White House condemns Uganda’s Constitutional Court for upholding “kill the gays” law

Out White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre denounced the Uganda Constitutional Court’s decision to uphold the East African nation’s Anti-Homosexuality Act.

The law, which was passed in 2023, faced a constitutional challenge late last year from two law professors at Makerere University in Kampala who argued that it violates fundamental rights guaranteed in Uganda’s constitution, including freedom from discrimination and the right to privacy.

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The nation’s high court upheld the law, which punishes consensual same-sex relations with life in prison and “aggravated homosexuality” with death. Parts of the law – including a provision that makes it a crime to fail to report homosexual acts to authorities – were annulled by the court for being “inconsistent with right to health, privacy and freedom of religion.”

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“The announcement that some provisions of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act have been removed by the constitutional court is a small and insufficient step towards safeguarding human rights,” Jean-Pierre said at yesterday’s White House press briefing. “As the president has said time and time again, no one should have to live in constant fear nor be subjected to violence or discrimination. It is wrong.”

“We will continue to work to advance respect for human rights for all in Uganda and also around the world.”

President Joe Biden called for the law to be immediately repealed when it passed last May and also removed Uganda from a 2000 trade pact known as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Biden’s administration says it contributes to anti-LGBTQ+ persecution, but Ugandan State Minister for Foreign Affairs Henry Okello Oryem accused Western nations of trying “to coerce us into accepting same-sex relationships using aid and loans.”

The United Nations and international aid groups also condemned the law, worried it could reverse decades of progress against AIDS in Africa. After Uganda passed the law, the World Bank began halting all loans to Uganda.

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken also denounced the court’s decision.

“The United States continues to be deeply concerned by reports of human rights abuses in Uganda, including against the LGBTQI+ community,” Blinken said in a statement. “The remaining provisions of the AHA pose grave threats to the Ugandan people, especially LGBTQI+ Ugandans and their allies, undermine public health, clamp down on civic space, damage Uganda’s international reputation and harm efforts to increase foreign investment.”

Out Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) said in a statement that he was “outraged” by the court’s decision and commended the Biden administration for “sending a clear message through both rhetoric and policy that this law is fundamentally inhumane.”

“I am outraged by the ruling from Uganda’s Constitutional Court upholding a law that strips LGBTQ Ugandans of their dignity, liberty, and in some cases their lives,” the statement said. “It is a disgrace and a deeply disturbing step backwards for human rights in the region.”

“This draconian law adds a whole new layer of systematic, state-sponsored discrimination on top of what LGBTQ Ugandans already face: social marginalization, police violence, evictions, job loss, harassment, assault, and even murder.”