Dear Reader,
I am sure you have heard bad news about what
happened in Uganda. On 24 of February the President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni
signed the bill called Anti-Homosexuality Act which “prohibits any form of
sexual relations between persons of the same sex and the promotion or recognition
of such relations”. Originally, the punishment for engaging in “aggravated homosexuality”
(defined as repeated gay sex between consenting adults and acts involving a
minor, a disabled person or where one partner was infected with HIV) was death
penalty but it was “mercifully” changed to lifetime imprisonment. The law has
already sparked violence where prominent gay activist David Kato was murdered
after the list with top 100 homosexuals was published.
The President claims that he signed the bill into
the law after his “team of scientists” showed that homosexual orientation is
not a genetic disorder but rather a matter of choice. Here we need to remember
that homosexuality was criminalized even before this law was enacted. This
brings up a question: Why would anybody DELIBERATELY CHOOSE being a homosexual
if it is clear that homosexuality is not only strongly opposed by Ugandan
society but also is considered a crime?
Clearly this argument is absurd just like believing
that gays want to recruit children and destroy the society. Many believe that
Museveni did it to ensure public support for the upcoming election. At the same
time he strongly dislikes gay people saying “They're disgusting. What sort of
people are they?”
Many Ugandan homosexuals have fled the country in a
fear of prosecution and I suspect there will be more willing to escape the
country where freedom of choice is not a human right.
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