Uganda’s Anti-Gay Law: Penalties, 2024 Ruling, and Appeal

Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023 is one of the harshest laws of its kind in the world: it punishes consensual same-sex conduct between adults with life imprisonment, creates a separate offense of “aggravated homosexuality” that carries the death penalty, and makes “promotion of homosexuality” punishable by up to twenty years in prison. In April 2024, Uganda’s Constitutional Court struck down a handful of provisions but left the core of the law intact. A Supreme Court appeal is scheduled for March 31, 2026.

Who the Law Applies To

The Act reaches anyone physically present in Uganda, including foreign visitors, temporary residents, and diplomatic staff. It also covers acts committed aboard any ship or aircraft registered in Uganda, wherever that vessel happens to be.¹

Its extraterritorial reach goes further than most criminal statutes. A Ugandan citizen or permanent resident can be prosecuted for acts committed in another country. The same applies to anyone the government considers to have a “real and substantial link” to Uganda, which the law defines to include refugees, members of the public service, and anyone present in Uganda when an alleged act occurs. The law also covers cases where the alleged victim is a Ugandan citizen, regardless of where the act took place or the nationality of the accused.¹

The U.S. State Department has warned that the law could be used to prosecute Americans perceived to be LGBT while in Uganda, and updated its travel guidance after the law took effect.²

Criminal Offenses and Prison Terms

The central offense is performing a sexual act with another person of the same sex. Consent is not a defense. Two adults in a private, consensual relationship face the same charge as any other scenario, and conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.¹

Attempting the offense carries up to ten years in prison. The Act does not spell out what counts as an attempt, which leaves wide discretion to prosecutors.¹

Same-sex marriage is a separate offense. Entering into or attempting to contract a same-sex marriage is punishable by up to ten years in prison.¹

Aggravated Homosexuality and the Death Penalty

The Act creates a more severe category called “aggravated homosexuality” that carries the death penalty. The elevated charge applies when any of the following apply:¹

The offender is living with HIV.
The victim is under 18.
The offender holds authority over the victim, such as a parent, guardian, or teacher.
The victim has a disability or is elderly.
The offender has a prior conviction under the Act.
The offender used drugs or other substances to incapacitate the victim.

Attempting aggravated homosexuality is punishable by up to fourteen years in prison. The structure of the aggravated offense tracks traditional sexual assault statutes in some respects, with the important difference that the base offense already criminalizes fully consensual conduct between adults.¹

Promotion, Advocacy, and Organizations

The law defines “promotion of homosexuality” broadly enough to capture nearly any form of visibility or support. The statutory definition includes producing or sharing written, visual, or audio material that “promotes or encourages” homosexuality; funding organizations or activities connected to homosexuality; using electronic devices or the internet for such purposes; and recruiting people “into homosexuality.” Operating premises used for any purpose connected to homosexuality also qualifies.¹

A conviction for promotion carries up to twenty years in prison. The definition is wide enough to reach social media posts, donations to human rights organizations, hosting a meeting, or publishing health information for LGBT communities.¹

Organizations are exposed as well. If a person is convicted of an offense under the Act and committed it through an entity, the court can cancel that entity’s registration and seize its assets. The provision has had a chilling effect on NGOs working in health, human rights, and community development.¹

What the April 2024 Ruling Changed

In April 2024 the Constitutional Court reviewed several petitions against the Act. It upheld most of the law and struck down three specific provisions.

The duty to report was invalidated. The original text required anyone who knew or reasonably believed that a person had committed an offense under the Act to report it to police, with penalties of up to five hundred currency points (roughly 10 million Ugandan shillings) or up to five years in prison for failing to do so.¹ The court removed that duty.

The premises provision was struck down. The section had criminalized renting or allowing property to be used for any offense under the Act, exposing landlords to prosecution.

Healthcare-related restrictions the court found interfered with access to medical services were removed, including the death penalty tied specifically to HIV transmission.

Everything else stands. Life imprisonment for consensual same-sex conduct, the death penalty for aggravated homosexuality in the remaining triggering circumstances, up to twenty years for promotion, and up to ten years for an attempt all remain in force.

The Pending Supreme Court Appeal

Activists appealed the Constitutional Court’s ruling shortly after it issued. The Supreme Court of Uganda has scheduled the appeal hearing for March 31, 2026. The decision could alter the lower court’s conclusions in either direction, either restoring provisions the Constitutional Court struck down or invalidating parts of the law the lower court upheld.

Practical Consequences on the Ground

Even where the court narrowed the law, its practical reach has been wider than the text alone would suggest. The U.S. State Department has reported credible accounts of people using the threat of a report under the Act to extort bribes, delay business permits, or push commercial tenants out of their properties, continuing after the reporting duty was invalidated.³

The healthcare impact has been severe. Peer-reviewed research after the law took effect found sharp drops in HIV service access among men who have sex with men. Facilities were roughly a third less likely to offer HIV testing geared to that population, and access to prevention medication (PrEP) fell steeply. Clients were about 80 percent less likely to report that drop-in centers serving at-risk communities were easy to access after the law passed. Managers described patients disengaging from HIV treatment out of fear of being seen at a facility, with an increase in diagnoses and deaths among those who dropped out of care. The healthcare provisions have been struck down, but the fear they created among patients and providers has not fully reversed.

Internationally, the law has carried real financial cost. The World Bank announced in August 2023 that it would present no new public financing for Uganda to its Board of Executive Directors, stating that the law “fundamentally contradicts the World Bank Group’s values.”⁴ In October 2023, President Biden notified Congress of his intent to end Uganda’s eligibility under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which had given Ugandan exports preferential access to U.S. markets. The State Department also imposed visa restrictions on Ugandan individuals it linked to the law.²

How the Law Came About

Uganda had criminalized same-sex conduct long before 2023. The Penal Code Act, inherited from British colonial rule, punished “carnal knowledge against the order of nature” with life imprisonment, and that provision stayed on the books after independence. A 2014 anti-homosexuality law drew international condemnation and was struck down by the Constitutional Court the same year on procedural grounds, because parliament had passed it without the required quorum. The court did not rule on whether the content violated constitutional rights.

The 2023 Act emerged from the same political currents, passed parliament with overwhelming support, and was signed by President Yoweri Museveni. It is far more detailed than either the colonial-era provisions or the 2014 law, combining criminal offenses, extraterritorial jurisdiction, promotion restrictions, and organizational penalties into a single framework.

1
Parliament of Uganda. The Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023
2
U.S. Department of State. Visa Restrictions for Undermining the Democratic Process in Uganda
3
U.S. Department of State. Uganda Business Advisory
4
World Bank. World Bank Group Statement on Uganda