Pope Francis Backs Lesbian Activist Fighting Uganda's Anti-Gay Law

Pontiff at odds with Ugandan bishops' support for criminalization of homosexuality

Protestant LGBTQ+ campaigner Clare Byarugaba with Pope Francis

In a diplomatic rebuke to the bishops of Uganda, Pope Francis is endorsing a high-profile Protestant lesbian activist who is campaigning against her country's recently approved anti-LGBT legislation. 

On April 3, 2024, Uganda's Constitutional Court upheld the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023, which "prohibit(s) any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex," as well as "the promotion or recognition of sexual relations between persons of the same sex."

A day before the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, Francis welcomed Ugandan Protestant LGBTQ+ campaigner Clare Byarugaba to a private meeting at the Vatican, triggering a cascade of praise from homosexual activists for the pro-gay pontiff.

PAPAL KISS

"His Holiness @Pontifex reiterated that discrimination is a sin and violence against LGBTI people is unacceptable. He said the Church should never discriminate," Byarugaba bragged on social media platform X, posting a picture of her sitting with Pope Francis. 

"He walks with everyone that has been denied their dignity. He further encouraged us to defend our rights," Byarugaba emphasized.

"Often [actions] 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."

A video of the meeting shows a joyful pope kissing the lesbian campaigner on both cheeks as he is being introduced to her. 

Byarugaba said she briefed Francis on the "ruinous impact" of Uganda's anti-LGBT laws and the "gross humans rights violations therein." "He reiterated: 'Discrimination is a sin and violence against LGBTIQ communities is unacceptable,'" she added.  

LGBTQ+ ACTIVISTS CHEER FRANCIS

"The Holy Father, Pope Francis, meets with Ugandan LGBTQ activist Clare Byarugaba, sending a strong message to anti-rights and anti-gay Ugandans," Dr. Frank Mugisha, a prominent baptized-Catholic homosexual activist, wrote on social media in response to the news. 

Anglican Archbishop of Uganda Stephen Kaziimba

The heterodox, pro-LGBT Catholic New Ways Ministry (NWM) explained how Francis is using "meetings and gestures," rather than direct condemnation of the Ugandan law, to condemn the criminalization of homosexuality. 

"Often [actions] 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," the article by NWM's executive director, Robert Shine, noted.

DEATH PENALTY FOR AGGRAVATED HOMOSEXUALITY

Uganda's legislation does not criminalize homosexual orientation and makes is clear that "a person who is alleged or suspected of being a homosexual, who has not committed a sexual act with another person of the same sex, does not commit the offence of homosexuality."

Homosexual acts, however, are punishable by with penalties of ten years up to life imprisonment if consensual. The legislation prescribes the death penalty for those convicted of "aggravated homosexuality," which includes repeated same sex acts and intercourse with a person younger than 18, older than 75, or a person with a disability. 

While Uganda's Anglican archbishop Samuel Kaziimba publicly backed the bill during its passage through parliament, Catholic bishops are known to have quietly supported the bill, refusing to release any official statement on it fearing retaliation from Pope Francis, who has repeatedly denounced the anti-LGBT+ legislation in several African countries.

"Homosexuality is currently a challenge in Uganda because it is being imposed on us by outside actors against our will, our culture and our religious beliefs."

Archbishop Kaziimba observed that "LGBTQ-affirming countries have shown the negative consequences" and thanked President Yoweri Museveni "for not surrendering to their threats and for protecting Uganda."

"Homosexuality is currently a challenge in Uganda because it is being imposed on us by outside actors against our will, our culture and our religious beliefs," Kaziimba stated.

The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, a close confidant of the pontiff, lashed out at Kaziimba for supporting the bill, stating: "There is no justification for any province of the Anglican Communion to support such laws: not in our resolutions, not in our teachings, and not in the Gospel we share." 

PROMINENT UGANDAN CATHOLICS SUPPORT ANTI-GAY LAWS

"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," remarked gay activist Juan Carlos Cruz, a close advisor to Francis.

"This ongoing silence becomes more notable considering the Catholic Church's influential role in Uganda, with nearly 40% of Ugandans identifying as Catholic. Catholic bishops, considered moral leaders by millions, hold a unique position of influence and could potentially shift the narrative around this inhumane legislation," he added. 

Several prominent Ugandan Catholics have supported the legislation, including the speaker Anita Among. The MP Charles Onan, a Catholic priest suspended by his bishop in 2020 for political activity, advocated for the bill throughout its passage.

"Thanks be that he has done it."

After President Museveni signed it into law, Fr. Pius Male, chancellor of the Catholic Archdiocese of Kampala, said "Thanks be that he has done it."

The lesbian activist Byarugaba says she dreams of getting "married" to her same-sex partner in the Protestant church "I grew up in, where I was baptized, where I went to Sunday school." 

"I know in my lifetime that it might not happen," but "I felt safe enough to imagine it," she noted.  

The Ugandan parliament passed a similar anti-LGBT law in 2013, which the Constitutional Court declared void on the grounds that it was not passed according to correct parliamentary procedure. 

Editor's note:

To learn more about the papacy and why it is one of the most misunderstood aspects of the Catholic Church, check out our book selection by clicking here.

Dr. Jules Gomes, (BA, BD, MTh, PhD), has a doctorate in biblical studies from the University of Cambridge. Currently a Vatican-accredited journalist based in Rome, he is the author of five books and several academic articles. Gomes lectured at Catholic and Protestant seminaries and universities and was canon theologian and artistic director at Liverpool Cathedral.

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