Uganda’s government approved one of the world’s harshest anti-homosexuality legislation last week, sparking global criticism.
If the president signs it into law, anyone who labels as LGBT could risk life in jail.
It also jeopardizes the survival of the few refuges where LGBT people have sought haven after being evicted from their homes.
The BBC gained entry to these hidden refuges and interviewed inhabitants about their lives and worries.
Ali, one of the interviewees, revealed he had kept his sexuality hidden until he was caught in 2019 during a police search on a clandestine homosexual club in Kampala, Uganda’s city.
“My father said: ‘I never want to see you again. You’re not my child. I can’t have a child like you,’ says Ali, whose name has been changed to protect his identity.
Despite the evident pain of this event, the young guy in his mid-20s talks gently and calmly.
“He was searching for me to beat me but my mother told me to hide. I did not have a plan, but I knew I had to leave home.”
His tale of shame, brutality, and terror gives an insight into the lives of LGBT people in Uganda.
The nation already prohibits gay intercourse, but the new Anti-Homosexuality Bill goes even further.
The bill, which is still pending presidential approval before it becomes law, calls for life in prison for anyone who identifies as a sexual minority, as well as the execution sentence for gays who perpetrate child sexual assault.
Raping a minor under the age of 14 or if the perpetrator is HIV-positive already entails the death sentence, but it is rarely used.
It may also result in the closing of any refuge where people have gone to seek protection, because it makes it an offense to contract a property “for the purpose of engaging in activities that encourage homosexuality.”
Uganda is already one of 32 African nations that criminalize adult same-sex consenting intercourse.
The measure has been extensively criticized globally, with the United States threatening penalties against the country and the European Union declaring its opposition to the death sentence in all situations
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