Uganda has called on the leaders of its fellow African nations to reject homosexuality.
The call to arms comes as Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni gears up to sign a controversial anti-LGBTQ+ bill into law after it was passed by parliament last month, The Guardian reports.
The bill, which has been slammed by the United Nations, will see the death penalty handed down to people convicted of 'aggravated homosexuality'.
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The law will also see those who are found guilty of the 'recruitment, promotion and funding' of same-sex 'activities' sentenced to life in prison.
UN experts released a statement slamming the bill, which looks like it will be enshrined into law in Uganda despite the international community urging the African nation not to do so.
"The imposition of the death penalty for same-sex intimacy – including so-called ‘serial homosexuality’ – is an egregious violation of human rights," the UN statement reads.
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The UN warned the new legislation may exacerbate and legitimize continued stigmatization, violence, harassment, and discrimination against LGBTIQ+ persons in the African nation.
Sadly, it seems that that may actually be the ultimate goal of Museveni's bill.
According to Uganda Broadcasting Corporation, President Museveni spoke out about LGBTIQ+ rights in his home state on Sunday (April 2).
In his speech, Museveni described homosexuality as 'a big threat and danger to the procreation of [the] human race'.
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He then called on the entire continent to step up and act.
"Africa should provide the lead to save the world from this degeneration and decadence which is really very dangerous for humanity," he said.
He then spoke of a LGBTQI+ rehabilitation program, which he claimed had proven that homosexuality is a 'curable' condition that stems from children growing up in broken homes.
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"That means homosexuality is reversible and curable. But it should not be preserved or propagated. It should be confined," he said.
Museveni's comments came after a two-day inter-parliamentary conference held in Entebbe.
The conference, which was based around 'family values and sovereignty', was attended by delegates and politicians from 22 African nations including Zambia, Kenya and Sierra Leone.
Ugandan human rights lawyer and campaigner Nicolas Opiyo slammed the conference in an interview with The Guardian, stating that homophobia and transphobia in Uganda has nothing to do with African values at all.
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"Their claim about African family values is only a ‘dog whistle’, a hate campaign and an imposition of a narrow Christian worldview upon us all," he said.
Opiyo added: "Once again, the Ugandan gay community is a target of this misinformation, hate and culture wars."
Topics: News, World News, LGBTQ