Uganda president approves anti-LGBT legislation with death penalty on table

Uganda's president has signed into law anti-LGBT legislation supported by many in this East African country.

The version of the bill signed by President Yoweri Museveni doesn't criminalise those who identify as LGBT.

But the new law still prescribes the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality,” which is defined as cases of sexual relations involving people infected with HIV, as well as with minors and other categories of vulnerable people.

A suspect convicted of “attempted aggravated homosexuality” can be imprisoned for up to 14 years, according to the legislation.

Parliamentary Speaker Anita Among said in a statement that the president had “answered the cries of our people” in signing the bill.

“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 our country,” the statement said.

Museveni had returned the bill to the national assembly in April, asking for changes that would differentiate between identifying as LGBT and actually engaging in homosexual acts.

Anti-LGBT sentiment in Uganda has grown in recent weeks amid news coverage alleging sodomy in boarding schools, including a prestigious school for boys where a parent accused a teacher of abusing her son.

The February decision of the Church of England's national assembly to continue banning church weddings for same-sex couples while allowing priests to bless same-sex marriages and civil partnerships outraged many in Uganda and elsewhere in Africa.