Uganda President Will Sign Anti-Homosexuality Life-In-Jail Bill Into Law
var addthis_config = {“data_track_addressbar”:true};Yoweri Museveni, the president of Uganda, in an about face clearly tied to his upcoming re-election efforts, has decided to sign the highly-contested and highly-controversial Anti-Homosexuality Bill (AHB) into law. The legislation, which the president had stated was passed illegally late last year, was formerly known worldwide as the “Kill The Gays” bill. Many believe — although it is still unconfirmed — that the death penalty provision has been removed.
LOOK: Comparing Gays To ‘Mongols,’ Ugandan President Ridiculously ‘Explains’ Homosexuality
Buzzfeed, which broke the news today, just reported that “Museveni had been facing stiff pressure from his colleagues to accept the bill.”
Museveni had told lawmakers he would sign the bill if “I have got confirmation from scientists that this condition is not genetic.â€
The committee chairman of Museveni’s party, the National Resistance Movement, told BuzzFeed yesterday, “Speaking as a medical doctor … homosexuality is just deviant behavior. It can be learned, and it can be unlearned.â€
Of course, every major medical organization in the United States, if not the Western World, has stated that is false, and that homosexuality is neither a “behavior” nor “deviant.”
Ugandan parliament Speaker Rebecca Kadaga late last year kept her promise — one year late — to pass Uganda’s internationally infamous “Anti-Homosexuality Bill†as a Christmas present to her country’s Christians. She did so reportedly without a quorum in place and without advance notice.
The bill is largely the result of America’s Christian Evangelicals working in Uganda and other underdeveloped countries around the world, especially in Africa.
One in particular, hate group leader Scott Lively, on trial in the U.S. for crimes against humanity, has bragged about his work in Uganda against the LGBT community. In late 2012, with the death penalty believed to be still attached, Lively called the AHB’s expected passage a “huge blessing.”
Another hate group leader, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, has voiced support for the legislation. In 2010, when the bill still had the death penalty included, Perkins claimed the legislation merely was an effort “to uphold moral conduct that protects others.â€
And in late 2012, again, with the death penalty still believed to have been included, Perkins praised President Museveni for “leading his nation†with the “Kill The Gays†bill, and called Uganda “a modern example of a nation prospered by God.â€
The Anti-Homosecuality bill today provides for life in prison for “aggravated homosexuality,” a broad and legally insufficiently defined term. It also provides for mandatory jail terms for those who engage in sexual activities with a member of the same gender. The AHB also demands that any person who knows of someone who is gay must report them to law enforcement or face jail themselves, and provides for stiff penalties for any person, company, corporation, media outlet or other entity that knows or supports LGBT people or LGBT civil rights.
The law will also extend beyond Uganda’s borders, mandating extradition for Ugandans who violate the law abroad.
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