Uganda's President Has Signed One of the World's Harshest Anti-LGBTQ+ Bills Into Law

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has signed the nation's 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Bill, commonly referred to as the  "Kill the Gays" bill , into law.

Now that the bill has been passed, Uganda is the fourth African country where homosexuality is punishable by death,  according to a  Reuters report . Under the new law, the death penalty is applicable to those who have been convicted of "aggravated homosexuality," defined as same-sex relations that involve someone who is HIV-positive, a minor, or anyone else deemed "vulnerable."

According to  Human Rights Watch , the law also effectively categorizes all gay activity as nonconsensual, further criminalizing homosexuality in the country. People who commit the "offense of homosexuality" may now be imprisoned for up to a decade, and anyone who engages in the "promotion" of homosexuality can be imprisoned for up to 20 years. Additionally, the law targets transgender people by criminalizing any person who identifies as anything "contrary to the binary categories of male and female," an offense carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years.

"Despite our concerted efforts to stop the passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, the President has today legalized state-sponsored homophobia and transphobia by signing this bill into law," Ugandan human rights activist Dr. Frank Mugisha  said in a statement . "It will erode the inherent rights of LGBTIQ individuals and put innocent Ugandans at the cross hairs of grave violations from State and non-state actors. We now look forward to the legal challenge in court, and the law being repealed."

As  Vox recently reported , anti-LGBTQ+ legislation is common in former British colonies such as Uganda, in which colonial anti-sodomy laws have largely remained in place since African colonies became independent in the 1960s.

President Joe Biden called the Anti-Homosexuality Bill "a tragic violation of universal human rights" in a statement released on Monday , noting that the legislation could have a major impact on the United States' relationship with Uganda.

"I have directed my National Security Council to evaluate the implications of this law on all aspects of U.S. engagement with Uganda, including our ability to safely deliver services under the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS," Biden continued. "And we are considering additional steps, including the application of sanctions and restriction of entry into the United States against anyone involved in serious human rights abuses."

The United Nations Human Rights Office called the law  "draconian" and "discriminatory."

Although the U.S. and other Western nations have condemned the bill, it's worth noting that other Western groups played a key role in promoting it — especially the evangelical, Arizona-based group  Family Watch International , which, according to the  Southern Law Poverty Center , works to promote anti-LGBTQ+ laws worldwide. In fact, the organization helped create Uganda's original "Kill the Gays" bill in 2009, which was later struck down in court soon after its passage in 2014.

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Originally Appeared on them.