Uganda's President Returns LGBTQ+ Bill to Parliament

Facts

• Ugandan Pres. Yoweri Museveni's office announced late Thursday that he decided not to sign a controversial, hardline LGBTQ+ bill into law, requesting lawmakers to look into "the issue of rehabilitation."¹
• This decision comes after Museveni and MPs in his ruling party agreed in a meeting to send the bill, which was opposed by only two deputies during the voting session, back to the National Assembly with "proposals for improvements."²
• Museveni is expected to draft the amendments to the legislation next Tuesday along with parliament's legal and parliamentary affairs committee. According to Chief Whip Denis Hamson Obua, their goal will be to strengthen some provisions.³
• The government's legal team has recommended this move, pointing out that the legislation, called the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023, could be legally challenged due to the inclusion of capital punishment, which has been effectively abolished in Uganda, and some vague clauses that are open to interpretation.⁴
• While individuals who engage in same-sex relations can already face life sentences under section 145 of the country's penal code, the pending bill would criminalize identifying as LGBTQ+, promoting and publicizing homosexuality, and recruiting homosexuals.⁵
• Since the bill passed the parliament in late March, dozens of LGBTQ+ Ugandans have reportedly fled to neighboring Kenya. Many of them, however, are already thinking about where to go next, as a Kenyan lawmaker has introduced similar legislation.⁶

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²Africa News, ³Guardian, ⁴France 24, ⁵CNN, and ⁶New York Times.

Narratives

• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Monitor. While some changes in this bill are needed to protect and rehabilitate children and other vulnerable persons, the spirit of this legislation aligns entirely with the values and moral fabric of the Ugandan nation. Despite the pressure from imperialist powers that have wreaked havoc in the world for centuries and seek to impose their morals on Africans, the country's sovereignty will not be undermined.
• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by CNN. It's outrageous that some countries, such as Uganda, still promote the unscientific notion that homosexuality is a deviation from human nature, even engaging in un-African state-sponsored homophobia. Same-sex relationships have long been reported in the continent, debunking the fabricated narrative that this sexual orientation is a Western import. Museveni should veto this bill in its entirety.

Predictions

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