Ugandan lawmakers on Thursday introduced a bill in the Parliament that proposes harsh new penalties for same-sex relations in the country, reported The Africa News.
Homosexuality is illegal in Uganda. Back in 2014, the country’s lawmakers passed a bill that called for life imprisonment for people caught having gay sex, although a court later revoked the law.
On Thursday, Annet Anita Among, the parliament speaker, forwarded the bill to a house committee for scrutiny, where there will be public hearings before it returns to parliament for a debate and a vote.
In an address before the Ugandan parliament laced with homophobic language, Ms. Among said that there would be a public hearing in which sexual minorities would be allowed to participate.
“Let the public come express their views — including the homos — allow them to come,” she said.
The Ugandan speaker said when the time comes; legislators would be made to vote on the bill one by one in front of their peers.
“This is the time you are going to show us if you are a homo or not,” she said.
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it believed that if the bill was passed then Uganda would become the only African country to criminalize LGBTQ+ people. The group said that the new Ugandan legislation was a revised and more egregious version of the 2014 bill.
The proposed law, once passed, would ban the funding or promotion of LGBTQ+ activities. It also proposes a 10-year jail term for Ugandans who engage in a same sex relationship or marriage. There will be a 10 year jail sentence for anyone convicted of gay sex with a minor. Furthermore, the bill also threatens people who give their premises to gay people on rent with a prison sentence.
Same-sex relations are already banned in more than 30 African countries, where many people still follow conservative religious and social values.
