This is how the anti-gay law is hurting businesses in Uganda

KAMPALA, Uganda — Sitting in his office, Simon Azarwagye, owner of Azas Safaris, a travel company, points to the data on his laptop to explain his discontent.

“See that?” he says, pointing to a graph titled “quote requests.” It represents the 89 potential clients he was communicating with at the beginning of 2023. They had all inquired about tours of Uganda's lush forests; Expeditions cost around $15,000 per couple for 13 days.

That was before the country's Parliament began debating one of the strongest anti-LGBTQ laws in the world. It included the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality”—same-sex relations with disabled, HIV-positive, or elderly people—and criminalized the defense of homosexuals in public.

News of the bill made international headlines. When it became law last May, Western leaders threatened sanctions that Uganda, which has an inferior economy to those of Libya and Sudan, cannot afford. Within weeks, 60 of Azarwagye's 89 potential customers, most from Europe or the United States, had canceled or ignored messages.

He said some told him, “'It's dangerous to go to Uganda because of that law.'”

Since the law was passed, there have been arrests and hundreds of rights violations involving LGBTQ people, reports Convening for Equality, a human rights coalition. The law is also taking a severe economic toll. The hotel industry is suffering. Textile makers say Western buyers have canceled orders. Construction companies say it has scared away foreign investors.

“We had an in-person meeting with an American private equity firm, and one of the people who runs the firm made it clear that he had a moral problem with the law,” said Venugopal Rao, chief executive of Dott Services, a construction company in Kampala, the capital.

Observers see the root of Uganda's intolerance toward LGBTQ people in the conservative currents of Catholicism and evangelicalism that dominate the country.

Activists have filed petitions against the law, hoping it will be declared unconstitutional. Uganda's Constitutional Court held a hearing in December and some believe a ruling will come soon. “This is the best law that Parliament could have passed,” said Andrew Mwenda, a journalist who petitioned the court. “You know why? Because it is so bad that no court could ratify it.”

The broader trends in Africa are in the direction of tolerance. Six African countries have legalized same-sex relationships in the last decade.

By: DAVID SEGAL