Belgium urged to block Ugandan anti-LGBTIQ+ politician from entering the country
Forbidden Colours, together with the full Bureau of the LGBTIQ+ Intergroup of the European Parliament, has formally called on Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Prévot to declare Ugandan politician Lucy Akello persona non grata and to prevent her entry into Belgium.
The request was made in a joint letter signed by Members of the European Parliament from across all democratic political groups, including S&D, Greens/EFA, Renew, EPP and The Left. This rare cross-party initiative reflects the depth of concern within the European Parliament about the growing normalisation of anti-LGBTIQ+ extremism inside democratic institutions.
Lucy Akello is expected to travel to Brussels on 2 and 3 February to speak at the so-called Transatlantic Forum, an annual gathering of ultraconservative and anti-rights actors organised by the Political Network for Values. Previous editions of the forum have brought together politicians, religious extremists and organisations involved in coordinated campaigns against women’s rights, LGBTIQ+ equality and democratic values worldwide.
Akello has played a visible and active role in promoting and legitimising Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023 — one of the most extreme anti-LGBTIQ+ laws globally. The legislation allows for life imprisonment for consensual same-sex relations and even the death penalty in cases of so-called “aggravated homosexuality”. It also criminalises any form of advocacy or public support for LGBTIQ+ people.
“This is not about freedom of expression,” said Rémy Bonny, Executive Director of Forbidden Colours. “Allowing a politician who bears responsibility for laws that imprison or execute people for who they love to speak in or around the European Parliament would be a profound moral and political failure.”
Forbidden Colours warns that the Transatlantic Forum is part of a broader, coordinated strategy to legitimise anti-LGBTIQ+ repression within democratic spaces themselves. Alongside Akello, the event brings together actors linked to U.S. evangelical networks and Russian-aligned influence operations that have actively supported campaigns to criminalise homosexuality abroad.
Belgium now faces a clear choice. Allowing Lucy Akello to enter the country would directly contradict Belgium’s foreign policy commitments and the European Union’s core values, including respect for human dignity, equality and the right to life.
Forbidden Colours therefore urges the Belgian government to act decisively and to ensure that Belgium does not provide a platform or safe haven to political actors who promote the criminalisation or execution of LGBTIQ+ people.
