Uganda's LGBTQ muny is ' shock' over new measure, gay activist says

Contents:

• A NEW ANTI-GAY LAW UGANDA LLS FOR LIFE PRISON FOR THOSE WHO ARE NVICTED
• UGANDA ANTI-HOMOSEXUALY BILL: LIFE PRISON FOR SAYG YOU'RE GAY
• UGANDA ANTI-GAY LAWS: BEATEN AND FORCED TO FLEE FOR BEG LGBT
• UGANDA PASSED ONE OF THE WORLD’S HARSHT ANTI-GAY LAWS. LGBTQ PEOPLE SCRIBE LIVG THERE AS ‘HELL’
• UGANDA’S ANTI-GAY BILL IS THE LATT AND WORST TO TARGET LGBTQ AINS
• UGANDA PASS STRICT ANTI-GAY BILL THAT IMPOS DEATH PENALTY FOR SOME
• UGANDA'S LGBTQ MUNY IS ' SHOCK' OVER NEW MEASURE, GAY ACTIVIST SAYS
• UGANDA'S ANTI-GAY LEGISLATN, EXPLAED
• UGANDA LAWMAKERS AMEND NTROVERSIAL ANTI-GAY LAW BUT ATH PENALTY FOR HIV POSIVE SEX REMAS

A NEW ANTI-GAY LAW UGANDA LLS FOR LIFE PRISON FOR THOSE WHO ARE NVICTED

Media ptn, Watch: Cheers and applse as Uganda pass anti-gay billPeople who intify as gay Uganda risk life prison after parliament passed a new bill to crack down on homosexual activi. Homosexual acts are already illegal Uganda but this bill troduc many new crimal well as makg merely intifyg as gay illegal for the first time, iends, fay and members of the muny would have a duty to report dividuals same-sex relatnships to the was passed wh wispread support Uganda's parliament on Tuday eveng.

The bill's backers say they are tryg to protect children but Ms Byagaba said: "Whether you're heterosexual or homosexual, the ernment and parliament should troduce laws, or at least implement existg laws that protect all children - boys, girls om filement. The fal versn has yet to be officially published but elements discsed parliament clu: A person who is nvicted of groomg or traffickg children for purpos of engagg them homosexual activi fac life prisonIndividuals or stutns which support or fund LGBT rights' activi or anisatns, or publish, broadst and distribute pro-gay media material and lerature, also face prosecutn and imprisonmentMedia groups, journalists and publishers face prosecutn and imprisonment for publishg, broadstg, distributn of any ntent that advot for gay rights or "promot homosexualy"Death penalty for what is scribed as "aggravated homosexualy", that is sexual abe of a child, a person wh disabily or vulnerable people, or s where a victim of homosexual asslt is fected wh a life-long illnsProperty owners also face risk of beg jailed if their premis are ed as a "brothel" for homosexual acts or any other sexual mori rights' activiA small group of Ugandan MPs on a mtee sctisg the bill disagreed wh s premise. They argue the offenc seeks to crimalise are already vered the untry's Penal Co 2014, Uganda's nstutnal urt nullified another act which had toughened laws agast the LGBT clud makg illegal to promote and fund LGBT groups and activi, as well as reeratg that homosexual acts should be punished by life imprisonment, and was wily nmned by Wtern urt led that the legislatn be revoked bee had been passed by parliament whout the required quom.

'Uganda's Print Yoweri Meveni has signed one of the world's tought anti-LGBTQ laws, cludg the ath penalty for "aggravated homosexualy, " fiance of Wtern nmnatns and potential sanctns om aid relatns were already illegal Uganda, as more than 30 Ain untri, but the new law go much impos pal punishment for some behavur, cludg transmtg a termal illns like HIV/AIDS through gay sex, and stipulat a 20-year sentence for "promotg" homosexualy. However, Alex Kofi Donkor, founr of LGBT+ Rights Ghana, says what happened Uganda is 'barbaric, ' and that people should not be crimalized for their and other activists have vowed to lnch a legal challenge to the law, which Meveni was shown signg at his sk wh a goln pen a photo tweeted by Uganda's 78-year-old lear has lled homosexualy a "viatn om normal" and urged lawmakers to rist "imperialist" prsure.

UGANDA ANTI-HOMOSEXUALY BILL: LIFE PRISON FOR SAYG YOU'RE GAY

Ugandan human rights activists talk to the media after filg a petn challengg the signg of the new anti-homosexualy law by Meveni, at the nstutn urt Kampala, Uganda, on Monday. Print's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), s flagship HIV/AIDS activists Uganda ' shock' over anti-gay legislatn, fearg mass arrtsAnti-LGBTQ bill passed Uganda ed as 'low-hangg u' to distract public, rearcher saysIn a jot statement on Monday, PEPFAR, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the Jot Uned Natns Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) said the law put Uganda's fight agast HIV/AIDS " grave jeopardy.

The amend versn stipulated that merely intifyg as LGBTQ is not a crime and revised a measure that obliged people to report homosexual activy to only require reportg when a child is volved.

UGANDA ANTI-GAY LAWS: BEATEN AND FORCED TO FLEE FOR BEG LGBT

Image source, AFPImage ptn, Unr the prev bill people who intified as gay Uganda risked life prisonLast month the Ugandan parliament passed an anti-homosexualy bill that meant anyone who intifi as LGBT uld face life part has now been removed a slightly watered down versn but 's still one of the tought piec of anti-gay legislatn new bill - which hasn't been signed to law by the print yet - has been heavily cricised by ternatnal human rights prcrib the ath penalty for what lls aggravated offenc such as child landlords who knowgly rent premis for homosexual acts risk gog to prison for seven month, the BBC got accs to secret shelters Uganda where LGBT people have sought refuge after beg kicked out of their Newsbeat has spoken to two young people who've fled the East Ain untry for neighbourg Kenya bee of the tough new laws. "Image source, RtersImage ptn, A Ugandan MP wore a gown wh anti-homosexual slogans on for the bate parliamentThe iend let the uple stay wh him for a week but this was around the time the anti-homosexualy bill was gog through parliament says they knew they weren't safe so took the risk of reachg out for help on TikTok and me across the Twter acunt of Trans Rcue - which helps people pe om dangero plac around the world - who helped them get to Kenya safely.

"I believe gog back to Uganda is not safe bee there's no way I uld ri there, " he feels the Ugandan parliament se homosexualy as "a threat to their culture" and won't be easily swayed by ternatnal Jeff and Diane agree that they want a future ee of discrimatn and victimisatn - even if is unlikely to be Uganda. Law uld be the first to crimalise intifyg as lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer (LGBTQ): Rights WatchUganda’s parliament has passed sweepg antigay legislatn that propos tough new penalti for same-sex relatnships and crimalis anyone intifyg as LGBTQ. While more than 30 Ain untri, cludg Uganda, already ban same-sex relatnships, the new law passed on Tuday appears to be the first to outlaw merely intifyg as lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer (LGBTQ), Human Rights Watch said.

UGANDA PASSED ONE OF THE WORLD’S HARSHT ANTI-GAY LAWS. LGBTQ PEOPLE SCRIBE LIVG THERE AS ‘HELL’

Frank Mugisha, executive director of Sexual Mori Uganda, a leadg gay rights anisatn whose operatns were spend by thori last year, told the AFP news agency earlier this month that he had already been undated wh lls om LGBTQ people over the new bill. Uganda’s Parliament passed a bill Tuday eveng that will crimalize intifyg as LGBTQ, addg to the discrimatn gay Ugandans face a untry where same-sex acts already rry a sentence of life imprisonment.

The act outlaws gay marriage Uganda, punish same-sex acts wh life imprisonment, and lls for the ath penalty for “aggravated homosexualy” – which clus sex wh a mor or otherwise vulnerable person, havg sex while HIV posive and ct. In recent weeks, disturbg vios have surfaced showg mountg hostily towards lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and tersex dividuals Uganda sce the retroductn of the Anti-Homosexualy Bill.

On Meveni’s remendatn, the law prcrib rehabilatn for nvicted homosexuals to change their sexual orientatn, even though scientists say so-lled nversn therapy is harmful and effective. The Church of Uganda openly fied the Archbishop of Canterbury, Jt Welby, and supported the Anti-Homosexualy Act, accg the global head of the Anglin Church of misterpretg the Bible. The Anti-Homosexualy Act of 2023 is a revival of a prev versn nicknamed the “Kill the Gays” Bill that Uganda’s parliament passed 2014 but which was blocked urt on a technily.

UGANDA’S ANTI-GAY BILL IS THE LATT AND WORST TO TARGET LGBTQ AINS

Uganda's Print Yoweri Meveni has signed one of the world's harsht anti-LGBTQ laws, cludg the ath penalty for "aggravated homosexualy", fiance of Wtern nmnatns and potential sanctns om aid donors. While there has been progrs some Ain natns to crimalise same-sex relatnships, public opn polls show overall Ains' attus toward LGBTQ people starkly ntrast those other untri where homosexualy has been more wily accepted. However, several former French loni have passed anti-homosexualy laws after gag pennce, cludg Algeria, Cameroon, Mrania and most recently Chad, which banned same-sex acts between men and women 2017.

An earlier Ugandan bill, known as the “kill the gays” bill for ially proposg hangg homosexuals, was troduced after a March 2009 nference Kampala that hosted reprentativ om the U.

In the 2019-2021 Aobarometer surveys, rponnts untri where homosexualy is facto legal were jt as likely to say they would dislike havg a gay neighbour as rponnts untri where is crimalised.

UGANDA PASS STRICT ANTI-GAY BILL THAT IMPOS DEATH PENALTY FOR SOME

In South Ai, where rponnts were among the most likely to hold tolerant views on homosexualy and where gay people have some of the most broad legal protectns Ai, s of homophobic vlence are well documented. A Whe Hoe spokperson said the bill reprents one of the most extreme actns taken agast the LGBTQ muny anywhere the world, and UN High Commissner for Human Rights Volker Türk said “will renr lbian, gay and bisexual people Uganda crimals simply for existg, for beg who they are”. Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn (ILGA); Aobarometer; Brish lonialism and the crimalizatn of homosexualy (2014) by Enze Han and Joseph O'Mahoney; ESRI GeoInquiri; Natural Earth; Rters rearch and reportg.

It passed by a vote of 387 to Lubowa/RtersLawmakers Uganda have passed a sweepg anti-gay law that n brg punishments as severe as the ath penalty — the culmatn of a long-nng mpaign to crimalize homosexualy and target L.

People the nservative natn East law, which was passed late on Tuday night after more than seven hours of discsn and amendments, lls for a life sentence for anyone engagg gay sex. Even tryg to have same-sex relatns would be met wh a seven-year prison ath penalty would be applied to people nvicted of “aggravated homosexualy, ” a sweepg term fed the law as homosexual acts mted by anyone fected wh H. Most of the acts are already crim regardls of genr unr the Ugandan penal , but the ath penalty has been add to this bill to target s which the perpetrator and victim are of the same parliamentary vote ps a stggle over gay rights Uganda that has drawn ternatnal attentn for nearly 15 years.

UGANDA'S LGBTQ MUNY IS ' SHOCK' OVER NEW MEASURE, GAY ACTIVIST SAYS

It as anti-gay polici and discrimatn have been on the rise several Ain natns, cludg Kenya, Ghana and legislatn Uganda, lled the Anti-Homosexualy Bill, also impos a penalty of up to 1 billn Ugandan shillgs, about $264, 000, on any enty nvicted of promotg homosexualy. ”“This hoe will ntue to pass laws that regnize, protect and safeguard the sovereignty, morals and cultur of this untry, ” Ana An Among, the speaker of the Ugandan Parliament, said after legislators fished bill will now go to Print Yoweri Meveni, Uganda’s lear for nearly four s, who has been an outspoken driver of anti-gay measur.

Katumba/Agence France-Prse — Getty ImagThe bill’s passg was sharply cricized by rights groups and by a few lawmakers Uganda who said that ged on the eedoms of Ugandans and further erod the rights of gay Türk, the Uned Natns human rights chief, lled the anti-gay law “probably among the worst of s kd the world” and said that uld “serve to ce people agast each other. Around the world, a ath penalty sentence for same-sex relatns is imposed only a handful of untri, cludg Iran and Mrania, acrdg to a survey by Human Rights bill was troduced early March by the lawmaker Asuman Basalirwa, who has said that homosexualy threatens fay valu and the safety of Ugandan children.

Basalirwa doubled down, sayg the law was need bee there was a “public outcry” over a plot to rec schoolchildren to homosexualy — an allegatn that rights advot have said is Uganda, a untry of about 46 ln people — about 85 percent Christian and 15 percent Mlim — relig lears have jotly veighed agast homosexualy and what they say is s impact on the sancty of fay and children.

UGANDA'S ANTI-GAY LEGISLATN, EXPLAED

Many relig lears say that homosexualy is a Wtern import and have held protts and ralli urgg legislators to troduce laws that would harshly penalize gay even as anti-gay sentiment Uganda has bee pervasive, L.

People have bee more public, mobilizg to feat anti-gay legislatn urt, holdg small Pri paras, reprentg Uganda ternatnal gay events and creatg support groups for parents of gay children.

The new laws, activists say, will aggravate the challeng already facg gay thori have recent years regularly round up people whom they spect of beg gay or lbian and arrtg people at gay-iendly bars on what rights groups say are fabrited dg charg, subjectg some to vasive physil examatns. And last month, a major Ugandan ary officer urged health officials not to treat homosexual people ernment health year, the thori also closed down Sexual Mori Uganda, an anizatn that supported L. ImageGay Ugandan refuge who fled om their untry to neighborg Kenya returned om food shoppg Nairobi Inganga/Associated PrsWhile the vote happened quickly, the drive to outlaw homosexualy Uganda has been long-nng, drawg enuragement om evangelil Christians the Uned Stat and ternatnal outrage om gay people and human rights advot.

UGANDA LAWMAKERS AMEND NTROVERSIAL ANTI-GAY LAW BUT ATH PENALTY FOR HIV POSIVE SEX REMAS

Sce then, Amerin evangelil anizatns have operated out of the limelight, allowg lol lears and groups to feed the anti-gay sentiment Uganda, said Nicholas Opiyo, a Ugandan lawyer and human rights activist. Meveni that punished “aggravated homosexualy” wh life the Ugandan Constutnal Court nullified the law that same year, sayg that had been passed Parliament whout the necsary ntrast, for the vote on Tuday night, lawmakers filled parliamentary chambers. If he signs, they say, they will challenge Mugisha, one of few openly gay activists Uganda, said that he was already receivg lls and text msag om people worried for their liv.

Ugandan lawmakers on Tuday approved some of the world’s harsht anti-gay laws, makg some crim punishable by ath and imposg up to 20 years prison for people intifyg as LGBTQ+.

Acrdg to the bill, the ath penalty n be voked for s volvg “aggravated homosexualy” – a broad term ed the legislatn to scribe sex acts mted whout nsent or unr durs, agast children, people wh mental or physil disabili, by a “serial offenr, ” or volvg ct. “A person who ms the offense of aggravated homosexualy and is liable, on nvictn to suffer ath, ” read the amendments, which were prented by the chairperson for legal and parliamentary affairs Roba Rwakoojo.