LGBTQ Ugandans live in fear as new law looms

FILE PHOTO: Papa De aka DeLovie Kwagala, a queer Ugandan photographer and LGBTQ rights activist living in South Africa, poses for a photo after a demonstration against the proposed anti-gay law in Uganda, in Pretoria, South Africa March 31, 2023. REUTERS/Alet Pretorius

KAMPALA (Reuters) - At a shelter for lesbian women in Uganda's capital Kampala, gone are the days when the residents, having fled abuse and stigma at home, could breathe easy and be themselves.

That came to an end a month ago when parliament passed some of the world's strictest anti-LGBTQ legislation, which would criminalise the "promotion" of homosexuality and impose the death penalty for certain crimes involving gay sex.