Anti-LGBT Law after EU Legal Action - BBC Newsnight

Jul 27, 2021 • Hungary’s national spokesman speaks to Newsnight to defend its controversial anti-LGBT law which will now face a referendum, weeks after the EU launches legal action against the country.

Hungary’s new law - which limits the teaching of homosexuality and transgender issues to under 18s - will face a referendum in the new year.

Viktor Orbán’s government calls it a 'child protection law' and says it keeps sexual propaganda out of schools, TV shows and adverts.

Critics say the law conflates homosexuality and paedophilia, and the EU has strongly condemned it as discriminatory and launched legal action against Hungary.

Emily Maitlis is joined by Hungary’s Secretary of State for International Communication and Relations, Zoltan Kovacs.