Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has signed one of the world’s harshest anti-LGBTQ laws, his spokesperson said on Monday, defying international condemnations and the risk of sanctions from donors.
Same-sex relations were already illegal in Uganda, as they are in more than 30 African countries, but the new law goes further in targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people.
It imposes the death penalty for so-called aggravated homosexuality, which includes having gay sex when HIV-positive, and a 20-year sentence for “promoting” homosexuality.
Museveni’s signing of the bill was first announced by parliament speaker Anita Among on Twitter.
“If the speaker has announced, then that’s true he has signed,” Museveni’s spokesperson Faruk Kirunda told Reuters.
Authorities have acknowledged that Uganda, which receives billions of dollars in foreign aid each year, could face sanctions over the legislation.
When Museveni signed a less restrictive anti-LGBTQ law in 2014, Western governments suspended some aid, imposed visa restrictions and curtailed security cooperation. Reuters:
