On Thursday, a coalition of rights activists and a politician took the next legal step of challenging the country’s anti-gay act by filing an appeal with Uganda’s Supreme Court.
The petitioners include lawmaker Fox Odoi-Oywelowo, a member of President Museveni’s National Resistance Movement, and renowned human rights defender Frank Mugisha.
The appeal follows the dismissal of a suit that sought to challenge the Anti-Homosexuality Act by the Constitutional Court in April.
Uganda’s anti-gay law is considered one of the harshest in the world and has been criticised by several human rights organisations and Western nations. It stipulates severe penalties, including life imprisonment for consensual same-sex relationships, and includes provisions considering “aggravated homosexuality” as a crime punishable by death.
In mid-April, the group submitted a formal notice of appeal challenging the court’s decision that the law did not breach Uganda’s constitution.
While the United States has restricted visas for Ugandan officials and removed the country from a key trade pact following the passing of anti-gay Act in 2023, Museveni’s government remains unfazed and has accused the West of trying to pressure Africa into accepting homosexuality.
Homosexuality is illegal in around 30 African countries, and some of them, like Ghana and Burkina Faso, have recently toughened anti-gay laws.