The Ugandan parliament has enacted a law criminalising LGBTQ identification, making it the first nation to do so. The new law sets a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, among other things, for identifying as LGBTQ+.

The law prohibits encouraging and aiding homosexuality as well as conspiring to engage in homosexuality, among other activities. The law stipulates draconian punishments, including the death penalty for so-called aggravated homosexuality and life in jail for gay sex.

According to the law, aggravated homosexuality includes gay sex with minors or when the perpetrator is HIV-positive, among other situations. The bill will be forwarded to President Yoweri Museveni for his signature.

Human rights organisations have criticised the law as discriminatory and an infringement of human rights. One of the most extreme aspects of this new bill is that it criminalises people simply for being who they are and further restricts the already compromised rights to privacy, freedom of expression, and freedom of association in Uganda.

In Uganda, conspiracy theories that accuse shadowy international forces of promoting homosexuality have gained popularity on social media in recent months.

Uganda already prohibits same-sex relationships, as do more than 30 other African nations. However, this new law appears to be the first to criminalise lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer identification (LGBTQ).

Frank Mugisha, the executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda, a prominent gay rights organisation whose operations were suspended by authorities last year, stated that he has been inundated with calls from LGBTQ individuals in response to the new bill.

“This law is very extreme and draconian … it criminalizes being an LGBTQ person, but also they are trying to erase the entire existence of any LGBTQ Ugandan,” he said.

Supporters of the new law say it is needed to punish a broader array of LGBTQ activities, which they say threaten traditional values in the conservative and religious East African nation.

“Our creator God is happy (about) what is happening … I support the bill to protect the future of our children,” lawmaker David Bahati said during debate on the bill.

“This is about the sovereignty of our nation, nobody should blackmail us, nobody should intimidate us,” he added.

Source – Tru News Report

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