The vote in the Ugandan parliament brings to an end a 15-year struggle for gay rights that attracted international attention. The vote comes when anti-gay discrimination and policies are rising across several African countries, including Kenya, Ghana, and Zambia.
Uganda passes strict anti-gay bill that could result in punishments up to the death penalty. This culminates long-running campaigns against homosexuality- people in East Africa’s conservative nation.
After more than seven hours of discussion, the law passed, imposing a mandatory life sentence on anyone engaging in homosexual sex. Even attempting to have same-sex relationships would result in a seven-year prison sentence.
People convicted of “aggravated homophobia” would face the death penalty. This term is used to describe homosexual acts that are committed by people infected with HIV. Children, people with disabilities or those who are drugged without consent will also be punished.
The Ugandan penal code already criminalizes most of these crimes, regardless of gender. However, the death penalty was added to the bill to target cases where the perpetrator is the same gender as the victim.
A Deeper View
The United Nations Human Rights Office expressed its “astonishment” that the anti-gay legislation is now law. It described the legislation as a “recipe for systematic violations of rights” against LGBTQ+ people.
In a statement, the heads of the U.N. AIDS Program, the U.S. Presidency Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPAR) and the Global Fund expressed their “deep concern” about the negative impact of the new legislation on public health.
The statement stated that “Uganda’s progress in its HIV response now faces grave danger.” The Anti-Homosexuality Act will obstruct the health education and outreach that can help to end AIDS as a threat to public health.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his deep concern. He said the law envisages the death sentence and long sentences for consenting acts between adults. This “raises risks of worsening violence and persecution that lesbians, gays and bisexuals already face in Uganda,” according to Guterres’ spokesman.
Stephane Dujarric, the U.N. spokesperson, said: “He calls upon Uganda to respect its international obligations in respect of human rights, including the principles of non-discrimination, respect for privacy and irrespective of sexuality and gender identity fully.”
The statement stated that the “stigma, discrimination and the passage of this Act have already reduced access to treatment and prevention services” for LGBTQ+ individuals.
The courts are open to hearing appeals from rights activists. Later, the professionals and activists petitioned the Constitutional Court to seek an injunction.
A panel of judges later invalidated a 2014 anti-gay law, citing a lack of quorum at the plenary meeting that passed this bill. This time, any legal challenge will likely be decided on the merits rather than technical questions.
In recent weeks, anti-gay sentiment has increased in Uganda amid reports of sodomy at boarding schools. This includes a prestigious boys’ school where a mother accused a teacher of abusing her child.
A previous draft of the bill criminalized “homosexuality”, meaning that anyone identifying as LGBTQ or “any other sexual or gender identities contrary to binary categories of men and women” could be imprisoned for up to 10 years if found guilty. After several readings and many hours of discussion, lawmakers passed this version of the legislation in late March.
After being sent to the President, the proposed legislation was returned to Parliament in late April. The President asked for amendments that would distinguish between those who identify as LGBTQ and those who actually engage in homosexual acts amid protests from Western governments and human rights groups. Early May, lawmakers passed a revised version of the legislation that doesn’t criminalize people who identify as LGBTQ.
Final Thoughts
A strong anti-gay sentiment within Uganda has increased in recent weeks due to media coverage of allegations of sodomy at boarding schools, including one of the most prestigious schools for boys. One parent complained that a teacher had abused her son.
The February decision of the Church of England’s national assembly to keep banning wedding ceremonies in churches for couples of the same genders and allowing priests to accept marriages between gay couples and civil partnerships enraged many in Uganda and across Africa.
Finally
The new law continues to prescribe the death penalty for “aggravated gayness,” defined as sexual relations between HIV-positive individuals and minors or other vulnerable categories.
The law allows a sentence of up to fourteen years for a person convicted “of attempted aggravated homosexuality”.
In more than 30 African countries, homosexuality is a crime. Some Africans view it as a behavior imported from overseas, not a homosexual orientation.
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