On this episode of The Advocacy Chronicles, we’re speaking with Nsubuga Allan Mwasa, a Ugandan activist, clinical psychologist and an advocate for mental health and LGBTQ+ rights. Allan serves as Strategic Initiatives Manager at Sexual Minorities Uganda, or SMUG, which has been at the forefront of the fight for LGBTQ rights, often facing severe challenges including legal battles and violent opposition.
Despite these challenges, SMUG continues to advocate for the fundamental human rights of the LGBTQ community. It does this through legal action, public awareness campaigns, and international advocacy. SMUG is also part of Convening For Equality Uganda, or CFE, a coalition of civil society groups dedicated to challenging Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act. The Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA), signed into law in May 2023, significantly increased discrimination and violence against the LGBTQ+ community. Despite widespread international condemnation and ongoing legal challenges, the law was upheld by the Constitutional Court in April 2024. Petitioners have since filed an appeal to the Supreme Court seeking to overturn the law, which remains one of the strictest in the world, including life imprisonment and death penalty for certain offenses.
Listen
Resources
- Donate to support SMUG, CFE, The Strategic Response Team (SRT), and their work responding to human rights violations against LGBTIQ+ communities in Uganda
- Eteeka Lyayhita…Unwanted, Outlawed and Illegal: The Cry of LGBTIQ+ Ugandans, SRT Report, June 2024
- Discrimination in Public Health: How Funders Should Fight Laws Like Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Uganda: Court Upholds Anti-Homosexuality Act, Human Rights Watch
- Eteeka Lyayita…Lives At Risk, SRT Report, September 2023
- Sharp rise in homophobia in East Africa sparks fear of violence, Health Policy Watch
- UN rights experts condemn Uganda’s “egregious” anti-LGBT legislation, UN News
Follow the Conversation at Convening For Equality Uganda’s Social Media Accounts
- @CFE_Uganda and #RepealAHA23 on X
- @conveningforequality on Threads
- @conveningforequality on Instagram