In October, 2009, David Bahati and Benson Obua introduced the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in the Ugandan Parliament. Supporters of the bill have claimed publicly that the bill is designed to provide consequences for molestation of boys in the same way Ugandan law does for offenses against girls. Yesterday, Martin Ssempa said to the Christianity Today that the bill should be described as follows:
Uganda law proposes capital sentence for Men with HIV who rape boys and infect them with HIV/AIDS just as it is for heterosexuals who rape girls.
He claims that the bill has been distorted by “homosexualists.” To allow readers to evaluate those claims, the full text of the bill is here. Also available is the scanned version from the Uganda Gazette which is the official version currently under debate. I add comments about the effect of the bill and where appropriate discuss Martin Ssempa’s claims made to Christianity Today.
THE ANTI HOMOSEXUALITY BILL, 2009.
MEMORADUM
1.1. The principle
The object of this Bill is to establish a comprehensive consolidated legislation to protect the traditional family by prohibiting (i) any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex; and (ii) the promotion or recognition of such sexual relations in public institutions and other places through or with the support of any Government entity in Uganda or any non governmental organization inside or outside the country.
This Bill aims at strengthening the nation’s capacity lo deal with emerging internal and external threats threats to the traditional heterosexual family.
This legislation further recognizes the fact that same sex attraction is not an innate and immutable characteristic.
The Bill further aims at providing a comprehensive and enhanced legislation to protect the cherished culture of the people of Uganda, legal, religious, and traditional family values of the people of Uganda against the attempts of sexual rights activists seeking to impose their values of sexual promiscuity on the people of Uganda.
There is also need to protect the children and youths of Uganda who are made vulnerable to sexual abuse and deviation as a result of cultural changes, uncensored information technologies, parentless child developmental settings, and increasing attempts by homosexuals to raise children in homosexual relationships through adoption, foster care, or otherwise.
When the supporters of the bill declare that the purpose of the bill is to protect “the boy child” in the same that the law protects “the girl child,” they overlook the opening section which states the purpose. The law intends to eliminate homosexuality from Uganda via practice or speech intended to support homosexuals.
2.1. Defects in existing law.
This proposed legislation is designed to fill the gaps in the provisions of other laws in Uganda e.g. the Penal Code Act Cap. 120. The Penal Code Act (Cap 120) has no comprehensive provision catering for anti homosexuality. It focuses on unnatural offences under section 145 and lacks provisions for penalizing the procurement, promoting, disseminating literature and other pantographic materials concerning the offences of homosexuality hence the need for legislation to provide for charging, investigating, prosecuting, convicting and sentencing of offenders.
This legislation comes to complement and supplement the provisions of the Constitution of Uganda and the Penal Code Act Cap 120 by not only criminalizing same sex marriages but also same-sex sexual acts and other related acts.
3.0. The objectives of the Bill
The objectives of the Bill are to: Continue reading “Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill – Full text with commentary”