Uganda Passes Bill Criminalizing Identifying as LGBTQ, Imposes Death Penalty for some offenses
The new law appears to be the first to outlaw merely identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer, according to rights group Human Rights Watch.
According to Reuters, Uganda's parliament passed a law making it a crime to identify as LGBTQ on Tuesday, giving authorities broad powers to target gay Ugandans who already face legal discrimination and mob violence.
Over 30 African countries, including Uganda, already prohibit same-sex relationships. According to Human Rights Watch, the new law appears to be the first to criminalize simply identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ).
Proponents of the new law argue that it is necessary to penalize a broader range of LGBTQ activities, which they claim endanger traditional values in the conservative and religious East African country.
In addition to same-sex intercourse, the law forbids promoting and abetting homosexuality, as well as conspiring to engage in homosexuality. Violations of the law carry the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality" and life in prison for gay sex.
Aggravated homosexuality, according to the law, includes, among other things, gay sex with people under the age of 18 or when the perpetrator is HIV positive.
"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 a debate on the bill.
"This is about the sovereignty of our nation, nobody should blackmail us, nobody should intimidate us."
The legislation will be sent to President Yoweri Museveni to be signed into law.
In recent weeks, Uganda authorities have cracked down on LGBTQ people after religious leaders and politicians alleged students were being recruited into homosexuality in schools.
This month, authorities arrested a secondary school teacher in the eastern district of Jinja over accusations of "grooming of young girls into unnatural sex practices".
She was subsequently charged with gross indecency and is in prison awaiting trial.
The police said on Monday they had arrested six people accused of running a network that was "actively involved in the grooming of young boys into acts of sodomy".
Reporting by Elias Biryabarema for Reuters; Editing by Aaron Ross, Hereward Holland, and Josie Kao
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This article originally appeared in Uganda passes a law making it a crime to identify as LGBTQ