On May 26, 2023, President Museveni assented to the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023. The Act which criminalizes same-sex conduct between consenting adults retained the death penalty in cases of “aggravated homosexuality”
Upon assenting to it, the Act that received mixed reactions from the public also saw several people taking a fall for not supporting it.
One of those is Dorcas Tumwebaze, a former administrative secretary at the Parliament of Uganda for her vital role in advocating for same sex relationships.
After the passing of the controversial bill by the members of Parliament proposing strong penalties for the LGBTQ+ community in Uganda, her life and that of her family has been put in great danger.
In the early stages before tabling the bill, Tumwebaze played a vital role in choosing not to stay silent about the development of segregation among minority groups of people in the different communities.
“We held several closed-door meetings where we were divided over the bill. Without staying silent, I expressed my stand opposing the bill in all meetings,” she says.
Tumwebaze explains that after the passing of the bill, other staff members and her who had chosen to oppose the bill and defend the rights of the minority group, became the target of Parliament.
She says their stand against the injustice backfired and she started receiving threats from her colleagues who supported the bill before they leaked her name and contact to the public, telling them how she was sponsored by the Western donors to defend and promote LGBTQ+ using her influence at Parliament.
“The news about my stance quickly spread and even my community started to turn against me and my family. My husband started to be tailgated by unknown people during most of his commute to the workplace and also received threats on his mobiles,” she shares.
Tumwebaze adds that they reported and filed a complaint to the police about the threats they were receiving.
“My husband is a loving and supportive partner who shares my values. We had quietly advocated for protection, tolerance of the LGBT and understanding while being fully aware of the repercussions and risks it takes to defend such a group in our community.”
The couple decided to change their address for their safety and that of their daughter but this did not stop people from sending them life-threatening messages.
“Anonymous contacts kept sending us threatening messages that made us so frightened and as a family, we started experiencing a psychological and emotional breakdown, living in fear for our lives,” she says, adding that people kept sending messages promising mob justice and violence.
Some of their property was vandalised and destroyed by anonymous people who were seeking revenge for her not supporting the passing of the bill.
“At the moment, there is nowhere safe for me and my small family (daughter and husband) as we are being targeted for my bold move against injustice to the minority group. We believe in equal rights and justice for all.”
Background
In 2023, the Parliament of Uganda passed the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) to criminalise homosexuality, its recognition, promotion, financing and normalization.
As soon as the President of Uganda assented to the Anti-Homosexuality law on the May 26, 2023, four Constitutional Petitions were filed in the Constitutional Court by a total of 22 private citizens and human rights activists, challenging virtually all the seventeen sections of the Anti-Homosexuality Act for their alleged contravention of human rights and freedoms that are guaranteed under the Uganda Constitution, and international human rights instruments to which Uganda is a party.
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