UGANDA: Uganda anti-homosexuality bill gets thumbs up from some

Record ID: 278050

  • Title: UGANDA: Uganda anti-homosexuality bill gets thumbs up from some
  • Date: 25th February 2014
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNNAMED KAMPALA RESIDENT SAYING: "We are very happy for our president to sign this bill because I mean (it) brings hope to our nation and even our children are safer." KAMPALA, UGANDA (FEBRUARY 24, 2014) (REUTERS) MAN WAVING JAMAICAN FLAG AS UGANDA RESIDENTS CELEBRATE THE SIGNING OF THE BILL JAMAICAN FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (English) ANTI-GAYS ACTIVIST, PAS
  • Embargoed: 12th March 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Uganda
  • Country: Uganda
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA211QGIPMJJMWVA4X5VZIRA12D
  • Story Text: Ugandans asked by Reuters on Tuesday (February 25) in Kampala showed their support for a new anti-gay bill signed into law by President Yoweri Museveni which strengthens existing punishments for anyone caught having gay sex.
    "We never heard that one before, homosexuality, we never heard. It is controversial in our sex arrangement and we don't support 100 percent," said a Kampala resident who did not wish to be named.
    "We are very happy for our president to sign this bill because I mean (it) brings hope to our nation and even our children are safer," said another resident.
    Museveni initialled the bill on Monday (February 24), drawing immediate criticism from Western donors and Washington. Within hours, Norway and Denmark said they were holding or diverting aid. Austria said it would review its assistance.
    The new bill imposes jail terms of up to life for "aggravated homosexuality" - including sex with a minor or while HIV positive.
    It outlaws lesbianism for the first time and makes it a crime to help individuals engage in homosexual acts.
    Reflecting the gap between the policies of Western donors and some African attitudes, a Ugandan tabloid's front page carried the banner headline "Exposed" and threatened to out 200 allegedly known homosexuals, an act activists feared marked a new pogrom against the gay community.
    On the inside pages of the Red Pepper, editors printed pictures of 10 suspected homosexuals and a list of several dozen names alongside personal details that included places of work and family details.
    Pastor Martin Ssempa, a long-time campaigner against homosexuality, on Monday led a group of Ugandans in celebrating the signing of the bill at a weekly musical performance.
    "In Africa, if your neighbour is a butty boy, you need tell him that he is leaving the woman that he would have married without a husband, and when he does not give birth to a child that familyup having no descendants," said Ssempa.
    Homosexuality is taboo in almost all African countries and illegal in 37 - including Uganda, where rights groups say gay people have long risked jail.
    Fear of violence, imprisonment and loss of jobs means few gays in Africa come out.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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