Uganda passes bill criminalizing people for identifying as LGBTQ

Ugandan lawmakers have passed a bill that makes same-sex offenses punishable by up to 10 years in prison, responding to widespread anti-LGBTQ sentiment in the country but increasing pressure on the East African country’s LGBTQ community.

The bill was approved last Tuesday in a packed parliamentary chamber, and after a roll call ordered by the speaker of the House, who has repeatedly warned of the need to identify those who could oppose the bill. It was supported by almost all 389 legislators present.

“Congratulations,” said Speaker Anita Among. “Whatever we do, we do it for Ugandans.”

The new law appears to be the first to ban identification as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning/queer (LGBTQ), according to rights group Human Rights Watch.

An earlier version of the bill that went into effect in 2014 was later struck down by the court on procedural grounds. Human Rights Watch described the law as a “more egregious version” of the 2014 law, which attracted international attention and was dropped amid pressure from Uganda’s development partners.

The bill will now go to President Yoweri Museveni, who can either veto it or sign it into law. He suggested in a recent speech that he supported the bill, accusing unnamed Western countries of “trying to impose this practice on others.”

The bill was introduced last month by opposition lawmakers who said it aimed to punish “promotion, recruitment and funding” related to LGBTQ activities. The bill also creates the offense of “aggravated homosexuality,” which applies to same-sex cases involving HIV-infected persons as well as minors and other vulnerable persons. It was not immediately clear what the punishment for the offense would be after the last-minute amendment at a prolonged plenary session in the capital, Kampala.

Prison term for ‘attempted homosexuality’

The bill also creates the offense of “attempted homosexuality,” punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Same-sex activity has been punishable by life imprisonment under a colonial-era law targeting “carnal knowledge against the order of nature”, in part the basis of a report by dissenters in a parliamentary committee examining the bill ahead of Tuesday’s vote.

The bill is “ill-conceived” and unconstitutional because it “criminalizes individuals rather than actions,” said MP Fox Odoi, who represents the dissenters.

The bill, if signed into law, “will violate fundamental rights, including the right to freedom of expression and association, privacy, equality, and non-discrimination, according to Human Rights Watch.

“One of the most extreme features of this new bill is the criminalization of people just for being who they are and it also violates the right to privacy, and freedom of expression and association that has been compromised in Uganda,” the group’s Oryem said. Nyeko said in a statement earlier this month.

“Ugandan politicians should focus on laws that protect vulnerable minorities and assert their basic rights and stop targeting LGBT people for political capital.”

Anti-LGBTQ sentiment is growing in Uganda

Anti-LGBTQ sentiment in Uganda has intensified in recent weeks amid reports of sodomy at boarding schools, including a prestigious all-boys school where parents have accused teachers of abusing their sons. Authorities are investigating the case.

Uganda’s LGBTQ community in recent years has faced pressure from civil authorities who want tough new laws to punish same-sex activities.

The Ugandan agency that oversees the work of NGOs last year terminated the operations of Sexual Minorities of Uganda, the country’s most prominent LGBTQ organization, citing failure to legally register. But the leader of the group stated that the organization was rejected by the company registrar as undesirable.

The recent decision by the Church of England to bless the civil marriage of same-sex couples has also inflamed many in Uganda, including some who see homosexuality as imported from abroad.

“The Church of England has departed from the Anglican faith and is now a false teacher,” Ugandan Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba said in a statement last month that explained the “crisis at hand.”

Homosexuality is criminalized in more than 30 of the 54 countries in Africa.