The Ugandan parliament on Tuesday approved a revised version of anti-homosexuality legislation, which includes several severe provisions.
According to AFP, this comes amid the calls for President Yoweri Museveni to rework an earlier version of the bill following an outcry by Western governments.
“The bill passed,” parliamentary speaker Annet Anita Among said after the final vote saw the legislation win approval from all but one lawmaker.
“We have a culture to protect. The Western world will not come to rule Uganda,” she said.
The draught law was modified by legislators to provide clarification that the act of identifying as gay would not be subject to criminalization.
However, the act of participating in homosexual activities would be considered a criminal offence and could result in a sentence of life imprisonment.
Despite the counsel of Museveni to legislators to eliminate a clause that would establish “aggravated homosexuality” as a capital crime, the lawmakers rebuffed the proposal.
This implies that individuals who commit the offence more than once could potentially receive a death sentence.
