Uganda's LGBTQ community faces anxiety and uncertainty after U.S. aid freeze

KAMPALA, Uganda — A non-profit organization supporting LGBTQ people in Uganda says its work is being threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump’s suspension of foreign aid.

Pius Kennedy, a program officer with the Kampala-based nonprofit Africa Queer Network, told The Associated Press last week that he and five other permanent employees received a letter from USAID ordering them to stop work immediately after Trump signed the order freezing foreign assistance on Jan. 20.

“USAID has been the biggest HIV (program) funder,” he said. His group has recently stopped activities that support the well-being of LGBTQ people in Uganda, he said, adding that he and others no longer show up at the office because they cannot sustain their work without new cash transfers.

He said the aid suspension could lead to more people getting infected with sexually transmitted diseases “since they will no longer be able to access lubricants, condoms, self-testing kits."

Kennedy's group also relies on grants from other organizations that face uncertainty over funding, such as the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR.

The temporary funding freeze could erase years of gains made in protecting sexual minorities in Uganda, he warned.

Homosexuality is criminalized in more than 30 of Africa’s 54 countries.

In 2023, after Ugandan lawmakers passed an anti-homosexuality bill that punishes consensual same-sex conduct with penalties including life imprisonment, Washington threatened consequences and the World Bank withheld some funding.

Kennedy said Trump’s shuttering of diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the U.S. federal government would be felt outside the U.S., with groups like his no longer able to depend on Washington’s support when they face attacks.

“We would always look at the United States as something that we would always run to in case you are facing a number of insecurities in the country,” he said.