Uganda’s president signed one of the world’s harshest anti-gay bills into law Monday, making gay sex punishable by life in prison and certain acts punishable by death.
The bill sailed through Ugandan parliament in March. President Yoweri Museveni sent it back in April, asking for a crucial amendment. The initial version of the bill made it illegal to simply identify as LGBT. The revised version removed that section and instead outlawed “engaging in homosexual acts.”
The United Nations, United States and human rights groups worldwide condemned the law.
“I join with people around the world — including many in Uganda — in calling for its immediate repeal,” President Biden said in a statement. “No one should have to live in constant fear for their life or being subjected to violence and discrimination. It is wrong.”
However, Ugandan lawmakers celebrated Museveni’s signature. Legislators in the East African country have been working for more than a decade to pass an anti-gay law. One was first introduced in 2009 and passed in 2014, but it was struck down by the country’s high court on a technicality.
“I thank my colleagues the Members of Parliament for withstanding all the pressure from bullies and doomsday conspiracy theorists in the interest of our country,” parliamentary leader Anita Among said.
Under the new law, anyone who has gay sex can be sentenced to life in prison. Anyone convicted of “aggravated homosexuality” — defined as same-sex relations involving someone who is HIV positive, under age 18 or disabled — can be sentenced to death.
Uganda was already one of 30 African countries, among 54 on the continent, to outlaw homosexuality. The latest law increases the punishments and expands the list of potential crimes.