NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani failed to condemn Uganda's KILL THE GAYS Law. Read AHRC's open letter to see why this is important. Please sign on.
This petition accompanies an open letter calling on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to break his silence on the severe human rights abuses occurring in Uganda, the country of his birth and whose citizenship he reportedly still holds. As he assumes one of the most influential public offices in the world, his voice carries extraordinary weight — and moral responsibility. Yet despite building his political career on defending marginalized communities, he has never spoken out against Uganda’s authoritarian regime, its brutal crackdown on dissent, or its notorious Anti-Homosexuality Act (2023), one of the most extreme anti-LGBTQ laws on earth.
Uganda’s government under Yoweri Museveni has spent nearly four decades torturing political opponents, assaulting journalists, detaining citizens in secret “safe houses,” dismantling democratic institutions, and weaponizing state power to silence critics. The 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act escalated this repression, prescribing life imprisonment for consensual same-sex relationships and even the death penalty under certain provisions. Since its passage, thousands of LGBTQI+ Ugandans have been attacked, evicted, or forced to flee into dangerous exile within hostile neighboring countries. This humanitarian emergency continues largely in silence.
Despite deep personal, cultural, and familial ties to Uganda — including recent high-profile visits — Mamdani has offered no condemnation of these abuses. He has spoken forcefully against oppression in the United States, but not against the dictatorship that persecutes queer people, journalists, women, and political dissidents in the country he still claims. Such silence is inconsistent with the values he champions and incompatible with the leadership expected of the mayor of New York City.
This petition urges Mayor Mamdani to use his platform to publicly condemn the Museveni regime, call for the repeal of the Anti-Homosexuality Act, and stand in solidarity with Uganda’s LGBTQI+ community and all who suffer under state repression. Leadership requires courage. Speaking out now would save lives, restore moral clarity, and demonstrate that justice cannot be selective.
