On Tuesday, the 21st of February, 2023, the Ugandan parliament added an extra lock to tighten up their fight against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community by passing a bill called the Anti- Homosexuality Bill which as the name of the bill implies is strictly Anti (against) anything that has to do with homosexuality, gay or transgender or even identifying with or as a gay person.
The bill provided for some strict punishments like a life sentence and even a death sentence against some specific offences relating to homosexuality. For instance, the bill provides for the death sentence as a punishment for “aggravated homosexuality”. For only saying you are gay or identifying to be a lesbian or gay will fetch you a life sentence as a punishment.
Here are some extracts from the Anti-Homosexuality Bill as passed by the parliament;
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A person who is convicted of grooming or trafficking children for the purposes of engaging them in homosexual activities faces life in prison
Individuals or institutions which support or fund LGBT rights’ activities or organisations, or publish, broadcast and distribute pro-gay media material and literature, also face prosecution and imprisonment
Media groups, journalists and publishers face prosecution and imprisonment for publishing, broadcasting, and distributing any content that advocates for gay rights or “promotes homosexuality”
Death penalty for what is described as “aggravated homosexuality”, that is sexual abuse of a child, a person with a disability or vulnerable people, or in cases where a victim of homosexual assault is infected with a life-long illness
Property owners also face the risk of being jailed if their premises are used as a “brothel” for homosexual acts or any other sexual minorities’ rights’ activities. (Lifted from BBC).
Uganda, an East African country, has always been one of the leading countries of the world at the forefront against the LGBTQ community. In December 2013, they passed a similar law called Anti-Homosexuality Act, otherwise known as AHA but the court nullified this law in August 2014 because the parliament passed the act without forming a quorum ie the number of members of the parliament that ought to be present to form a quorum for a bill to be passed as required by law. Ten years later, the country is still reinforcing its fight and disdain against homosexuality by passing the Anti-Homosexuality Bill which is awaiting to be signed into law by the president.
Therefore, if this bill is finally signed into law by the president; merely dressing like a gay, saying you are gay or looking like one can send you to jail even if you are a visitor in the country or a citizen of the country. This will be one of the strictest legalization in the world made against the LGBTQ community in this century.
According to the parliamentarians and other activists who have supported the passing of this bill, the bill seeks to protect traditional family values and shun same-sex sexual relationships or marriages which threatens the country’s core traditional and religious values as a conservative nation.
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Homosexuality has been totally outlawed in 34 out of the 55 African countries including Nigeria with strict laws prohibiting it. Some of the African countries which have not or yet to expressly outlawed homosexuality have some other laws which inadvertently criminalize it but Homosexuality has been decriminalized thereby making it legal to identify as a homosexual only in 22 African countries as of today including Cape Verde, Gabon, Seychelles, South Africa etc with South Africa the only African country to have legalized same-sex marriage which happened in 2006.