“This law was provoked by arrogant and careless Western-based groups that are fond of coming into our schools to recruit our young children,” said President Museveni in a televised speech shortly after signing the bill on Monday. “Can somebody be homosexual purely by nature without nurture? The answer is: ‘No.’ “
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed into law an antigay bill, setting the stage for a showdown with Western donors and rights activists opposed to the legislation.
Although the bill has won praise in Uganda, especially among religious groups, human-rights activists have decried the measures to curb what Mr. Museveni has called “abnormal” behavior.
Hundreds of jubilant antigay activists took to the streets of the capital, Kampala, on Monday, shortly after the president signed the bill into law.
The president, who signed the bill at the State House just outside the capital, Kampala, said it represented a response to Western activists who promoted gay rights in the country.
A Ugandan MP who voted in favour of a bill that targets homosexual people has told the BBC that if the US withdrew funding in protest it would amount to “modern genocide”.
The US government has said there could be repercussions should the measure be signed into law by President Yoweri Museveni.
MP Charles Ayume – a medical doctor – told the BBC’s Newsday programme that the US provided vital funding for critical life-saving areas like malaria and HIV. Ending these programmes would be a form of “modern genocide”, Dr Ayume said.
Responding to the US criticism of the bill passed by MPs on Tuesday, Dr Ayume said that Uganda’s sovereignty should be respected. He added that there were things he objected to in the US, but he did not want to interfere in the politics of that country.
According to the bill, people who identify as gay in Uganda risk life in prison. It also includes the death penalty in certain cases.
Dr Ayume said that in backing the measure, he was representing the views of his constituents.