Uganda’s president signed a sweeping anti-gay bill that includes the death penalty on Monday, prompting calls from human rights activists and politicians around the world to repeal the law.
What’s in Uganda’s new anti-gay law?
The Anti-Homosexuality Act is “among the toughest anti-LGBTQ laws in the world”. BBC News denounced, with life sentences for those who maintain homosexual relations.
Even people suspected of so-called “attempted homosexuality” could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. Meanwhile, the law also prohibits the “promotion of homosexuality” and “targets individuals deemed to be collaborators in homosexuality.” axes.
The law also calls for the death penalty for those convicted of “aggravated homosexuality,” which the law defines as same-sex relationships between children, the disabled or someone unconscious, for The New York Times. “Aggravated homosexuality attempt”, on the other hand, carries a prison sentence of up to 14 years.
An earlier version of the bill did not differentiate between people who identify as part of the LGBTQ community and those in same-sex relationships, meaning people could be punished simply for identifying as LGBTQ. The Associated Press reported However, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni returned the bill to Uganda’s national assembly in April and called for these distinctions to be made in the version of the bill he signed.
According to The Washington Post.
In response to the law, the United Nations and groups like Human Rights Watch they have condemned the law and called for its repeal.
Here’s a look at how politicians around the world have reacted to Uganda’s anti-gay law:
Uganda
In a statement Posting on Twitter after President Museveni signed the bill into law, Uganda’s parliamentary speaker Anita Among encouraged those “duty bound by law to execute the mandate given to them by the Anti-Homosexuality Act”.
“The people of Uganda have spoken,” he stated.
United States
On Monday, the White House released a statement from President Joe Biden in which he called for the “immediate repeal” of the law, calling it a “tragic violation of universal human rights.”
Secretary of State Antoni The blink also condemned the law, stating that the State Department “will develop mechanisms to support the rights of LGBTQI+ people in Uganda and to promote the accountability of Ugandan officials and others responsible for or complicit in abusing their human rights.”
Blinken also told the Department to “consider deploying existing visa restriction tools against Ugandan officials and others for abuse of universal human rights, including the human rights of LGBTQI+ people.” statement reads.
Several members of Congress also called for repeal of the law, including most notably Texas Republican Ted Cruz, who called the law “horrible and wrong,” in a tweet Monday.
“Any law that criminalizes homosexuality or imposes the death penalty for ‘aggravated homosexuality’ is grotesque and an abomination,” he wrote. “ALL civilized nations should unite to condemn this abuse of human rights.”
This law in Uganda is horrible and wrong.
Any law that criminalizes homosexuality or imposes the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality” is grotesque and an abomination.
ALL civilized nations should unite to condemn this abuse of human rights.#LGBTQ https://t.co/tTIMR8VtqW
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 29, 2023
canada
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “strongly condemned” Uganda’s law, calling it “horrific and abhorrent.”
“We will continue to stand with 2SLGBTQI+ people and defend 2SLGBTQI+ rights at home and abroad,” he said. he tweeted
The president of Uganda has signed this anti-gay law. Canada’s position has not changed: this law is appalling and abhorrent, and we strongly condemn it. We will continue to stand with 2SLGBTQI+ people and defend 2SLGBTQI+ rights at home and abroad. https://t.co/NTYkoCPVE4
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) May 29, 2023
United Kingdom
Andrew Mitchell, the Minister for Development and Africa, published a statement Monday, in response to Uganda’s anti-gay law.
“The UK government is appalled that the Ugandan government has signed the deeply discriminatory anti-homosexuality bill 2023,” the statement said. “…. The UK strongly opposes the death penalty in all circumstances.”
Everyone has the right to live free from discrimination and violence. The UK is appalled that the Ugandan government has signed the regressive and discriminatory Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023. https://t.co/5w5EnfIS3Z
— Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP (@AndrewmitchMP) May 29, 2023
