Uganda’s LGBT community endures trying year

As a Ugandan court hears a challenge on Monday to one of the world’s harshest anti-LGBT laws, there’s more at stake than the simple constitutionality of the statute.
LGBT activists say the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) has given Ugandans an implicit licence to abuse and discriminate against sexual minorities.
While at least seven people have been charged under the AHA since its enactment in May, including two for alleged offences that carry the death penalty, hundreds more have suffered torture, sexual abuse, intimidation and eviction at the hands of private citizens, according to a report released in September by
rights groups.
Reached for comment, government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo said in a text message: “I won’t waste my time giving credence to falsehoods. Let them run with their propaganda. It won’t negatively alter Uganda’s record on the ground.”
The government has previously said the AHA is meant to criminalise same-sex activity and its promotion, not penalise LGBT Ugandans.