Uganda Arrests Two Women for Kissing in Public
The women were detained under Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, which imposes life sentences and, in some cases, the death penalty.
Police in Uganda arrested and detained two women accused of engaging in same-sex conduct, in violation of the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act.
The women were arrested in Arua, a city in northwestern Uganda, on February 18 after neighbors claimed they were often seen kissing in public.
Wendy Faith, a 22-year-old musician known as Torrero Bae, and Alesi Diana Denise, 21, were taken into custody after police raided the room they were renting.
“Information was received from the community that the suspects have been involved in queer and unusual acts believed to be sexual in nature, besides being allegedly seen kissing each other in broad daylight,” Josephine Angucia, a spokeswoman for the West Nile Regional Police, told The Guardian in a statement.
“It’s further alleged … that many ladies normally converge to stay at the suspects’ residence. It is upon that information that police acted by arresting the two female suspects under the allegation of practicing homosexuality,” Angucia added.
Angucia told The Associated Press that officers allegedly caught the couple “red-handed on the cement floor” during the raid.
The women were later freed on bond and have not been charged, though the investigation remains ongoing.
Under the Anti-Homosexuality Act, signed into law in 2023, those convicted of engaging in same-sex relations face life in prison. Those convicted of “aggravated homosexuality” — defined as same-sex relations involving someone living with HIV or cases involving coercion — can face the death penalty.
Those convicted of “attempted aggravated homosexuality” face up to 14 years in prison, while those convicted of “attempted homosexuality” face up to 10 years.
The law also imposes prison terms of up to 20 years for anyone who advocates for or promotes LGBTQ rights, presents homosexuality as a normal sexual orientation — including members of media organizations — or provides space for such advocacy.
Same-sex activity is also criminalized under a separate colonial-era law that punishes relations against “the order of nature.”
The Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum reported in January that it had handled 956 cases targeting LGBTQ people since the Anti-Homosexuality Act was passed, with 1,276 individuals charged under the law.
The detention of the women in Arua “underscores the grim reality we are facing on the ground under the Anti-Homosexuality Act,” Ugandan LGBTQ rights activist Frank Mugisha said. “We have seen a surge in a targeted crackdown that goes beyond just arrests; it has fueled a dangerous cycle of blackmail and extortion.”
“The queer community in Uganda right now is not just afraid. We are grieving. We are grieving the freedom we never fully had. We are grieving two young women who did nothing wrong. We are grieving the Uganda we wish existed but does not yet,” Ugandan gay rights activist Hans Senfuma told The Guardian.
“The arrest of Wendy and Diana is not an isolated incident,” Senfuma added. “It is a message, loud, deliberate, and brutal, sent to every queer person in Uganda: we are watching you, and we will come for you too.”
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