Uganda’s parliament approved a Tuesday law making it a crime for LGBTQ people to identify. This gives authorities broad power to target homosexual Ugandans already subject to legal discrimination or mob violence.
More than 30 African countries including Uganda have already banned same-sex relationships. According to Human Rights Watch, the new law seems to be the first to ban identifying yourself as lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ)
The law prohibits intercourse with same-sex partners, as well as promoting and aiding homosexuality.
Violations of the law can result in severe penalties. These include death for what is known as aggravated homosexuality or life imprisonment for gay sex. According to the law, aggreved homosexuality refers to gay sex with persons under 18 years of age or when the perpetrator has HIV positive.
President Yoweri Mugabe will receive the legislation to be signed.
Frank Mugisha is a prominent Ugandan LGBTQ activist who denounces the legislation as being draconian.
He said, “This law is extremely extreme and draconian… It criminalizes being LGBTQ person, but they also want to wipe out the entire existence LGBTQ Ugandans.”
Although Museveni has not yet commented on the proposal, he has been a long-time opponent of LGBTQ rights. He signed an antiLGBTQ law in 2013, which Western countries condemned. However, a domestic court ruled that it was invalid on procedural grounds.
The new law is supported by those who believe it is necessary to punish a wider range of LGBTQ activities that they claim threaten traditional values in the conservative, religious East African nation.
“Our creator God is happy about (about) what’s happening… During debate, David Bahati, a lawmaker, stated that he supports the bill to safeguard the future of our children.
“This is about our sovereignty, nobody should threaten us or blackmail us.”
After politicians and religious leaders claimed that students were being trained to be homosexuals in schools, Ugandan authorities have taken steps to protect LGBTQ people.
Authorities arrested Jinja’s eastern district secondary school teacher over allegations of grooming young girls for unnatural sex.
She was then charged with gross indecency, and is currently in prison awaiting her trial.
Police said Monday that six individuals were arrested for being involved in “actively involved” in the grooming and sodomy of young boys.
