How do I say I was right. If you look back a mere week when the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2023 was introduced into parliament, I noted the high likelihood that the Parliamentarians would during committee or some phase of its development introduce the death penalty. The original Bill as introduced, did not. I was right! What came out of Parliament in its heated and fervently anti-Gay debate was the death penalty, attached to the offense of so called "Aggravated Homosexuality." (see below) Back in 2013, Uganda passed the first Kill the Gays Bill that was nullified by the Constitutional Court on a technicality, a failed quorum in parliament at the time of its passage. It has taken ten years to bring it back and pass it. It was highly unlikely, given the fervent anti-LGBTI sentiment that its new private member bill sponsor, MP Hon. Basalirwa Asuman, the Ugandan Attorney General, Kiryowa Kiwanuka Nsumikambi Mugambe, and Speaker Anita Among, would not preside over a climate that served to orchestrate the death penalty back in.
Here are the most pertinent aspect to the BILL, now an ACT of Parliament that speak for themselves. The Offence of Homosexuality
AGGRAVATED HOMOSEXUALITY which carries the Death penalty
A CHILD HOMOSEXUALITY - A child can go to prison for 3 years if he "commits" homosexuality - under the definition of homosexuality!
Please note the above is an unofficial rendition of the BILL extrapolated from the Passage. The Official version will be sent to president Museveni for him to assent to or to mark up and send back to parliament. We will post that official Bill as soon as it gets in. These clauses match up to the Parliamentary signed version which can be accessed here.
It is now imperative that you all make your voices known, in a polite and productive fashion, to educate and inform about being LGBTI+ and how the death penalty is a travesty as is any form of criminalization of LOVE and Consenting Adult sexual relations. Children cannot consent - how can they be criminalized? This law is a flagrant breach of Uganda's Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Many Ugandans are now fleeing, terrified for their lives, and appropriately so. The World needs to create pathways for asylum and refugee resettlement. This should be expedited for all LGBTI people who continue to have their natural human sexuality seen as demonic or criminalized. If the United States and the EU can create pathways that expedite Ukrainian white people escaping death, they can create pathways and expedite Africa's Anne Franks! It is time for the diplomats and embassies to reach out to Museveni to express opposition. It is time for corporations such as APPLE, NETFLIX and the Tourism and Hospitality industry to take action and speak out! CONTACT AHRC's Melanie Nathan for Briefings- we can introduce you to people from Uganda with lived experience. DONATE FOR SAFE SHELTER AND PATHWAYS OUT AT DONATE
BY MELANIE NATHAN AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS COALITION commissionermnathan@gmail.com Country Conditions Expert for Ugandan LGBTQI+ Asylum Seekers executive Director of African Human rights Coalition March 22, 2023.