Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has rejected an anti-homosexuality bill because he believes it was not harsh enough.
There had already been international condemnation of the proposed laws that would have made it illegal to simply identify as being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. Those found guilty would face 20 years in prison, while people convicted of “aggravated homosexuality” would be executed. The proposed laws also include punishments for people who fail to report suspected homosexuality of other citizens.
While few people held out hope that the President would veto the bill, he refused to sign it because it was not harsh enough in his eyes. A meeting on 25th April will see legislators convene to adjust the bill.
Scientists from around the globe recently published an open letter in response to Museveni’s claim that there needed to be more research into whether homosexuality was caused by “nature or nurture”.
“We cannot say this enough: homosexuality is a normal and natural variation of human sexuality. The science on this subject is crystal clear and we call on you, in the strongest possible terms, to veto the bill in the name of science,” the letter to the President read. “We cannot think of one major scientific organisation which would argue against the idea homosexuality is not normal and natural.”
The White House has described the proposed laws as “extreme”.
“It is one of the most extreme anti-LGBTQ+ laws in the world. Human rights are universal, no one should be attacked or imprisoned simply because of who they are and who they love,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said late last month.
In 2014 Uganda’s constitutional court struck down a previous bill dubbed the ‘Kill the Gays’ law, deeming it as unconstitutional. While the death penalty was removed, homosexuality remained illegal.
Calls for Australia to impose sanctions against Uganda
Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong has been urged to apply sanctions to Uganda over their proposed laws.
Spokesperson for Just.Equal, Brian Greig, said Minister PennyWong must denounce this raft of “horrific laws,” and use Australia’s voice in the Commonwealth to advocate for sanctions.
Earlier this month Greig said that the Bill had been condemned by the US Secretary of State and the UK’s Africa Minister, but the Albanese Government has so far said nothing.
“Australia must speak loudly and clearly against these horrific laws, including directly to Uganda and also within the Commonwealth.”
“Australia must also prepare to welcome LGBTIQA+ Ugandans as asylum seekers as a matter of urgency,” Greig said.
The Bill passed Uganda’s parliament last week and now sits with President Museveni, who has power to veto it. He has recently condemned homosexuality.
Just Equal say US evangelicals active in Uganda have pushed a narrative that homosexuality was unknown in East Africa prior to colonialisation and that homosexuals are recruited by ‘western deviates’ who offer money and other inducements. This fear campaign also asserts that Ugandan homosexuals recruit school children.
Amnesty International has condemned the bill as “appalling and vaguely worded.”
Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty’s International Director for Southern Africa, said, “This deeply repressive legislation will institutionalise discrimination, hatred, and prejudice against LGBTI people.”
Brian Greig warned that the extreme laws were the result of religious extremism in the US being imported to Uganda.
“This moral panic against a vulnerable minority is the inevitable conclusion of the current American culture war that seeks to eliminate LGBTIQA+ people through a toxic mix of colonial religious values and despotic politics in a poorly educated and mostly illiterate nation.”
At World Pride in Sydney last month, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese walked across Sydney Harbour Bridge, saying: ““No matter who you are, who you love or where you live – you should be valued, equal and celebrated.”
Greig said the Prime Minister should now match those words with action to sanction Uganda, protect its LGBTIQA+ population and strengthen Australia’s reputation as a defender of human rights.
OIP Staff, Image: DFID – UK Department for International Development Russel Watkins
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