In one of the most blatantly egregious Anti-Gay bills the world has ever seen, Uganda joins a long list of countries that cruelly punishes individuals who identify as LGBTQ. The 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Bill was passed on March 21 and now punishes gay and queer identifying individuals with a (possible) life sentence.
The Parliament of Uganda passed the Anti-LGBTQ bill in an effort to eradicate all individuals identifying as gay or the promotion of homosexuality. Lawmakers were overwhelmingly in support of the horrendous piece of legislation, as 398 out of the 400 parliament members voted for it. Same sex acts have been outlawed in Uganda under British colonial era laws (with Uganda’s President signing a previous Anti-Gay bill into law in 2014), but this new bill targets the LGBTQ community on an entirely different level.
The bill highlights “aggravated homosexuality,” which details how anyone with HIV that engages in sex can face the death penalty, and those who identify as gay or queer can face a life sentence. Any person or organization promoting homosexuality or lending support, can also face charges. Consensual same sex relations can result in a 10 year prison sentence.
The President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, is expected to sign and approve the bill. Just last week, Musenevi called gay people “deviants” and previously “disgusting.” The piece of legislation and Museveni’s remarks have been met with heavy criticism from LGBTQ activists, calling it “deeply repressive” and warns that if signed in by the president it will “institutionalize discrimination, hatred and prejudice.” The U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby stated that if this law was signed in, that Washington would look into imposing economic sanctions on Uganda.
Homosexuality is criminalized in more than 30 of Africa’s 54 countries. As of 2018, there are 69 countries globally that have made being gay a criminal offense. We are certainly living in dark times.
Quite sad how many countries are horrible to their gay population.