Uganda

In 2023, Uganda enacted one of the most draconian anti-LGBT laws on Earth. 

The Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 prescribes up to twenty years in prison for "promotion of homosexuality", life imprisonment for "homosexual acts", and the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality". 

LGBT+ people were originally criminalised by British colonial laws introduced when Uganda became a British protectorate and these have been retained and strengthened since the country gained its independence. 

Uganda is the only Christian-majority country to punish some types of consensual same-sex acts with the death penalty, and momentum is spreading to other East African nations. 

In 2014, the STUC welcomed the initiative of the Scottish Government to offer asylum to any Ugandan persecuted by the Anti-Homosexuality Act. 

The then-General Secretary Grahame Smith said, “The oppressive legislation enacted by the Ugandan Government criminalising the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community is an affront to freedom and equality. 

“The STUC welcomes this initiative by the Scottish Government and we would urge the UK Government to support this proposal to allow Ugandans, under threat of imprisonment as a consequence of their sexuality, to find refuge in Scotland.”