Uganda’s Gay Death Penalty Is Hurting Its Economy

The New York Times reports:

Since the passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023, as the law is officially known, there have been arrests and hundreds of human rights violations involving L.G.B.T.Q. people, according to a report by Convening for Equality, a coalition of human rights groups.

More quietly, the law is exacting a grim economic toll. The hospitality industry is hurting, hoteliers say. Textile makers say buyers in the United States, in Britain and around Europe have canceled orders, fearing that a “Made in Uganda” label on a garment is now bad for business. Construction companies in Uganda say Western financial backers are spooked.

Business leaders and politicians trace Uganda’s intolerance of L.G.B.T.Q. people to the markedly conservative strains of Catholicism and evangelicalism that dominate the country.

Read the full article.

As has been reported here and elsewhere, the gay death penalty law came after years of lobbying by US-based Christian groups. And as the linked article notes, 94% of Ugandans say they would report a gay family member to the police. It’s also now illegal for landlords to rent to LGBTQ persons. Photo above: President Yoweri Museveni.

Passed in May, Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act is harming businesses in the country that rely on foreign travelers and trade. https://t.co/KZwpNPHrRh

— NYT Business (@nytimesbusiness) December 19, 2023