In a victory activists were unsure they'd get, Uganda's Constitutional Court overturned the country's draconian Anti-Homosexuality Act today, declaring the anti-LGBT law "null and void" because of a parliamentary technicality in how it was passed.
The court determined that when members of Parliament passed the law in December 2013, Speaker Rebecca Kadaga had not established quorum — a required minimum number of members present to vote — effectively invalidating the law.
"The speaker was obliged to ensure that there was a quorum," the court ruled, reports the Associated Press. "We come to the conclusion that she acted illegally."
LGBT activists, attorneys, and allies cheered inside the packed courtroom in Uganda's capital city, Kampala, when the verdict was announced, waving rainbow flags and raising their fists in victory.
Kasha Jaqueline, one of the nation's most prominent LGBT activists, a lesbian and feminist, and the founder of the country's first LGBT group, Freedom and Roam Uganda, was ecstatic upon hearing the ruling, according to her Twitter account. "I am no longer criminal today," Jacqueline tweeted. "We have made history for generations to come. Speak OUT now."
Notably, the court did not rule on the constitutional merits of the law, which imposed lifelong prison sentences on those convicted of "aggravated homosexuality," which included repeat instances of sexual contact with a person of the same sex (regardless of consent), and same-sex relations where any member was either HIV-positive, mentally disabled, or a minor. The law also required landlords to evict LGBT tenants or face seven years in jail, and required friends, neighbors, and family members to report known LGBT people to authorities or face jail time themselves.
The AP notes that the government can appeal the decision to Uganda's Supreme Court, or could pass a new antigay law in its place.
Frank Mugisha, one of the country's leading LGBT activists, executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda, and one of The Advocate's "40 Under 40" honorees this year, told the AP he was pleased with the ruling, though nervous about possible backlash, as the law enjoyed widespread public support in Uganda.
After confirming that the LGBT advocates safely made it out of the courtroom — amid a swarm of press and antigay demonstrators — Mugisha and his colleagues took to Twitter to celebrate today's victory.
