The Global Fight for Queer Liberation: Resisting Persecution & Criminalization of Homosexuality in Uganda

Date 

Add to My Calendar Monday, April 3, 2023 6:00pm to 8:00pm

Location 

2 Court Square West
CUNY School of Law
Long Island City, NY 11101

Amidst escalating attacks on the LGBTQIA+ community worldwide, we are witnessing alarming developments in Uganda, where Parliament is once again considering a sweeping Anti-Homosexuality Bill. The draconian legislation, which mirrors similar laws being proposed in Ghana and Kenya, would criminalize consensual sex and sentence those found guilty of “promotion of homosexuality,” to imprisonment of 2-5 years. Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) has long led the fight against institutionalized homophobia and transphobia in Uganda and regionally; because of their extraordinary work to promote and protect the human rights of the LGBTQIA+ community in Uganda, the human rights defenders at SMUG are facing mounting threats to their safety. Most recently, the Ugandan government banned the organization in 2022, and is in the process of investigating and targeting multiple other civil society organizations that support the LGBTQIA+ community.

Join SMUG Executive Director Frank Mugisha, in conversation with Center for Constitutional Rights Executive Director & W. Haywood Burns Chair for Human and Civil Rights, Vince Warren, Center for Constitutional Rights Attorney Pamela Spees ’98, and Professor Jeena Shah.

How do we situate the wave of discriminatory legislation targeting the rights of queer and trans people in Uganda within a broader analysis of the history of persecuting gender and sexual minorities in periods of rising authoritarianism progressing towards fascism? What do we know of the sources of exchange and export of homophobic legislation? What can movement lawyers and activists do to support communities under attack?

Reception to follow. Register for the event here.

Last modified 

March 21, 2023