(Bloomberg) —

Ugandan LGBTQ activists filed a lawsuit in the nation’s Constitutional Court challenging a new law that provides for violators to be sentenced to lengthy prison sentences or even death.  

Ten individuals and a civil rights organization filed a petition for the Anti-Homosexuality Act to be struck down because it criminalizes consensual same-sex relations, Richard Smith Lusimbo, one of the applicants said Tuesday by email from the capital, Kampala. The challenge was filed after President Yoweri Museveni on Monday signed off on the legislation, which lawmakers had approved on May 2. 

The new law has attracted international criticisms, including from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who said America will consider imposing travel restrictions on Ugandan officials for abusing universal human rights.

Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) threatens the lives of its people as well as the country’s prosperity. The United States urges the immediate repeal of the AHA to protect the human rights of all Ugandans. https://t.co/3djhKSJ0F4— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) May 30, 2023

Uganda’s court quashed an earlier version of the law more than eight years ago because proper procedures weren’t followed. 

Read more: Why Uganda’s LGBTQ Community Is Under Renewed Fire: QuickTake

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