Ugandan police detain two women reported for kissing in public

Ugandan police have detained two women in the northwest of the country after neighbors reported them for same-sex activity, in a rare arrest linked to a 2023 anti-LGBTQ law

KAMPALA, Uganda -- Ugandan police detained two women who were reported by their neighbors to be engaging in same-sex activities in a remote part of northwestern Uganda, a police spokesperson said on Thursday, one of the first known instances of arrests under an anti-LGBTQ law enacted in 2023.

The women were arrested in the city of Arua on Feb. 18 after police were notified they were often seen kissing. When the police arrived, they caught the couple “red-handed on the cement floor,” said spokesperson Josephine Angucia.

The women later were freed on police bond and have yet to be charged as investigations proceed, she said.

The law, enacted in 2023, was supported by many in this East African country but widely condemned by rights activists and others abroad. Its promoters said it was necessary to protect children.

While it doesn’t criminalize identifying as LGBTQ, it mandates the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality,” which is defined as cases of sexual relations involving people infected with HIV, as well as with minors and other categories of vulnerable people.