Johannesburg - The EFF has condemned the signing of the Anti- Homosexuality Bill by Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni officially into law.
The party which has criticised the bill from it's inception said the act had officially legalized the persecution of members of the LGBTQI± community.
As of today in Uganda, those who identify as homosexuals and choose their partners on the basis of their sexual identity can be sentenced to life imprisonment, and death in instances of “repeat offenders”.
“The bill that has been signed by Museveni is nothing short of state-sponsored hate and homophobia,” said EFF national spokesperson Leigh-Ann Mathys.
She said Museveni, who had returned the bill to the Ugandan Parliament to be revised due to its lack of provision for so-called “rehabilitation” of those engaged in same sex relationships, had now signed “the inhumane and draconian legislation into law, a fundamental step backwards in the quest to promote democracy, freedom of expression and freedom of association in Africa.”
“The narrative that gender and sexual identities that are non-heteronormative are against African values, cultures and that they somehow erode family values is baseless and dangerous. It is a hateful logic that is not rooted in any historical truth or objective reality, as many within the LGBTQI± community continue to practice their cultures and spiritualities to no detriment of any of the institutions they choose to associate with,” said Mathys.
“Ironically, the values of anti-homosexuality which inspire the anti- homosexuality bill which Museveni has signed into law, stem from colonialist laws imposed by the British in Uganda during the time of British Colonialism in the country”.
She said the assertion therefore that homosexuality was a product of imperialism was counter-intuitive and nonsensical, as Western society had historically been at the forefront of outlawing and shaming homosexuality, and these outdated attitudes were what informed the pervasive homophobia in society today.
“The EFF encourages all human rights activists within and outside of Uganda to continue to stand against the illogical, hateful and homophobic laws being passed against the LGBTQI± Community in Uganda.
“The laws are a stepping stone towards the repression of people on the basis of villainizing their identity, and all of Africa must resist hateful ideas which seek to criminalize the identities of people,” Mathys said.
The Star