Uganda’s Latest “Kill The Gays” Bill Makes LGBTQIA+ People Criminals For Simply Existing
Ugandan lawmakers have been working towards a revised version of the Anti-Homosexuality Act that was first drafted in 2014. Asuman Basalirwa has spearheaded the new campaign to get the law passed and, after a vote was held in parliament, all but two MPs voted for the bill, which will now pass to President Yoweri Museveni, reports The Guardian.
GAYS CAN NOW BE SENTENCED TO DEATH
The extreme Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2014 was turned down on procedural grounds but with parliament’s revised 2023 version, LGBTQIA+ individuals across Uganda are deeply concerned.
The parameters of the new bill make it a crime to promote same-sex lifestyles or even identify as LGBTQIA+ and engage in sexual activity with a consenting same-sex partner. According to The Guardian, of the 389 legislators who participated in the vote only Fox Odoi-Oywelowo and Paul Kwizera Bucyana were opposed.
“The bill is ill-conceived, it contains provisions that are unconstitutional, reverses the gains registered in the fight against gender-based violence and criminalises individuals instead of conduct that contravenes all known legal norms,” says Mr Odoi-Oywelowo. “The bill doesn’t introduce any valuable addition to the statute book and available legislative framework.”
Those convicted of having gay sex, “recruitment, promotion and funding of same-sex activities or aggravated homosexuality” now face life imprisonment or the death penalty.
With the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 passing through parliament, human rights activists have turned their attention to President Yoweri Museveni. The UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk implored Uganda’s president to veto the harsh bill, reports CNN. Mr Türk is joined by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and LGBTQIA+ advocacy groups such as ILGA and Human Rights Campaign.
“The passing of this discriminatory bill – probably among the worst of its kind in the world – is a deeply troubling development,” says a statement from Volker Türk. “If signed into law by the President, it will render lesbian, gay and bisexual people in Uganda criminals simply for existing, for being who they are. It could provide carte blanche for the systematic violation of nearly all of their human rights and serve to incite people against each other.”
DNA contacted an LGBTQIA+ activist in the capital, Kampala, who cannot be named because the new law makes speaking to the media on the subject illegal. He said, “It’s a very sad time here.” He added that there is “panic among the LGBTQIA+ community” and that many people are looking at ways of getting out of the country as soon as possible. Kenya and South Africa are considered safer options.
Ugandan LGBTQIA+ individuals now hold their breaths as President Yoweri Museveni makes his final decision on this divisive and controversial law.
