It's my job to keep you updated, so here's
what's up at the moment, dearies -
Uganda's President Museveni has signed
the country's anti-gay bill into law,
despite warnings from US President
Barack Obama that it would “complicate
our valued relationship” and will mark a
“step backward” for all Ugandans and
reflect poorly on the country’s
commitment to protect the human rights
of its people.”
The bill states that first-time offenders
will be sentenced to 14 years in jail. Then
life imprisonment for repeat offenders, as
well as acts involving a minor, a disabled
person or where one partner is infected
with HIV.
The bill originally proposed the death
penalty for some homosexual acts, but
that was later removed amid international
criticism.
In December last year, Uganda’s
Parliament passed the bill but President
Yoweri Museveni said he would only sign
the bill into law if he had proof that gay
people are ‘made’ and ‘not born’ into
their sexuality. And last week he changed
his stand, saying a team of Ugandan
scientists had reported that there is no
evidence that homosexuality is caused by
genetics.
However, over the weekend in South
Africa, former archbishop Desmond Tutu
had criticised President Museveni for
supporting the bill, describing it as “evil”.
No comments:
Post a Comment