STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Museveni signs bill that could mean life in prison for "aggravated homosexuality"
- The bill, which has been debated in Uganda for years, originally included a death penalty
- President Barack Obama said enacting the bill would affect U.S. relations with Uganda
- Museveni rejects criticism of the bill as an imperialistic push by West to impose values on others
(CNN) -- Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has signed into law a bill that toughens penalties against gay people and defines some homosexual acts as crimes punishable by life in prison.
Homosexual acts are already illegal in Uganda, and Museveni had gone back and forth recently about whether he would sign the controversial bill in the face of vocal opposition from the West.
At the public signing of the bill Monday, a defiant Museveni declared that he would not allow the West to impose its values on Uganda.
"We have been disappointed for a long time by the conduct of the West, the way you conduct yourselves there," he told CNN's Zain Verjee in Entebbe. "Our disappointment is now exacerbated because we are sorry to see that you live the way you live, but we keep quiet about it. Now you say 'you must also live like us' -- that's where we say no."
Gay rights around the world Gay and afraid in Uganda The bill, introduced first in 2009, originally included a death penalty clause for some homosexual acts. It was briefly shelved when Britain and other European nations threatened to withdraw aid to Uganda, which relies on millions of dollars from the international community.
The nation's parliament passed the bill in December, replacing the death penalty provision with a proposal of life in prison for "aggravated homosexuality." This includes acts in which one person is infected with HIV, "serial offenders" and sex with minors, according to Amnesty International.
The bill also proposed years in prison for anyone who counsels or reaches out to gays and lesbians, a provision that would ensnare rights groups and others providing services to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. ... continue reading>>http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/24/world/africa/uganda-anti-gay-bill
Homosexual acts are already illegal in Uganda, and Museveni had gone back and forth recently about whether he would sign the controversial bill in the face of vocal opposition from the West.
At the public signing of the bill Monday, a defiant Museveni declared that he would not allow the West to impose its values on Uganda.
"We have been disappointed for a long time by the conduct of the West, the way you conduct yourselves there," he told CNN's Zain Verjee in Entebbe. "Our disappointment is now exacerbated because we are sorry to see that you live the way you live, but we keep quiet about it. Now you say 'you must also live like us' -- that's where we say no."
Gay rights around the world Gay and afraid in Uganda The bill, introduced first in 2009, originally included a death penalty clause for some homosexual acts. It was briefly shelved when Britain and other European nations threatened to withdraw aid to Uganda, which relies on millions of dollars from the international community.
The nation's parliament passed the bill in December, replacing the death penalty provision with a proposal of life in prison for "aggravated homosexuality." This includes acts in which one person is infected with HIV, "serial offenders" and sex with minors, according to Amnesty International.
The bill also proposed years in prison for anyone who counsels or reaches out to gays and lesbians, a provision that would ensnare rights groups and others providing services to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. ... continue reading>>http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/24/world/africa/uganda-anti-gay-bill