Uganda has passed a bill to make it a crime to identify as LGBT – with the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality”.
It is one of the toughest laws in the world targeting LGBT community, in a country where gay people already face legal discrimination and mob violence.
More than 30 African countries, including Ugandahave already banned same-sex relations.
Proponents of the new law say a wider range of LGBT activity should be punished, saying they threaten traditional values.
Under the law, people will be prohibited from “promoting and encouraging” homosexuality, as well as conspiring to engage in same-sex relationships.
Stiff penalties will be in place, including death for so-called aggravated homosexuality and life in prison for having gay sex.
Aggravated homosexuality involves homosexual relations with persons under the age of 18 or when the perpetrator is HIV-positive, among other categories, according to the law.
The bill passed Tuesday night in a packed parliamentary chamber and was backed by almost all of the 389 representatives in Uganda’s capital Kampala.
The legislation will now go to President Yoweri Museveni who can either veto the bill or sign it into law.
He recently hinted that he supports the move, accusing Western nations “of trying to impose their practices on others”.
The bill was introduced last month by an opposition politician who said its aim was to punish the “promotion, recruitment and financing” of homosexuality.
During a debate on the bill, politician David Bahati said: “Our Creator God is happy [about] what is happening…. I support the bill to protect the future of our children.
“This is about the sovereignty of our nation, no one should blackmail us, no one should bully us.”
But politician Fox Odoi said the bill was “ill-conceived” and unconstitutional because it “criminalizes individuals instead of conduct”.
An earlier version of the bill enacted in 2014 was later struck down by a court on procedural grounds.
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Human Rights Watch described the legislation as “a more egregious version” of the 2014 law, which sparked widespread international concern and was overturned under pressure from Uganda’s development partners.
If enacted, the bill would “violate multiple fundamental rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and association, privacy, equality and non-discrimination”, said Human Rights Watch.
“One of the most extreme features of this new bill is that it criminalizes people simply for being who they are and further infringes on privacy rights and human freedoms. expression and association that are already compromised in Uganda,” the group’s spokesperson said. Oryem Nyeko said in a statement earlier this month.
“Ugandan politicians should focus on passing laws that protect vulnerable minorities and affirm basic rights and stop targeting LGBT people for political capital.”
