A recent report has found that Uganda’s draconian anti-homosexuality bill has cost the country $1.6 billion to uphold so far. According to the Washington Blade, some Ugandan queer rights organizations have asked the government to repeal the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) since it was signed into law by President Yoweri Museveni in May of last year. The act is under appeal with the country’s Supreme Court, mostly to save the country from continued economic losses.
Why is the bill costing Uganda so much money? Well some of the country’s strongest economic allies have invoked consequences on the country for their harsh bills, including the U.S. and the World Bank Group. Open for Business, a group of leading pro-LGBTQ+ global organizations, released a report earlier this month that indicated that foreign investment, donor aid, trade and tourism, and public health and productivity have all suffered because of the Anti-Homosexuality Act. Open for Business also calculated that the country has sacrificed anywhere between 0.9 and 3.2% of gross domestic product (GDP).
“Uganda continues to enforce the AHA (Anti-Homosexuality Act) without addressing international concerns, leading to severe economic isolation,” the report reads. ”In this scenario, FDI (foreign direct investment) and donor aid could decline sharply, tourism might collapse, and key partners could impose more trade sanctions.”
The country also suffers from a fleeing population, the Washington Blade reports 15,000 LGBTQ people have fled Uganda, with nearly half of Ugandans who sought asylum in the U.K. in 2023 claiming their reason for leaving was homophobia.
UMSC Coordinator John Grace told the Washington Blade that Uganda should “take immediate action to repeal the AHA in its entirety” to protect from further loss. “The economic cost of this discriminatory law is too high and the human rights violations it perpetuates are unacceptable.”
