Uganda’s parliament has passed a new law criminalising the identification as LGBTQ, making it the first country to do so. This latest legislation has granted authorities sweeping powers to target people who already face discrimination and violence in the country.
Over 30 African nations already have laws that ban same-sex relations. The new law, however, goes even further by outlawing the mere identification as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ).
Proponents of the new law argue that it is necessary to curb a broader range of LGBTQ activities, which they believe threatens the country’s traditional values. Besides same-sex intercourse, the law also prohibits the promotion and facilitation of homosexuality, as well as conspiring to engage in homosexual activities.
The penalties for violating the new law are steep, with “aggravated homosexuality” punishable by death, and gay sex attracting a life sentence. Aggravated homosexuality includes engaging in homosexual activities with individuals under 18 years of age or being HIV positive, among other categories.
During the parliamentary debates on the bill, lawmaker David Bahati, a staunch supporter of the new law, stated that “Our creator God is happy with what is happening… I support the bill to protect the future of our children.” He also added that “This is about the sovereignty of our nation, nobody should blackmail us, nobody should intimidate us.”
The bill will now be sent to President Yoweri Museveni to be signed into law. While he has not commented on the current proposal, the President has long opposed LGBTQ rights and signed an anti-LGBTQ law in 2013 that drew condemnation from Western countries before being struck down by a domestic court on procedural grounds.
In recent weeks, Uganda’s authorities have cracked down on LGBTQ individuals after religious leaders and politicians alleged that students were being recruited into homosexuality in schools. Just this month, the police arrested a secondary school teacher in the eastern district of Jinja over accusations of “grooming young girls into unnatural sex practices,” and she is currently awaiting trial.
The police also recently announced that they had arrested six people accused of running a network that “was actively involved in the grooming of young boys into acts of sodomy.”
