Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni has indicated that he is
planning to sign into law the country's long-languishing
Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which would impose lifetime jail sentences for
certain instances of homosexuality and would sentence anyone who
performs a same-sex marriage to seven years' imprisonment.
Government
spokesman Ofwondo Opondo announced the decision on Twitter Friday, and a
spokeswoman for the ruling National Resistance Movement confirmed the
decision to BuzzFeed.
Opondo's tweets
Friday afternoon noted, "The NRM caucus has welcomed the development as
a measure to protect Ugandans from social deviants," and explained that
"Ugandan traditionalists, religious leaders & politicians have been
urging Museveni to sign the Bill."
Opondo
also said the president was apparently swayed by a report presented at
an ongoing parliamentary retreat where a dozen lawmakers "with medical
backgrounds" claimed to have scientific proof that homosexuality was "socially acquired" and curable.
Human
rights and LGBT advocates around the world were quick to condemn
Museveni's decision to sign the bill, which was first introduced in
Uganda's Parliament in 2009. At that time, the bill prescribed the death
penalty for certain instances of "aggravated homosexuality," which
included repeated same-sex sex acts between consenting adults, or any
sex act where one person was HIV-positive, a minor, or mentally
handicapped. The revised version of the legislation — hastily passed by Parliament December 20
— reportedly replaced the capital punishment provision with one calling
for life imprisonment for such acts, but LGBT activists in Uganda note
that they still have not seen the actual language of the bill and therefore can't confirm that the death penalty has been removed.
"President
Museveni has been studying this bill for many months, weighing the
politics and hearing from world leaders about the serious impact its
enactment would have on Uganda's international status," said Robyn
Lieberman of Human Rights First in a statement. "There should be no
doubt that Museveni's latest words on the subject have been influenced
by the reaction to similar legislation in Nigeria, Russia and
elsewhere."
"Unless this bill
is stopped from becoming law, lives will be destroyed, and countless
people will be punished for an immutable characteristic," said Human
Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin. "Anti-LGBT Americans advocated
for laws further criminalizing LGBT people in Uganda, and it looks like
they are now getting their wish. Whether it’s Brian Brown advocating for
anti-LGBT laws in Russia or Scott Lively calling for the further
criminalization of LGBT people in Uganda, anti-LGBT Americans must stop
exporting their hate abroad."
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