Uganda joins small group of countries penalizing LGBTQ+ people with death

The law has drawn international condemnation. And Uganda now faces possible sanctions: The U.S. is mulling restricting visa access to Ugandan officials, reducing aid, and removing access to a preferential trade deal.

Earlier this year, Uganda’s Parliament voted in favor of legislation that made it illegal to identify as LGBTQ+, with the possibility of life imprisonment for doing so. Same-sex relations were already criminalized.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, of Texas, who last year voted against the Respect for Marriage Act, a bill codifying same-sex marriages into law, tweeted that Uganda’s new law is “horrific & wrong.”

Museveni has called homosexuality a “deviation from normal,” and previously urged lawmakers to resist “imperialist” pressure from countries with a favorable view of same-sex relationships.

Iran punishes homosexuality with death in some cases, and also flogging, according to a report by Human Rights Watch.

Last year, Iran persecuted two female LGBTQ+ rights campaigners and sentenced them to execution, a move that was condemned by the United Nations. The charges against the two women included their speech and actions promoting LGBTQ+ equality, and trafficking, for their work helping LGBTQ-identifying individuals leave the country.