Uganda's anti-gay law: how rtricted are LGBTQ rights Ai? | Rters

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Members of Uganda's LGBTQ muny are shock and fear beg arrted after parliament passed a new law that mak a crime to intify as gay, and impos tough sentenc that clu the ath penalty certa s, an activist said on Wednday.

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

The legislatn mak an offence to simply intify as gay, and oblig relativ to alert police. * gay community uganda *

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.

People are receivg lls that 'if you don't give me money, I will report that you are gay, '" they bill is one of the tought piec of anti-gay legislatn Ai. 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.

GAY ACTIVIST SAYS UGANDA LGBTQ MUNY ' SHOCK' AT NEW LAW

* gay community uganda *

In the weeks before the bate, anti-homosexual sentiment was proment the media, an activist who wanted to rema anonymo told the BBC. Another gay rights activist acced the ernment of g the bill to distract the public om s failur to addrs some of their prsg enomic ncerns. 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.

NO, UGANDA IS NOT MAKG ILLEGAL TO BE GAY (AGA)

In a untry where gay sex is agast the law, n be almost impossible for the LGBT muny to accs servic tacklg domtic vlence – and durg the panmic, lockdowns saw abe soar * gay community uganda *

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. It first gaed ternatnal notoriety 2009 when David Bahati, a member of the Ugandan parliament whose views were heavily fluenced by Amerin evangelils, troduced the now famo “Kill the Gays” bill. Unr the guise of “protectg the tradnal fay, ” the bill advoted for the ath penalty for “aggravated homosexualy” and the imprisonment of anyone “promotg” or failg to report homosexualy.

UGANDA'S ANTI-GAY LAW: HOW RTRICTED ARE LGBTQ RIGHTS AI?

Homosexualy is taboo almost all Ain untri and illegal most cludg Uganda, where rights groups say gay people have long risked jail. Fear of vlence, imprisonment and loss of jobs means few gays Ai e out. * gay community uganda *

Supporters of the bill equated homosexualy wh pedophilia, suatg that gay adults groomed vulnerable children to homosexualy. Although the ath penalty was dropped om the 2009 versn, the bill was still signed to law 2014 as the Anti-Homosexualy Act.

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

Six months later, and after wispread ternatnal prsure, the Ugandan Constutnal Court led the Anti-Homosexualy Act valid on procral grounds. However, even though the law self fell, the spir lived on, as the bill had enjoyed wi-spread support Uganda, where 93 percent of Ugandans were opposed to homosexualy. For Christian fundamentalists, Uganda—an impoverished untry reverg om years of rptn and vlence—provid a blank nvas to project their missnary zeal and strong homophobia.

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

” They found willg servants opportunistic policians and Ugandan relig lears who argued that homosexualy was “un-Ain” and a Wtern export. Sylvia Tamale observ, “ is not homosexualy that is un-Ain but the laws that crimalized such relatns…what is alien to the ntent is legalized homophobia, exported to Ai by the imperialists where there had been difference to and even tolerance of same-sex relatns. Over seventy untri still crimalize homosexualy, and Uganda is among thirty-two untri Sub-Saharan Ai that still crimalize homosexualy.

On the heels of Wasswa’s murr, the recent threat of retroducg the “Kill the Gays” bill om member of Parliament (MP) Jam Buturo and other MPs, and the arrts of over one hundred spected homosexuals at an LGBTQ iendly bar, tapulted Uganda back to the ternatnal spotlight, signalg an latn of vlence and reprsn toward the Ugandan LGBTQ muny. Stemmg homophobia Uganda will be difficult; is fully entrenched Ugandan society and polics and is an easy way of unifyg an otherwise ethnilly and polilly divid populatn.

This is not about the Wt exportg homosexualy to Ai or a “gay agenda”; is stead about right-wg Christian evangelils om the Wt g homophobia as a tool to tablish a foothold the Ain ntent, and lol Ugandan policians and “men of the cloth” profg om this narrative. ” The recent very public disagreement between the US envoy to Zambia and the Zambian ernment over the sentencg of two Zambian gay men to fifteen years prison is a se pot. He was ially agast homosexualy but has sce evolved his stance, and recently stated that he “do not agree wh homosexuals, but rpects their rights.

GAY PRI UGANDA

San Dicklch-Nelson is Profsor of Government at Frankl & Marshall College and -creator of the F&M Global Barometer of Gay Rights® & the F&M Global Barometer of Transgenr Rights®. KAMPALA, March 22 (Rters) - Members of Uganda's LGBTQ muny are shock and fear beg arrted after parliament passed a new law that mak a crime to intify as gay, and impos tough sentenc that clu the ath penalty certa s, an activist said on "Anti-Homosexualy Bill, 2023" was passed wh a near-unanimo majory by lawmakers the east Ain untry where anti-gay sentiment ns ep. Secretary of State Antony Blken said on Wednday the law would unrme fundamental human rights and "reverse gas the fight agast HIV/AIDS" and urged thori to rensir implementatn of the Mugisha, one of a few Ugandans who live openly as gay, told Rters he was sred the law will trigger "mass arrts of lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer (LGBTQ) persons and mob vlence toward LGBTQ muni.

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

[1/2]Ugandan legislators participate the bate of the Anti-Homosexualy bill, which propos tough new penalti for same-sex relatns durg a stg at the Parliament buildg Kampala, Uganda March 21, 2023.

REUTERS/Abubaker LubowaIt clus steep sentenc that clu ath for "aggravated homosexualy" and life prison for same-sex relatns.

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