Pope welcomed Ugandan LGBTQ+ activist to Rome

A Ugandan LGBTQ+ activist revealed she met with Pope Francis in Rome earlier this month.

Clare Byarugaba, the diversity, equity, and inclusion officer for Chapter Four Uganda, an LGBTQ+ support and advocacy group, said she was “honored” to meet the Pontiff and took the opportunity to speak of the difficulties faced in her country where same-sex sexual relations are outlawed and punishable by up to life in prison or even death in some instances.

Video and pictures posted to X (formerly Twitter) showed Francis warmly greeting Byarugaba and inviting her to sit with him.

“His Holiness reiterated that discrimination is a sin and violence against LGBTI people is unacceptable,” Byarugaba posted to X on Tuesday. “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.”

Byarugaba said she advised the Pope about Uganda’s “gross human rights violations” and the “ruinous impact” of its anti-LGBTQ+ laws.

“His Holiness reiterated that discrimination is a sin and violence against LGBTI people is unacceptable,” Byarugaba posted, adding, “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.”

Earlier this year, Pope Francis apologized after anonymous bishops told Italian news outlets Corriere della Sera and Italian dailies La Repubblica that the Pope used a homophobic slur during a meeting with church officials who were debating whether or not to allow out gay priests in the clergy.

Pope Francis reportedly claimed that while the church should welcome everyone, a gay priest would be leading a double life. He then said that seminaries already have too much “frociaggine,” which loosely translates to “faggotry” or “faggotness.”

In a statement to the Associated Press, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said there is “room for everyone” in the church.

“The pope never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms, and he extends his apologies to those who were offended by the use of a term that was reported by others,” Bruni said.

In June, a student from the Philippines challenged the Pope during a live video conference entitled “Building Bridges Across Asia Pacific: A Synodal Encounter with Pope Francis and University Students.”

Acebedo Rivera, a psychology student at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines, used his allotment of time to challenge Pope Francis to ease certain religious restrictions in his country and refrain from using language derogatory to the LGBTQ+ community.

“I myself am outcasted and bullied due to my bisexuality, my gayness, my identity, and being a son of a single parent. My mother cannot divorce my father. Please allow divorce in the Philippines,” Rivera said before returning to the subject of the Pope’s recent internal comments denigrating the air of “faggotry” in the Vatican. “And stop using offensive language against the LGBTQIA+ community. This leads to immense pain. Due to this, I developed bipolar disorder and I am stigmatized.”

Uganda is a culturally conservative country where same-sex sexual relations are banned. The Anti-Homosexuality Act was signed into law by President Yoweri Museveni last year. People found to be “engaging in acts of homosexuality” face up to life in prison. The law also calls for the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality” which refers to people living with HIV engaging in same-sex sexual relations and repeat offenders.

The law met with widespread international opposition. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre described the act as “deeply concerning” before it was signed into law.

“The bill is one of the most extreme anti-LGBTQI+ laws in the world. Human rights are universal,” Pierre said last year after an earlier draft of the legislation was returned to parliament by Museveni. “No one should be attacked, imprisoned, or killed simply because of who they are or whom they love.”

Steven Kabuye, an activist and editor with Coloured Voices Media Foundation – Truth to LGBTQ Uganda, was a victim of one such brutal attack in January. He was attacked by two men on a motorcycle wielding a knife as he walked to work. According to a police spokesperson, Patrick Onyango, one of the helmeted men jumped off the bike and swung the knife at Kabuye focusing specifically on his neck.

“Kabuye managed to shield his neck with his right arm, resulting in a stab wound to his hand,” Onyango said in the statement. “Despite attempting to flee, the assailants chased and stabbed him in the stomach, and left him for dead.”

Kabuye was discovered by residents and taken to an area hospital where he underwent emergency surgery.

The activist posted a video of the wounds to X immediately after he was attacked. The short but disturbing video showed a bleeding Kabuye lying on his side with a large, deep gash and a large knife still embedded in his stomach.

In addition to the violence against the LGBTQ+ community, prosecutors have not been shy in bringing charges under the new law.

In August of last year, a 20-year-old man became the first person to face the death penalty under the law after he allegedly performed what prosecutors described as “unlawful sexual intercourse” with a 41-year-old man with diminished mental capabilities.

In October of last year, two men were allegedly caught having anal sex by a peeping tom. The incident occurred during a heavy rainstorm in Kampala on the afternoon of Friday, October 20. A student sought shelter from the downpour on the veranda of a salon when he heard sounds coming from within the salon.

“It was at this point that the student heard funny screaming sounds inside the salon,” Fred Enanga, a spokesperson for the Uganda Police, told reporters following the arrests. “The student picked up his phone and recorded the two suspects in the act of sodomy.”

President Joe Biden condemned the law in May, calling it “a tragic violation of universal human rights — one that is not worthy of the Ugandan people, and one that jeopardizes the prospects of critical economic growth for the entire country.” He called for the immediate repeal of the law.

And in August, the World Bank cut off new funding to Uganda over the new law.

“Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act fundamentally contradicts the World Bank Group’s values,” the World Bank said in a statement at the time.