Uganda’s President, Yoweri Museveni has signed some of the harshest anti-LGBTQ laws in the world,
The bill includes the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality’ which includes sex with a minor, having sex while HIV positive, and incest.
The bill criminalizes sex education for the gay community and makes it illegal not to expose what it calls perpetrators of aggravated homosexuality to the police. It calls for “rehabilitation” widely discredited conversion therapy for gay offenders.
Museveni sent the bill back to the country’s Parliament for revisions earlier this year.
The speaker of the parliament Anita Annet Among celebrated the bill’s signing, saying parliament had “answered the cries of our people.”
“I thank His Excellency, the president, for his steadfast action in the interest of Uganda. With a lot of humility, I thank my colleagues the Members of Parliament for withstanding all the pressure from bullies and doomsday conspiracy theorists in the interest of the country,” she added.
Henry Mukiibi, an activist who assists LGBTQ Ugandans, told CNN that he fears people will take the law into their own hands: “I think this is so so horrible. We didn’t expect this – we thought he would be advised against it. We are going to be tortured. I am just scared now about what is next. People have been waiting for the bill to be signed and then they will work on us. We are going to die.”