Uganda's 'Kill the Gays' Bill Is Back

Contents:

• UGANDA ANTI-HOMOSEXUALY BILL: LIFE PRISON FOR SAYG YOU'RE GAY
• UGANDA PASS STRICT ANTI-GAY BILL THAT IMPOS DEATH PENALTY FOR SOME
• UGANDAN PRINT SIGNS ANTI-GAY LAW THAT INCLUS DEATH PENALTY AS A PUNISHMENT
• UGANDA PLANS BILL IMPOSG ATH PENALTY FOR GAY SEX
• UGANDA'S LGBTQ MUNY IS ' SHOCK' OVER NEW MEASURE, GAY ACTIVIST SAYS
• A NEW ANTI-GAY LAW UGANDA LLS FOR LIFE PRISON FOR THOSE WHO ARE NVICTED
• UGANDA LAWMAKERS AMEND NTROVERSIAL ANTI-GAY LAW BUT ATH PENALTY FOR HIV POSIVE SEX REMAS
• UGANDA TO JAIL PEOPLE WHO INTIFY AS LGBTQ ONE OF WORLD'S MOST ANTI-GAY LAWS
• UGANDA'S PARLIAMENT HAS PASSED ITS “KILL THE GAYS” LAW

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

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.

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

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.

UGANDAN PRINT SIGNS ANTI-GAY LAW THAT INCLUS DEATH PENALTY AS A PUNISHMENT

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. 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.

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.

UGANDA PLANS BILL IMPOSG ATH PENALTY FOR GAY SEX

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.

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

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. 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.

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

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.

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. What's TeA Ugandan ernment mister announced an tentn to make homosexualy punishable by ath October 2019; the Natnal Christian Foundatn has fund projects that opposed LGBT rights Uganda; and the WShape Foundatn, closely lked to Chick-fil-A, has fund the Natnal Christian Foundatn.

What's FalseHowever, the Ugandan mister did not signal an tent to legalize the murr of LGBT people, and his remarks were quickly ntradicted by the ernment; also, 's not clear to what extent Natnal Christian Foundatn-fund enti were volved the creatn or promotn of a bill to make homosexualy punishable by ath.

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

10, Uganda's Mister for Ethics and Integry, Simon Lokodo, told the Rters news agency that the untry's ernment tend to revive a failed 2014 bill, known at the time as the "Kill the Gays" bill, that would make "grave acts" of homosexualy punishable by ath. “Homosexualy is not natural to Ugandans, but there has been a massive recment by gay people schools, and pecially among the youth, where they are promotg the falsehood that people are born like that, ” Ethics and Integry Mister Simon Lokodo told the Thomson Rters Foundatn.

By 2014, however, a bill signed to law would have troduced life imprisonment for homosexualy, but the ath penalty punishment had been removed om s text, part as a rult of ternatnal prsure. Two days after Lokodo signaled the ernment's tentn to revive the troductn of the ath penalty for homosexualy October 2019, the ernment prs office self tervened, directly ntradictg the mister's assertns, and wrg a statement:.

UGANDA TO JAIL PEOPLE WHO INTIFY AS LGBTQ ONE OF WORLD'S MOST ANTI-GAY LAWS

Until or unls Lokodo issu a retractn of his remarks, or further clarifitn is forthg, is simply not clear what the Ugandan ernment's rolved tentns are, as of October 2019, regardg the possible troductn of the ath penalty as a punishment for homosexual acts. Some observers might see an ethil equivalence between imposg state executn as a punishment for homosexualy, on the one hand, and legally permtg any and every civilian to murr another civilian, on the basis of sexual orientatn or genr inty.

David Behati — who first troduced the Anti-Homosexualy Bill 2009 and was a key player the ensug mpaign — scribed to Sharlet the fluence of a ntroversial Amerin Christian nservative movement known lloquially as "The Fellowship" and "The Fay" visg and enuragg the legislatn, cludg at the early stag when still clud a ath penalty provisn.

For rears not faiar wh , by the way, “harsh” is an unrstatement: life imprisonment for gay sex, ath for “serial offenrs, ” seven years for “promotn, ” and three years for failg to turn a known homosexual.

UGANDA'S PARLIAMENT HAS PASSED ITS “KILL THE GAYS” LAW

However, spe plsible reports, is not clear to what extent NCF-fund enti or dividuals were volved the nty grty of draftg and promotg legislatn, begng 2009, which would have imposed the ath penalty for homosexualy. AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTThe legislatn is among the most rtrictive of s kd the world and was nmned by Wtern lears and the Uned Natns human rights Ugandan Parliament May durg the passage of an anti-gay bill. Anyone who tri to have same-sex relatns uld be liable for up to a law also cre the ath penalty for anyone nvicted of “aggravated homosexualy, ” a term fed as acts of same-sex relatns wh children or disabled people, those rried out unr threat or while someone is unnsc.

The offense of “attempted aggravated homosexualy” rri a sentence of up to 14 legislatn is a major blow to efforts by the Uned Natns, Wtern ernments, civil society and rights groups that had implored the print, Yoweri Meveni, not to sign . ”The sweepg anti-gay measure as a growg number of Ain untri — cludg Kenya and Ghana — nsir passg siar or even stricter Ugandan legislatn, known officially as the Anti-Homosexualy Act, was first passed by Parliament March. Lawmakers did add language makg clear that anyone spected of beg a homosexual would not be punished unls they engaged same-sex rt of the law remaed the same, cludg mandatg a prison term of up to 20 years for anyone who promot homosexualy, a vague provisn that activists fear uld be ed to target agenci supportg L.