Uganda’s Supreme Court has postponed a highly anticipated appeal hearing into the validity of the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, just days after confirming a date for the case.
Earlier in March, the court announced that it would hear the appeal on 31 March 2026. The challenge is against an April 2024 Constitutional Court ruling that largely upheld the law.
For Uganda’s LGBTQ+ community, the appeal had represented a major opportunity to argue that the legislation is unconstitutional, infringes on fundamental rights and freedoms, and contributes to fear, discrimination and intolerance.
However, just four days before the scheduled hearing, Supreme Court Deputy Registrar Akullo Elizabeth Ogwal said the matter had been postponed “due to unforeseen circumstances”.
While apologising for the inconvenience, she said a new hearing date would be announced in due course.
In the meantime, the court has directed all parties to continue filing their submissions and other documents.
Human Rights Watch has described Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act as “one of the world’s harshest anti-LGBT laws”.
The law provides for life imprisonment for same-sex relations and the death penalty for what it describes as “aggravated” homosexuality.
It also criminalises the “promotion of homosexuality”, placing LGBTQ+ activists and human rights defenders at risk of prison terms of up to 20 years.
Since the legislation came into effect in 2023, the Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF) says it has documented 983 cases involving people targeted because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.
In February 2026 alone, HRAPF recorded six arrests, three cases of violence, two evictions linked to victims’ sexuality, and three further incidents involving violence or discrimination. In one of those cases, two women were arrested in the northern city of Arua after neighbours accused them of kissing in public.
