Ugandan lawmakers approved a new version of legislation targeting gay people, while maintaining earlier proposals for harsher penalties including death and life-imprisonment.
(Bloomberg) — Ugandan lawmakers approved a new version of legislation targeting gay people, while maintaining earlier proposals for harsher penalties including death and life-imprisonment.
The amended text clarifies that no one would be arrested unless they are found to engage in homosexuality, lawmaker Asuman Basalirwa said on Tuesday after parliament approved the bill in the capital, Kampala. The change removes provisions that sought to punish people for merely identifying as LGBTQ in the version that lawmakers passed in March.
President Yoweri Museveni, a critic of LGBTQ, returned the bill to parliament for some reconsiderations, including granting amnesty in some cases. His assent is required for the proposals to become law.
Homosexuality is already illegal in Uganda, but the new legislation seeks tougher sanctions because of increasing reports of homosexual conduct, according to the lawmakers who support the bill.Â
The document lists violations it describes as aggravated homosexuality such as same-sex intercourse with people under the age of 18, or when an offender is HIV positive, with these attracting the harshest punishments.
LGBTQ rights are lately under increased pressure in some countries, with the Indian government opposing recognition for same-sex marriages amid a Supreme Court hearing on the matter. Ghanaian lawmakers are considering punitive legislation against gay people, while Kenya’s President William Ruto slammed a pro-LGBTQ ruling by the nation’s top court.
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