By 
Diyara Demir | Middle East & Africa Researcher | Global Human Rights Defence
Source: © Anna Shvets via Pexels, June 4th, 2020.
Two young women in north-western Uganda face possible life imprisonment after being arrested for allegedly kissing in public, renewing concern over the country’s harsh anti-LGBTQIA+ laws. The pair were detained in Arua City under the 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act, which activists say has intensified arrests, harassment and fear for LGBTQIA+ people.
Two young women in north-western Uganda are facing the possibility of life imprisonment after being arrested for allegedly kissing in public, an incident that has reignited global concern over the country’s extensive anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation. Wendy Faith, a 22-year-old musician known as Torrero Bae, and 21-year-old Alesi Diana Denise were taken into custody after police raided their rented room in Arua City following reports from community members alleging that the pair had engaged in “queer and unusual acts”. According to a regional police spokesperson, the women had allegedly been seen kissing in broad daylight and hosting other women at their residence, stimulating authorities to act.
The arrest took place under Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, signed into law in 2023, one of the harshest anti-LGBTQAI+ legal regimes globally. The law provides for life imprisonment for consensual same-sex relations, and even the death penalty for certain forms of “aggravated homosexuality”.
Rights groups say the case reflects a broader climate of repression. Frank Mugisha, executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), warned that the incident is not isolated but part of a pattern of increasing arrests, harassment, and targeting of individuals based on their perceived sexual orientation or relationships. Recent monitoring by the Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF) indicates that such abuses remain widespread. Since the implementation of the law in May 2023, legal aid networks have handled hundreds of cases involving violence, arrests, evictions, and discrimination against individuals because of their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.
Activists warn that the law has created an atmosphere of fear, enabling blackmail, extortion, and social surveillance of LGBTQAI+ individuals. As one Ugandan activist noted, cases like this send a frightening message to the country’s queer community: their safety and dignity remain precarious under the current legal framework.
