Authorities in Uganda rounded up and arrested 127 people in the raid of Ram, an LGBT-friendly bar in Kampala, according to activists on the ground. Ram is the only LGBT-friendly bar in the city.
Just last month, Ugandan leaders sought to revive the internationally condemned “kill the gays” legislation around the same time that police in Kampala arrested 16 men suspected of engaging in homosexual acts, forcing them to undergo anal exams.
Meanwhile, OutRight said at least four LGBT individuals in Uganda have died in hate-related attacks. “The resurfacing of the anti-homosexuality bill in a country which already prescribes life imprisonment for same-sex relations could only have had one intention — to increase hate and stigma against LGBT people, putting them at heightened risk of arbitrary detention and attack,” said Jessica Stern, executive director of OutRight.
Same-sex relations have been criminalized in Uganda since British colonial times. Articles on “unnatural offenses” and “indecent practices” have been retained in the Penal Code since independence. “Carnal knowledge against the order of nature” between men carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
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