{"id":1194,"date":"2026-01-03T21:08:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T21:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/1194\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T21:08:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T21:08:07","slug":"religiosity-is-keeping-hiv-positive-ugandans-from-getting-the-care-they-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/1194\/","title":{"rendered":"Religiosity is keeping HIV-positive Ugandans from getting the care they need"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new study reveals religious and faith-driven homophobic attitudes are depriving HIV-positive Ugandans of care, and impeding progress toward eradicating the epidemic.<\/p>\n

LGBTQ+ people living with HIV in Uganda already face heightened risk due to limited inclusive services<\/a> and government-sanctioned homophobia. The Anti-Homosexuality Act, or so-called \u201cKill the Gays\u201d law<\/a>, passed in 2023, prescribes long prison terms and even the death penalty in some circumstances for same-sex relations.<\/p>\n

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Adding to those burdens are faith-based health services that are unwelcoming or turn away HIV-positive gay Ugandans, research shows<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The study, titled \u201cThe impact of faith and religion on HIV-related stigma, treatment adherence and service uptake among LGBTQI+ individuals in Uganda,\u201d was published by the\u00a0Universal Coalition of Affirming Africans Uganda<\/a> and conducted in collaboration with the\u00a0Friends of Canon Gideon Foundation<\/a> with support from UNAIDS.<\/p>\n

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While 70% of faith leaders interviewed stated that their faith-based facilities provide HIV support, only 30% offered HIV support services to LGBTQ+ individuals.<\/p>\n

HIV stigma towards LGBTQ+ persons is common among all religions or faiths, the study finds, and those who do preach inclusivity risk excommunication and charges of \u201cpromoting homosexuality.\u201d The providers who support LGBTQ+ individuals do so at their own risk.<\/p>\n

LGBTQ+ individuals reported overwhelmingly that people of faith and religion perceive their sexual orientation as a curse or condemn it, and said religion and faith play a major role in forming negative public perceptions about them.<\/p>\n

That keeps them from accessing care even when it\u2019s available from healthcare providers that they perceive as faith and religion-based.<\/p>\n

Only 5% of the respondents described a positive experience in religious settings where the clergy were aware of their sexual orientation.<\/p>\n

Outside religious settings, \u201cprofessional health workers who attempt to offer HIV services and care to LGBTQI+ persons have come under attack from clerics, colleagues, family members and communities that believe wrongly that being LGBTQI+ is unholy,\u201d said Joto La Jiwe, a Ugandan correspondent<\/a> for the African Human Rights Media Network.<\/p>\n

\u201cConsequently, these services are accessed through discreet frameworks that have also become less safe, thanks to AHA 2023,\u201d he said, referring to the Anti-Homosexuality Act, passed two years ago with overwhelming support in parliament and signed into law by Uganda president Yoweri Museveni.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a person of faith, and I know Allah granted unto us love and free will as the greatest gift to humanity,\u201d said one HIV-positive respondent interviewed for the study.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, some people have failed to acknowledge that love is gender free and that no one ought to control another\u2019s choice or free will.\u201d<\/p>\n

Subscribe to the\u00a0LGBTQ Nation newsletter<\/a>\u00a0and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new study reveals religious and faith-driven homophobic attitudes are depriving HIV-positive Ugandans of care, and impeding progress…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1195,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[1372,1373,1374,1375,1370,1371,1376,153],"class_list":{"0":"post-1194","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uganda","8":"tag-hiv-stigma","9":"tag-hiv-aids","10":"tag-homophobia","11":"tag-kill-the-gays-law","12":"tag-law-policy","13":"tag-post","14":"tag-religious-discrimination","15":"tag-uganda"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1194\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}