Ugandan President to sign anti-gay law

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has said he
will sign into law a bill that prescribes life
imprisonment for people convicted of some
homosexual acts.
Museveni made the decision at a conference of
his governing National Resistance Movement,
government spokesman Ofwono Opondo said.
Opondo said the president based his decision on
a report by “medical experts”, saying that
“homosexuality is not genetic but a social
behaviour”.
Museveni had said two weeks ago that he would
only sign the bill after seeking the opinion of
scientists.

The anti-homosexuality bill, which has drawn
condemnation from Western countries and human
rights groups, was passed by parliament in
December.
Museveni said in January that the bill had been
rushed after it got approved without the required
number of MPs. He said at the time that he would
study the bill carefully before signing it.
In Twitter posts on Friday, Opondo said the
legislators, who are holding a retreat chaired by
Museveni, “welcomed the development as a
measure to protect Ugandans from social
deviants.”
Evelyn Anite, a spokeswoman for the ruling party,
said the report, which had been requested by the
president, was prepared by more than a dozen
scientists from Uganda’s health ministry, the
Associated Press news agency reported.
Opondo and Anite said the president did not say
when he would sign the legislation into law.
‘Abnormal behaviour’
A ministerial committee examining the issue put
out a statement on Friday saying there was no
gene for homosexuality and that it is “not a
disease but merely an abnormal behaviour which
may be learned through experiences in life”.
Reuters news agency reported that, at the
conference, Presidential Advisor on Science Dr
Richard Tushemereirwe told Museveni that
“homosexuality has serious public health
consequences and should therefore not be
tolerated”.
Museveni has described homosexuals as
“abnormal” people who need help to change their
sexual orientation.
Homosexuality is already illegal in Uganda under
a colonial-era law that criminalises sex acts
“against the order of nature.”
The new bill was first tabled in 2009, with a
proposed death penalty for some homosexual
acts, drawing a firestorm of criticism from rights
groups and Western leaders
The death penalty was later removed amid
international pressure, but rights groups want the
whole bill scrapped.
Homophobia runs deep in Uganda, and religious
leaders and some Ugandans on social media have
been urging the president to sign the bill, saying
laws punishing same-sex sex acts will save the
country’s moral fibre.
Museveni’s decision was announced only days
after gay Ugandans held a protest in Kampala
denouncing the bill. Many carried placards saying
“Help us stop anti-gay bill in Uganda.”