State Department issues travel warning for Uganda about “blackmail & violence” to LGBTQ+ people

Following President Yoweri Museveni’s signature on Uganda’s latest Kill the Gays law May 29, the East African nation is beginning to feel the effects of almost universal international condemnation.

Late Monday, the State Department issued a starkly-worded travel advisory to U.S. citizens.

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Activists have vowed to challenge the decision before the Supreme Court.

“Reconsider travel to Uganda due to crime, terrorism, and anti-LGBTQI+ legislation,” the advisory read.

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The country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act “raises the risk that LGBTQI+ persons, and those perceived to be LGBTQI+, could be prosecuted and subjected to life imprisonment or death based on provisions in the law.”

The draconian set of laws criminalizes consensual same-sex sexual relations with life in prison, while transmitting HIV to another individual — characterized as “aggravated homosexuality” — carries the death penalty.

“LGBTQI+ persons, or persons perceived to be LGBTQI+, could face harassment, imprisonment, blackmail, and violence,” the State Department said, while also warning travelers of the risk of attacks by “vigilantes.”

“Be mindful,” the advisory continued, “that any public identification with the LGBTQI+ community, as either a member or supporter, could be grounds for prosecution, and that even private consensual same-sex relations are illegal.”

President Joe Biden has called for immediate repeal of the new law, which he described as “a tragic violation of universal human rights.” The White House has pledged to reconsider aid and investment in the former British colony.

Uganda’s Information Minister told Agence France-Presse the government was “not surprised” by the travel warning.

“The U.S. should understand that Uganda is a sovereign state which legislates for its people, not for the Western world,” said Minister Chris Baryomunsi.

“They can issue travel advisories as it is within their rights but should be reminded blackmail has no place in the modern world.”

One major U.S. initiative still active in Uganda is PEPFAR, the global program dedicated to eradicating HIV/AIDS. According to Uganda’s AIDS Commission, 1.4 million Ugandans live with the virus, and 17,000 die annually from the disease.

But the once-busy clinic funded through the program in the capital Kampala is now deserted, as patients fear they could be identified by police as gay and arrested.

Non-governmental agencies are also reconsidering their missions in the country.

One health-oriented NGO, the Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum, has suspended its malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV services in Uganda until the country’s constitutional court clarifies provisions in the law that mandate prosecution of those offering services to LGBTQ+ people.    

The Anti-Homosexuality Act mandates a 20-year prison sentence for individuals and those associated with organizations “promoting” homosexuality in Uganda.

A day after the Anti-Homosexuality Act became law, Executive Director Adrian Jjuuko explained, “The board has decided that as HRAPF seeks an interpretation of these provisions from the constitutional court, it will stop work that the government has formally or informally indicated may be illegal under the new law and other work that we suspect may be interpreted as promotion of homosexuality.”

HRAPF was one of several NGOs in Uganda notified in January that they were under investigation for promoting homosexuality, which came with penalties even before the new law took effect. The threat of new and harsher penalties proved unsustainable for the group.

Their website has since been disabled.