Top Ugandan official accused Western nations of “blackmail” over brutal “Kill the Gays” Act

A top Ugandan official has accused Western nations of “blackmail” in their response to the country’s horrific new anti-LGBTQ+ law.

On Monday, speaker of the Ugandan parliament Anita Annet Among released a statement announcing that President Yoweri Museveni had signed the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act. The law, which has been called one of the most extreme anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the world, imposes the death penalty for what it describes as “aggravated homosexuality,” including same-sex relations involving HIV-positive people.

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Uganda’s president signs horrific “Kill the Gays” law. The Biden administration is reevaluating aid.

The law has drawn international condemnation, including from President Biden and Texas Republican Ted Cruz.

The new law drew international condemnation. As Reuters notes, Uganda receives billions of dollars in foreign aid annually. Its brutal anti-LGBTQ+ law could put that aid in jeopardy.

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In a statement, President Joe Biden called for the law to be repealed immediately and said that his administration would consider applying “sanctions and restriction of entry into the United States against anyone involved in serious human rights abuses or corruption.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the State Department would “consider deploying existing visa restrictions tools against Ugandan officials and other individuals for abuse of universal human rights, including the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons.”

Reuters reports that High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said that the law would impact Uganda’s ties with international partners.

A United Nations statement said that the law “conflicts with the constitution and international treaties and requires urgent judicial review.”

Chris Baryomunsi, Uganda’s Information Minister, responded to the international backlash earlier this week.

“We do not consider homosexuality as a constitutional right,” Baryomunsi told Reuters. “It is just a sexual deviation which we do not promote as Ugandans and Africans.”

“While we appreciate the support we get from partners, they must be reminded that we are a sovereign country and we do not legislate for the Western world,” he continued. “We legislate for our own people here in Uganda. So that kind of blackmail is not acceptable.”

On Monday, Ugandan activists filed a lawsuit in the country’s Constitutional Court challenging the law, Bloomberg reported. A previous version of the Anti-Homosexuality Act, introduced in 2009, was struck down by the court in 2014 on procedural grounds.

“I hope that the judiciary is going to look into it and I can tell you, if they look at human rights law, their own constitution, they will find it in violation of it,” United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said of the law.