KAMPALA, Uganda — Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said Friday he would sign the country’s controversial Anti-Homosexuality Bill only on the condition that he receives scientific proof that gays are made and not born.
“Unless I have got confirmation from scientists that this condition is not genetic, but a behavior that is acquired, I will not sign the bill,” Museveni reportedly told members of his National Resistance Movement, according to Uganda’s Observer.
Museveni, who blocked the bill earlier this month, and rebuked Parliament Speaker Rebecca Kadaga for not following parliamentary procedures by passing the law without a quorum, called for a commission to be established and report its findings on during the party’s retreat next month.
Museveni said his views against the law were influenced by a report by some gay rights activists whom he met recently. “He said that those activists told him that gays were born just like albinos,” a source said.
Never Miss a Beat
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
The Observer reported that Museveni “supports the law 100% especially if it deals with people who promote, abate, recruit and support homosexuality, but was a bit hesitant to accept the law if it seeks to punish homosexuals.”
Article continues below
The legislation provides for a sentence of life imprisonment for anyone convicted of homosexuality, as well as punishment for those convicted of being supportive of LGBT people.
In its original form, the bill was widely referred as the “Kill the Gays Bill” for including the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality” — consensual same-sex acts committed by “repeat offenders,” anyone who is in a position of power, is HIV-positive, or uses intoxicating agents i.e. alcohol in the process.
