Members of parliament in Uganda passed a controversial law against the LGBT community, which states that the sentence for homosexual sex is the death penalty. Only two out of 389 lawmakers voted last night (Tuesday) against the law that introduces life imprisonment and the death penalty for homosexual sex and "conscription, promotion and financing" of "same-sex activity."
"A person who commits these offenses, if convicted, shall be sentenced to death," the law reads. An earlier version of the law led to international condemnation and was later overturned by Uganda's constitutional court. The law will now pass President Yoweri Museveni, who can veto it or sign it.In a recent speech, the president appeared to support the law.
AIDS tests in Uganda (Photo: ShutterStock)
The issue of LGBT rights in Africa faces repeated obstacles, and in most countries same-sex relations between men are prohibited by law. To this day in Uganda, a predominantly conservative Christian country, those who engage in such relations are punished with life imprisonment. The new law will intensify the punishment. Sarah
Kasanda , a human rights activist in Uganda, tweeted: "Today is a tragic day in the history of Uganda.
The parliament passed legislation that encourages hatred and seeks to deny basic rights to people in the LGBT community. The law is barbaric, discriminatory and unconstitutional."
The president said last month that Uganda would not condone same-sex relations, arguing that the West was trying to force other countries to "normalize" what he called "perversions."
"Western countries should stop wasting humanity's time trying to impose their policies on other people," Museveni said in a televised speech on March 16.
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