Anti homophobic sentiments are very strong in Uganda and as such laws passed against suggestive and actual homosexual acts are very stiff. However, gay people are happy about the strange ways President Yoweri Museveni has interpreted their condition which resulted in the revelations of today.
Make no mistakes though, the man still opposes homosexuality but he thinks his parliament should be more creative in recommending punishments:
Here is Time report:
Ugandan President Yoweri
Museveni has refused to sign off on a controversial anti-gay bill passed by his
parliament, saying there are other ways of dealing with “abnormal” people.
His comments were made
in a letter to the speaker of parliament and Ugandan legislators—dated Dec. 28,
after the controversial bill was approved—that was published Friday by Ugandan paper Daily Monitor.
Museveni claimed a group
of MPs forced the bill through parliament after he advised them to wait until
the government had studied it, reports the Daily Monitor. The bill,
which would punish “aggravated
homosexuality” with life imprisonment, has been widely criticized by
rights activists both within the country and internationally.
“The question at the
core of the debate of homosexuality is; what do we do with an abnormal person?
Do we kill him/her? Do we imprison him/her? Or do we contain him/her?” wrote
Museveni.
The President argued
that the best way to deal with the issue was to focus on improving Uganda’s
economy and tackle youth unemployment, suggesting that legislation was perhaps
not the best way forward: “Even with legislation, they will simply go
underground and continue practicing homosexuality or lesbianism for mercenary
reasons.”
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