Ugandan activists target anti-gay legislation

Just days after Namibia's High Court struck down colonial-era laws criminalising same-sex acts between men in a victory for the LGBTQ+ community in the southern African country, Ugandan activists filed an appeal to Uganda's Supreme Court in the latest legal challenge to a ruling upholding the controversial anti-gay legislation adopted last year. Legalbrief reports that the Windhoek court declared the crimes of sodomy and ‘unnatural sexual offences’ as unconstitutional and invalid. The country’s Supreme Court last year recognised same-sex marriages contracted abroad between citizens and foreign spouses, but gay sex remained a crime. In April, Uganda’s Constitutional Court threw out a challenge to the Anti-Homosexuality Act, which is considered one of the harshest such laws in the world, a Voice of America report notes. It imposes penalties of up to life in prison for consensual same-sex relations and contains provisions that make ‘aggravated homosexuality’ an offence punishable by death. A group including rights activists and a politician last week filed a formal notice of appeal against the court's decision in mid-April, contesting its determination that the law did not violate Uganda's Constitution. ‘The Constitutional Appeal challenging the Ugandan Constitutional Court's decision to uphold vast sections of the Anti-Homosexuality Act has been filed at the Supreme Court today,’ lawyer Nicholas Opiyo said on X. ‘We will wait for the Supreme Court's directions and are optimistic for an expedited hearing of the case,’ he said. Opiyo told AFP that Thursday's filing was the latest step in the appeal process, following the lodging of a formal notice of appeal three months earlier. The 22 petitioners include MP Fox Odoi-Oywelowo, a member of President Yoweri Museveni's National Resistance Movement, and prominent human rights defender Frank Mugisha.

Full Voice of America report

Meanwhile, Burkina Faso has become the latest African country to ban homosexual acts, a BBC News report says. Homosexuality was frowned upon in the socially conservative West African state, but it was never outlawed. Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala said the military junta's Cabinet had now approved legislation to make it a punishable offence, but he did not give further details. Burkina Faso's decision to outlaw homosexual relations is part of an overhaul of its marriage laws. The new legislation, which still needs to be passed by the military-controlled Parliament and signed off by junta leader Ibrahim Traoré, only recognises religious and customary marriages. ‘Henceforth homosexuality and associated practices will be punished by the law,’ the Justice Minister was quoted by AFP as saying. Burkina Faso was among 22 out of 54 African states where same-sex relations were not criminalised. Unlike in many former British colonies, it did not inherit anti-homosexuality laws after independence from France in 1960. Many African states have been taking a tougher stand against the LGBTQ community in recent years. 

Full BBC News report

In other developments, the daughter of Cameroon's President has said she hopes that her coming out as a lesbian could help change the law banning same-sex relations in her country. BBC News reports that Brenda Biya told the Le Parisien newspaper that there were many people in her situation and she hoped to inspire them. The 27-year-old shared an image of her kissing another woman last week, sparking mixed reactions in the conservative nation. ‘Coming out is an opportunity to send a strong message,’ she said. She added that she found the anti-gay law, which existed before her father came to power, ‘unfair and I hope that my story will change it’. Paul Biya (91) has been President since 1982 and is one of Africa's longest-serving leaders. Rights groups that have been criticising Cameroon’s laws against same-sex relations have been praising Biya’s revelation as a courageous move. But questions have been raised about whether coming out is a privilege that can only be enjoyed by a select few in the country. ‘Anti-LGBT laws in Cameroon disproportionately target the poor. Wealth and connections create a shield for some, while others face severe consequences,’ said LGBT activist Bandy Kiki.

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Full BBC News report