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| ©REUTERS/Abubaker Lubowa |
KAMPALA (Reuters) - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has asked lawmakers to clarify that simply identifying as gay is not a crime in a bill banning homosexuality.
Last month, legislators in the East African country overwhelmingly passed the proposed bill. This is perhaps one of the strictest anti-LGBTQ laws in the world and has been sent to the President for approval.
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| ©REUTERS/Abubaker Lubowa/File Photo |
The proposed law or draft criminalizes a wide range of homosexual activities, including promoting or encouraging this lifestyle. It imposes harsh penalties, including the death penalty, for so-called aggravated homosexuality.
Human rights defenders, Western governments, and businesses have widely criticized the law.
The deputy speaker of parliament, Thomas Tayebwa, said on Tuesday that he read Museveni's letter to the parliamentary speaker out loud to parliamentarians, explaining the reasons for returning the bill and the changes he wanted. In the letter, Museveni said a clear distinction must be made between those who profess a homosexual lifestyle and those who engage in homosexual acts.
In his letter, Museveni said, "The bill must be clear that it is not the condition of a person prone to a deviation that is criminalized, but the behavior of a person acting based on that deviation." won't," he said.
"The bill should be reviewed, and anyone who is believed, alleged, or suspected to be homosexual and who has not engaged in sexual activity with another person of the same sex commits a crime. It must include a clause that clearly states that the
He also called on legislators to remove a provision requiring citizens to report homosexual behavior. Doing so would create a "constitutional challenge" and a source of social conflict.
He called on lawmakers to include provisions to facilitate the reintegration of homosexuals who voluntarily renounced homosexuality. The country's deputy attorney general has also recommended removing the mandatory death penalty from law. Tayebwa will refer the bill back to Parliament's Judiciary Committee, which will process and report on it and send it back to the entire House for new discussion and adoption.
Once approved again by the entire House, it will be sent back to the President for approval.
