Uganda President Signs Anti-Gay Legislation

News outlets report on the controversy surrounding Uganda’s anti-gay legislation. Uganda President Yoweri Museveni signed the bill into law on Monday despite opposition from several groups and individuals, including Desmond Tutu.

New York Times: Ugandan President Signs Antigay Law
“Brushing aside Western threats and criticism, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda significantly strengthened Africa’s antigay movement on Monday, signing into law a bill imposing harsh sentences for homosexual acts, including life imprisonment in some cases, according to government officials…” (Cowell, 2/24).

Reuters: Uganda’s Museveni signs anti-gay bill
“Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed into law on Monday an anti-gay bill that toughens already strict legislation against homosexuals, defying warnings from the United States that relations could be complicated by the new rules…” (Biryabarema, 2/24).

Associated Press: Tutu urges Uganda’s Museveni against anti-gay bill
“South Africa’s retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu on Sunday made an impassioned plea to Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni not to sign into law a harsh Anti-Homosexuality Bill that calls for a life sentence for some same-sex relations. Tutu, a Nobel peace prize winner, said in a statement that Museveni a month ago had pledged not to allow the anti-gay legislation to become law in Uganda. But last week Museveni said he had reconsidered and would consult scientists on whether homosexuality is determined by genetics or by a person’s choice…” (Faure, 2/23).

Agence France-Presse: Desmond Tutu warns of ‘Nazi’ parallel to Uganda anti-gay law
“South African peace icon Desmond Tutu warned on Sunday that Uganda’s controversial anti-gay law recalled sinister attempts by the Nazi and apartheid regimes to ‘legislate against love’…” (2/23).

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