Queer Emergency Aid Uganda

Why your donation is important

Queer people in Uganda need our solidarity and support. Homosexuality has been punishable there since British colonial times. However, once the “Anti-Homosexuality Act” comes into force in summer 2023, “homosexual acts” could result in long prison sentences or even the death penalty.

Many LGBTIQ* people experience violence, no longer dare to leave the house, no longer have access to prevention, support and care and to the health system. Many people with HIV can no longer get their medication.

The political and legal fight against the queer-hostile law continues. LGBTIQ* persons in acute need, however, need our support now. Important are especially

• Food packages for people who cannot leave the house for fear of lynching or arrest
• Emergency accommodation for three to four people each: Rent, food, electricity, water & Co.
• Drugs and medical devices
• Funds for transportation, communications (telephony, internet), legal support.

Your donation arrives

The Queer Emergency Uganda Alliance is supported by WE AID, a platform for non-profit crisis relief. In this way, 100% of the money donated goes to the purposes for which it was donated, without any deduction for administrative costs.

Every donation helps provide queer people in need with the basic necessities: a roof over their heads and protection from violence, water and food, medicine and medical care, data volume and talk time to stay in touch with others, counseling and support.

The Alliance Queer Emergency Uganda

Representatives of organizations and initiatives from the LGBTIQ* community in Germany as well as committed individuals, including people in or from Uganda and Ghana, have joined forces in the Queer Emergency Relief Uganda Alliance.

We are very concerned about the situation of queer people in Uganda. We receive many messages from LGBTIQ*, their families and their civil society representatives.

Together we want to help queer people in need.

Stay up to date and find out when queer people in need need your support.

Our political demands

In an open letter, Let’s Walk Uganda and around 80 other organizations, initiatives and individuals have called on the German government,

• Quickly and unbureaucratically facilitate 200 humanitarian visas for LGBTIQ* and human rights defenders* and those at high risk,
• Support LGBTIQ* organizations on the ground financially and politically to hold safe spaces in Uganda; and
• Create escape corridors to nearby safer countries.

In our press release of 23.6.2023, we also call on the federal government to impose sanctions and withdraw visas for all members of parliament, government officials and religious leaders who have supported the law, as well as to withdraw financial support for all religious organizations that call for the persecution and killing of LGBTIQ* people in Uganda.

The “Anti-Homosexuality Act” of 2023

Homosexuality has been punishable in Uganda since British colonial times. While queer people in Uganda are accused of being a “product of the West,” in reality queer hostility is a “product of the West.”

Also in the run-up to the “Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023”, evangelical queer-hostile individuals from the West , together with religious fundamentalists*, have had a massive influence on opinion formation and have stirred up hatred towards LGBTIQ*.

Uganda’s “Anti-Homosexuality Act,” which went into effect in the summer of 2023, is one of the most queer-hostile laws in the world . It prohibits all sexual acts between persons of the same sex and also the “promotion” or recognition of such acts.

Homosexual acts can be punished with life imprisonment and even the attempt can be punished with up to ten years in prison. “Aggravated homosexuality” even carries the death penalty – for example, if a fatal disease is transmitted as a result of the sexual act (apparently this mainly refers to HIV) or if it is a “repeat offense”.

In addition to the prohibition of homosexual acts, there is the obligation to report such acts – just the suspicion that a person wants to engage in homosexual acts. Those who fail to do so risk a fine, organizations face closure.

For example, providing funds, media, or space to individuals or organizations for activities that “encourage” homosexuality is considered prohibited “promotion of homosexuality.”

The consequences of the “Anti-Homosexuality Act” for queer people

Even before the Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023, homosexuality was illegal in Uganda. Again and again there was also violence against people from the LGBTIQ* community, but at least queer people were able to stand up for their rights and support each other.

Now, in some cases, even the death penalty is threatened. Und Aufklärung, Prävention und Unterstützung für Menschen aus der LGBTIQ*-Community sind höchstens noch heimlich möglich und für alle Beteiligten sehr gefährlich.

Already during the discussion about the law, violence against queer people increased. Churches are publicly saying it is okay to kill gays and lesbians to “protect” children from them.

Many LGBTIQ* people no longer dare to leave the house. They can barely support themselves and no longer have access to condoms to protect themselves and others from HIV.

Worse, many queer people with HIV are no longer getting their medication – either because they are afraid themselves, or because clinics and organizations are afraid of being punished for “promoting homosexuality.” But if people with HIV go off their medication for a long time, it can lead to AIDS and eventually death.

Founding members

Waldschlösschen Academy Foundation
Aktionsbündnis gegen Aids e.V.
Aids Action Europe
Aktionsbündnis gegen Homophobie e.V.
AllOut Action Fund
Berliner Aids-Hilfe e.V.
BiBerlin e.V.
BiNe – Bisexual Network e. V.
CSD Germany e.V.
Checkpoint BLN
Deutsche Aidshilfe e.V.
German Society for Transidentity and Intersexuality dgti e.V.
Equal PostOst e.V.
Fixpunkt e. V.
Hannchen Mehrzweck Stiftung HMS
Hirschfeld-Eddy-Stiftung
Jugendnetzwerk Lambda e.V.
Just Human e.V.
LesLeFam (Lesbian Life Family) e.V.
LesMigraS/Lesbenberatung Berlin e.V.
LGBT+ Rights Ghana
Let’s Walk Uganda
Lesbenring e.V.
Lesbian and Gay Association (LSVD) e.V.
Order of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence – House Sankta Melitta Iuvenis e.V.
Pride Initiative for Eastern Region Uganda (PIERU)
Projekt 100% MENSCH gemeinnützige UG
PROUT AT WORK-Foundation
queeramnesty Berlin
QUEERHOME/Sonntagsclub e.V.
Queermentor-Training & Empowerment Network gGmbH
RuT –Rad und Tat – Offene Initiative lesbischer Frauen e.V.
Schwulenberatung Berlin gGmbH
SchwuZ Berlin GmbH
TransInterQueer e.V.
Uganda Minority Shelters Consortium (UMSC)
Völklinger Kreis e.V.
Wirtschaftsweiber e.V.

Individuals

Fabian Grischkat, newsfluencer / presenter
Dirk Ludigs, journalist and activist
Dr. Lutz Van Dijk