Pope Francis seated with Ugandan LGBTQ+ advocate Clare Byarugaba
Pope Francis met with an LGBTQ+ activist from Uganda, and during their conversation he once again condemned discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.
The activist, Clare Byarugaba, posted on X (formerly Twitter) about the audience. She tweeted:
“Honoured to meet @Pontifex. I briefed on the ruinous impact of the Uganda’s *two in a decade Anti-LGBTIQ rights Laws*#AHA23 and the gross human rights violations therein. He reiterated;- Discrimination is a sin and violence against LGBTIQ communities is Unacceptable #RepealAHA23″
Byarugaba is DEI officer for the Ugandan civil liberties group Chapter Four, which includes sexual orientation and gender in its mission.
Her tweet referenced the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023 (AHA23). While homosexuality was already criminalized in Uganda by then, that new law intensified punishments, such as imposing the death penalty for so-called “aggravated homosexuality,” life imprisonment for any same-gender sexual activity, and possible forced conversion therapy. It also targeted people simply for “promoting” homosexuality, possibly impacting not only LGBTQ+ rights work, but HIV/AIDS advocacy.
A number of Ugandan Catholic leaders eventually applauded the Anti-Homosexuality Act after years of back and forth over whether the bishops should support such legislation. The chancellor of the Archdiocese of Kampala, Fr. Pius Male, thanked Ugandan President Yoweri Musavani for signing the legislation, noting that it allegedly aligned Ugandan law with the Bible. Catholic politicians, including the Speaker of Parliament, Anita Annet Among and key legislator Charles Onen, were instrumental to the law’s passage. Some 40% of Uganda’s population is Catholic, the second largest Catholic population in Africa.
However, many other Catholics inside the country and abroad have challenged the law since it was first proposed a decade ago. One of those Catholics, Juan Carlos Cruz, a gay friend of the pope and a survivor of clergy sexual abuse is shown in an accompanying video introducing Byarugaba to Francis. After the Anti-Homosexuality Act was passed last year, Cruz contrasted how Ugandan prelates responded with Pope Francis’ repeated objections to anti-LGBTQ+ criminalization laws. He wrote, in part:
“Yet, despite the pope’s words, Uganda’s Catholic bishops remain noticeably silent on this issue. Also silent is the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization that oversees the dioceses and bishops in Uganda. Their silence creates a void, one filled by fear, discrimination and dehumanization. As moral and spiritual leaders, their words — or lack thereof — can shape public opinion, either legitimizing these inhumane laws or challenging them.”
In 2023, around an apostolic visit to South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo, Pope Francis twice explicitly stated that “being homosexual is not a crime” and “I would tell whoever wants to criminalize homosexuality that they are wrong.” Francis explained, the real sin in the debate over homosexuality is when someone faces discrimination because of their identity.
In a statement released by Chapter Four Uganda, BByarugaba explained that during their audience the pope not only condemned discrimination but encouraged LGBTQ+ advocacy to oppose human rights violations. She stated:
“His Holiness @Pontifex reiterated that discrimination is a sin & violence against LGBTI people is unacceptable. He said the Church should never discriminate. He walks with everyone that has been denied their dignity. He further encouraged us to defend our rights.”
Dr. Frank Mugisha, a Ugandan LGBTQ+ advocate with a Catholic background, added his own comments on social media, saying the pope’s audience with Byarugaba sends “a strong message to anti-rights and anti-gay Ugandans.”
Until now, Pope Francis declined to specifically condemn the Ugandan law, or any nation’s specific actions when it comes to criminalization. But with a pope for whom meetings and gestures often are more telling than his words, this latest audience is a clear sign that he rejects the Anti-Homosexuality Act and, perhaps more so, the way Catholics have been complicit in its passage.
Catholic LGBTQ+ advocates worldwide should follow his encouragement to keep working against discrimination and for the protection of LGBTQ+ people’s rights.
—Robert Shine (he/him), New Ways Ministry, August 15, 2024
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