PRESIDENT MUSEVENI SPEECH ON SIGNING THE ANTI-HOMOSEXUALITY ACT

President Museveni today assented to the anti-homosexuality bill, making it a law amidst debate and controversies from Western powers and Human rights activists. The President stressed that despite US president barrack Obama getting disappointed with the signing of this bill, We (Ugandans) have also been disappointed for a very long time too by the policies of the west that do not make us "happy". He then went ahead to stress that Uganda is a rich country that does not need aid, because aid is in itself a problem. This all happened this afternoon at state house Entebbe. Read the full address of the President below: It seems the topic of homosexuals was provoked by the arrogant and careless Western groups that are fond of coming into our schools and recruiting young children into homosexuality and lesbianism, just as they carelessly handle other issues concerning Africa. Initially, I did not pay much attention to it because I was busy with the immediate issues of defense, security, electricity, the roads, the railways, factories, modernization of agriculture, etc. When, eventually, I concentrated my mind on it, I distilled three problems: 1. those who were promoting homo-sexuality and recruiting normal people into it; 2. as a consequence of No. 1 above, many of those recruited were doing so for mercenary reasons – to get money – in effect homosexual prostitutes; these mercenary homosexual prostitutes had to be punished; 3. Homosexuals exhibiting themselves; Africans are flabbergasted by exhibitionism of sexual acts – whether heterosexual or otherwise and for good reason. Why do you exhibit your sexual conduct? Are you short of opportunity for privacy - where you can kiss, fondle (kukirigiita, kwagaaga) etc.? Are we interested in seeing your sexual acts – we the Public? I am not able to understand the logic of the Western Culture. However, we Africans always keep our opinions to ourselves and never seek to impose our point of view on the others. If only they could let us alone. It was my view that the above three should be punished harshly in order to defend our society from disorientation. Therefore, on these three I was in total accord with the MPs and other Ugandans. I had, however, a problem with Category 4 or what I thought was category 4 – those “born” homosexual. I thought there were such people – those who are either genetic or congenital homosexuals. The reason I thought so was because I could not understand why a man could fail to be attracted to the beauties of a woman and, instead, be attracted to a fellow man. It meant, according to me, that there was something wrong with that man – he was born a homosexual – abnormal. I, therefore, thought that it would be wrong to punish somebody because of how he was created, disgusting though it may be to us. That is why I refused to sign the Bill. In order to get to the truth, we involved Uganda Scientists as well as consulting Scientists from outside Uganda. My question to them was: “Are there people that are homosexual right from birth?”. After exhaustive studies, it has been found that homosexuality is in two categories: there are those who engage in homosexuality for mercenary reasons on account of the under – developed sectors of our economy that cause people to remain in poverty, the great opportunities that abound not withstanding; and then there are those that become homosexual by both nature (genetic) and nurture (up-bringing). The studies that were done on identical twins in Sweden showed that 34% - 39% were homosexual on account of nature and 66% were homosexual on account of nurture. Therefore, even in those studies, nurture was more significant than nature. Can somebody be homosexual purely by nature without nurture? The answer is: “No”. No study has shown that. Since nurture is the main cause of homosexuality, then society can do something about it to discourage the trends. That is why I have agreed to sign the Bill.

THE ANTI-HOMOSEXUALITY ACT, 2014

THE ANTI-HOMOSEXUALITY ACT, 2014. ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS. PART I—PRELIMINARY. Section 1. Interpretation. PART II—PROHIBITION OF HOMOSEXUALITY. 1. 2. The offence of homosexuality. 2. 3. Aggravated homosexuality. 3. 4. Attempt to commit homosexuality. 4. 5. Protection, assistance and payment of compensation to victims of homosexuality. 5. 6. Confidentiality. PART III—RELATED OFFENCES AND PENALTIES. 1. 7. Aiding and abetting homosexuality. 2. 8. Conspiracy to engage in homosexuality. 3. 9. Procuring homosexuality by threats, etc. 4. 10. Detention with intent to commit homosexuality. 5. 11. Brothels. 6. 12. Same sex marriage. 7. 13. Promotion of homosexuality. PART IV—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 1. 14. Extradition. 2. 15. Regulations. Schedule Currency point. 1 THE ANTI-HOMOSEXUALITY ACT, 2014. An Act to prohibit any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex; prohibit the promotion or recognition of such relations and to provide for other related matters. DATE OF ASSENT: Date of Commencement: BE IT ENACTED by Parliament as follows: PART I—PRELIMINARY. 1. Interpretation. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— “authority” means having power and control over other people because of your knowledge and official position; and shall include a person who exercises religious, political, economic or social authority; “child” means a person below the age of eighteen years; “court” means a chief magistrates court; “currency point” has the value assigned to it in the Schedule to this Act; 3 “disability” means a substantial limitation of daily life activities caused by physical, mental or sensory impairment and environment barriers resulting in limited participation; “felony” means an offence which is declared by law to be a felony or if not declared to be a misdemeanor is punishable without proof of previous conviction, with death or with imprisonment for three years or more; “HIV” means the Human Immunodeficiency Virus; "homosexual’’ means a person who engages or attempts to engage in same gender sexual activity; “homosexuality” means same gender or same sex sexual acts; “Minister’’ means the Minister responsible for ethics and integrity; “misdemeanor” means any offence which is not a felony; “serial offender” means a person who has previous convictions of the offence of homosexuality or related offences; “sexual act” includes— .(a) physical sexual activity that does not necessarily culminate in intercourse and may include the touching of another’s breast, vagina, penis or anus; .(b) stimulation or penetration of a vagina or mouth or anus or any part of the body of any person, however slight by a sexual organ; .(c) the unlawful use of any object or organ by a person on another person’s sexual organ or anus or mouth; “sexual organ’’ means a vagina, penis or any artificial sexual contraption; “touching” includes touching— 4 .(a) with any part of the body; .(b) with anything else; .(c) through anything; and in particular includes touching amounting to penetration of any sexual organ, anus or mouth. “victim” includes a person who is involved in homosexual activities against his or her will. PART II—HOMOSEXUALITY AND RELATED PRACTICES. 2. The offence of homosexuality. .(1) A person commits the offence of homosexuality if— .(a) he penetrates the anus or mouth of another person of the same sex with his penis or any other sexual contraption; .(b) he or she uses any object or sexual contraption to penetrate or stimulate sexual organ of a person of the same sex; .(c) he or she touches another person with the intention of committing the act of homosexuality. (2) A person who commits an offence under this section shall be liable, on conviction, to imprisonment for life. 3. Aggravated homosexuality. .(1) A person commits the offence of aggravated homosexuality where the— .(a) person against whom the offence is committed is below the age of eighteen years; .(b) offender is a person living with HIV; 5 .(c) offender is a parent or guardian of the person against whom the offence is committed; .(d) offender is a person in authority over the person against whom the offence is committed; .(e) victim of the offence is a person with disability; .(f) offender is a serial offender; or .(g) offender applies, administers or causes to be used by any man or woman any drug, matter or thing with intent to stupefy or overpower him or her so as to enable any person to have unlawful carnal connection with any person of the same sex. .(2) A person who commits the offence of aggravated homosexuality shall be liable, on conviction, to imprisonment for life. .(3) Where a person is charged with the offence under this section, that person shall undergo a medical examination to ascertain his or her HIV status. 4. Attempt to commit homosexuality. .(1) A person who attempts to commit the offence of homosexuality commits a felony and is liable, on conviction, to imprisonment for seven years. .(2) A person who attempts to commit the offence of aggravated homosexuality commits an offense and is liable, on conviction, to imprisonment for life. 5. Protection, assistance and payment of compensation to victims of homosexuality. .(1) A victim of homosexuality shall not be penalized for anycrime committed as a direct result of his or her involvement in homosexuality. .(2) A victim of homosexuality shall be assisted to enable his orher views and concerns to be presented and considered at the appropriate stages of the criminal proceedings. .(3) Where a person is convicted of homosexuality or aggravatedhomosexuality under sections 2 and 3 of this Act, the court may, in addition to any sentence imposed on the offender, order that the victim of the offence be paid compensation by the offender for any physical, sexual or psychological harm caused to the victim by the offence. .(4) The amount of compensation shall be determined by thecourt and the court shall take into account the extent of harm suffered by the victim of the offence, the degree of force used by the offender and medical and other expenses incurred by the victim as a result of the offence. 6. Confidentiality. .(1) At any stage of the investigation or trial of an offence under this Act, law enforcement officer, prosecutor, judicial officer and medical practitioner, and any party to the case, shall recognize the right to privacy of the victim. .(2) For the purpose of subsection (1), in cases involving childrenand other cases where the court considers it appropriate, proceedings of the court shall be conducted in camera. .(3) Any editor, publisher, reporter or columnist in case of printed materials, announcer or producer in case of television and radio, producer or director of a film in case of the movie industry, or any person utilizing trimedia facilities or information technology who publishes or causes the publicity of the names and personal circumstances or any other information tending to establish the victim’s identity without authority of the victim or court, commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty currency points. 7 PART III—RELATED OFFENCES AND PENALTIES. 7. Aiding and abetting homosexuality. A person who aids, abets, counsels or procures another to engage in acts of homosexuality commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to imprisonment for seven years. 8. Conspiracy to engage in homosexuality. A person who conspires with another to induce another person of the same sex by any means of false pretence or other fraudulent means to permit any person of the same sex to have unlawful carnal knowledge of him or her commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to imprisonment for seven years. 9. Procuring homosexuality by threats. .(1) A person who— .(a) by threats or intimidation procures or attempts to procure any woman or man to have any unlawful carnal knowledge with any person of the same sex; or .(b) by false pretences or false representations procures any woman or man to have any unlawful carnal connection with any person of the same sex; commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for seven years (2) A person shall not be convicted of an offence under this section upon the evidence of one witness only, unless that witness is corroborated in some material particular by evidence implicating the accused. 10. Detention with intent to commit homosexuality. A person who detains another person with the intention to commit acts of homosexuality with him or her or with any other person commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to imprisonment for seven years. 11. Brothels. .(1) A person who keeps a house, room, set of rooms or place ofany kind for purposes of homosexuality commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to imprisonment for seven years. .(2) A person being the owner or occupier of premises or having oracting or assisting in the management or control of the premises, induces or knowingly suffers any man or woman to resort to or be upon such premises for the purpose of being unlawfully and carnally known by any man or woman of the same sex whether such carnal knowledge is intended to be with any particular man or woman generally, commits a felony and is liable, on conviction, to imprisonment for five years. 12. Same sex marriage. .(1) A person who purports to contract a marriage with anotherperson of the same sex commits the offence of homosexuality and shall be liable, on conviction, to imprisonment for life. .(2) A person or institution commits an offence if that person or institution conducts a marriage ceremony between persons of the same sex and shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a maximum of seven years for individuals or cancellation of licence for an institution. 13. Promotion of homosexuality. .(1) A person who— .(a) participates in production, procuring, marketing, broadcasting, disseminating, publishing of pornographic materials for purposes of promoting homosexuality; .(b) funds or sponsors homosexuality or other related activities; .(c) offers premises and other related fixed or movable assets for purposes of homosexuality or promoting homosexuality; .(d) uses electronic devices which include internet, films, mobile phones for purposes of homosexuality or promoting homosexuality; or .(e) who acts as an accomplice or attempts to promote or in any way abets homosexuality and related practices; commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine of five thousand currency points or imprisonment of a minimum of five years and a maximum of seven years or both fine and imprisonment. (2) Where the offender is a corporate body or a business or an association or a non-governmental organization, on conviction its certificate of registration shall be cancelled and the director, proprietor or promoter shall be liable, on conviction, to imprisonment for seven years. PART IV—MISCELLANEOUS. 14. Extradition. A person charged with an offense under this Act shall be liable to extradition under the existing extradition laws. 15. Regulations. The Minister may, by statutory instrument, make regulations generally for better carrying out the provisions of this Act. SCHEDULE s.1. CURRENCY POINT One currency point is equivalent to twenty thousand shillings.

Briefing about the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2014 (Darkeness on 24th February in Uganda's History)

As an organization that has relentlessly fought against this bill, we have done everything on ground possible in our means, its very disheartening and sad that the Ugandan leader and the entire country is celebrating the signing into law of this heinous law, backward and barbaric. The choices are limited for all the LGBTI community and our partners but nevertheless we never never loose the HOPE that brought us in this world the way we are. God is our provider and protector. - ED - Beproud Coalition Uganda