Museveni Sends Anti-LGBTQ Bill Back to Parliament for Another Amendments

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has declined to sign an anti-LGBTQ Bill, that prescribes the death penalty in some cases, requesting that it should be amended, according to Uganda's ruling party, the National Resistance Movement, which published a statement on their website.

The announcement came after the president's meeting with members of the ruling party during which he congratulated his colleagues for their anti-homosexual stance.

"It is good that you rejected the pressure from the imperialists. Those imperialists have been messing up the world for 600 years, causing so much damage," Museveni said, adding that the majority of the problems and instability in many African countries are brought about by "imperialists" trying to force on Africa all sorts of inappropriate practices.

Speaking to the party, the leader also said that he did not object to the main points of the Bill, but proposed an amnesty provision for homosexuals who will have come out "not to punish them to allow others not to fear to come out," according to Museveni's spokesman.

"The issue I raised is a matter of subsistence. I agree with the Bill but my original problem is the physiologically disoriented person. What you are saying is that the law doesn’t recognize him as long as he does not act. But how do you provide for him to come out?" Museveni asked. "Since we have agreed now, I’m going to return that Bill, and you quickly deal with those issues and we sign it."

In addition, the president urged members of parliament to prepare for likely consequences including preparing for less funding for such sectors as health after "promoters of homosexuality" (by which he means Western nations) threaten to cut aid to Uganda.

"One of the things they’re threatening is to kill our 1.2 million people who have been surviving on [the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)] to buy drugs for HIV/AIDS so that we don’t buy the drugs for our people and they die," Museveni pointed out. "This is a simple matter which we can fight but parasites can’t fight. If you fear to sacrifice you cannot fight. For you to fight, I want to first cure you of parasitism. Europe is lost and they also want us to be lost. Those who want an easy life will end up being prostitutes."

According to Chief Whip, Denis Hamson Obua, Museveni will hold a meeting on Tuesday with parliament’s legal and parliamentary affairs committee to draft the amendments.

In March, Uganda's lawmakers overwhelmingly voted in favor of turning the anti-homosexuality Bill into law which would introduce capital and life imprisonment sentences for homosexual acts and "recruitment, promotion and funding" of same-sex "activities", with only two of the nearly 400 representatives voting against it.

According to a Ugandan member of parliament Asuman Basalirwa, who introduced the draft law, the purpose of the Bill is to protect the culture, religious and family values of the Ugandan people "from acts that are likely to promote sexual promiscuity in this country".

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The president of Uganda called on African countries to abandon the promotion of homosexuality throughout the continent, arguing that it was "very dangerous for humanity" and would lead to the extinction of the human race.

Museveni Sends Anti-LGBTQ Bill Back to Parliament For Further Amendments