An LGBT advocacy group in Uganda, Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), had their petition to force the government to register them dismissed by the court.

The government's registrar of companies had initially refused to list SMUG, citing their name as "undesirable" and stating that they promoted the interests of individuals whose lifestyles were illegal under Ugandan law.

In 2022, the government suspended SMUG's operations due to their lack of official registration. Uganda has strict laws against same-sex relations, with one of the harshest anti-LGBT laws in the world enacted in May.

The recent court decision was the result of an appeal from a 2018 judgment that ruled against SMUG, which is one of the country's leading LGBT rights organizations.