On May 2, Uganda’s parliament passed one of the world’s toughest anti-LGBTQ+ bills for a second time—and it’s largely unchanged.
The African country’s new bill retains most of the harshest measures of the legislation that passed on March 21. That measure was criticized by the United States, European Union, United Nations and major corporations, Reuters noted.
The provisions retained in the new bill allow for the death penalty in cases of so-called “aggravated homosexuality”—a term the government uses to describe actions including having same-sex relations when at least one of the people involved is HIV-positive.
President Yoweri Museveni, who is staunchly anti-LGBTQ+, has said he intends to sign the legislation once certain changes are made, including the addition of measures to “rehabilitate” gay people. He sent the original bill (which had a provision that made it illegal for someone to even say he/she/they is LGBTQ+) back to parliament, asking for changes.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk criticized the passing of this most recent measure as “devastating and deeply disturbing,” PinkNews reported.
—Andrew Davis