The Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project (BLMP) Statement on the Signing of The Anti- Homosexuality Act by President Yoweri Museveni

On Monday May 29th, 2023, Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni signed into law one of the strictest, most dehumanizing pieces of anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation that the world has seen in recent history. The signing of the Anti-Homosexuality Act not only criminalizes and threatens the lives of Ugandans for existing and loving who they love but also criminalizes and threatens allies for supporting their community and family members.

LGBTQIA+ Ugandans deserve to exist in their full brilliance in the land that they call home and love without fear of violence and persecution. This regressive and Draconian law will only cause more violence for ALL Ugandans, regardless of their identity.

We join the hundreds of international organizations and the global Black LGBTQIA+ community to denounce this blatant violation of human rights and demand Ugandan Parliament immediately repeal the Anti-Homosexuality act and promote laws and policies that safeguard the rights and safety of all individuals, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/ expression.

The Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project (BLMP) envisions a world without forced migration, where no one is forced to give up their homelands and where all Black LGBTQIA+ people are free and liberated. We stand in solidarity with LGBTQIA+ Ugandans as their fundamental human rights and safety are under extreme attack with the signing of this bill by Yoweri Museveni.

BLMP denounces this latest attack on our community and also denounces the influence that Western Imperial powers, religious bigotry, capitalism, and bigoted corrupt leaders played to bring us to this moment.

This law will only further criminalize an already marginalized and hyper-vulnerable population, leading to further abuse, isolation, danger, and forced migration.

“As a Somali refugee, my family and I know first hand what it is like to flee home due to fear of persecution and violence. This law is a reality that globally LGBTQIA+ individuals are being attacked on all fronts and Black LGBTQIA+ individuals ALWAYS bear the brunt, here in the United States and everywhere outside of the United States. As BLMP denounces the steps and actions Ugandan President and Parliament are taking, we will continue to listen and hear from those on the ground and LGBTQIA+ Ugandans. We implore individuals, governments, and organizations to stand in solidarity and to build a vision and plan to make safety and protection a reality for LGBTQIA+ individuals living in Uganda.”

Zack Mohamed, BLMP Deportation Defense Organizer

BLMP recognizes and explicitly names the central role that the United States and western imperialism play in the targeted violence and forced migration of Black LGBTQIA+ people worldwide. This most recent anti-homosexuality act in Uganda is a stark example of this.

The homophobic and transphobic laws utilized and enacted by several African nations were grandfathered from penal codes that were established by Western colonial powers.

Western imperialism is a direct push factor that forces Black LGBTQIA+ people to migrate and we see that very clearly all over the world. We see this with the LGBTQIA+ people, mostly fleeing Uganda, facing extreme violence inside of Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. We see this in Tijuana at the United States/ Mexico border with thousands of Haitian and Jamaican people fleeing their homelands to avoid persecution for their identities.

“What we’re seeing unfold in Uganda with the harmful passing of the strictest and most extreme Anti-LGBTQ law is an expansion of the “Kill the Gays” bill that passed in 2014. This bill is a direct consequence of anti-Black, Western Imperialism injected into the Global South by the United States and other Western nations.

As we fight for the rights of Black LGBTQIA+ people inside the United States against Neo-fascist right-wing U.S politicians and violent legislation, our siblings are fighting those same U.S ‘evangelicals” vilifying their existence and exporting genocidal legislation”

Oluchi Omeoga, BLMP Co-Executive Director