Yoweri Museveni, the Ugandan president, has urged African leaders to reject what he called “the promotion of homosexuality”.
Speaking on 2 April, he said homosexuality is “a big threat and danger to the procreation of human race [sic]”.
The 78-year-old continued: “Africa should provide the lead to save the world from this degeneration and decadence, which is really very dangerous for humanity. If people of opposite sex [sic] stop appreciating one another then how will the human race be propagated?”
Museveni’s comments came after a two-day inter-parliamentary conference on “family values and sovereignty” was held at State House in Entebbe.
The event was attended by MPs and delegates from 22 African countries.
State House claimed British MPs were also in attendance, though this remains unconfirmed as it could not name them or prove this.
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Uganda recently passed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which would see the country introduce some of the world’s cruellest and harshest anti-LGBTQ+ laws if signed by President Museveni, which his comments suggest will happen.
The country’s parliament approved the legislation on 21 March, with its broad wording targeting “aggravated homosexuality”.
“It criminalises people simply for being who they are”
According to the law, this term refers to sex acts committed without consent or under duress, against children, people with mental and/or physical disabilities, by a “serial offender,” or involving incest.
“A person who commits the offence of aggravated homosexuality and is liable, on conviction to suffer death,” the amendments said.
Same-sex relations were already illegal in Uganda, with this being part of wider efforts to crackdown on the LGBTQ+ community there.
READ MORE: Uganda passes Anti-Homosexuality Bill making it illegal to identify as LGBTQ+
Museveni praised MPs for passing the bill and vowed “never to allow the promotion and publicisation of homosexuality in Uganda, stressing that it will never be tolerated”.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) condemned the legislation and said it violates the rights of Ugandans.
“One of the most extreme features of this new bill is that it criminalises people simply for being who they are as well as further infringing on the rights to privacy, and freedoms of expression and association that are already compromised in Uganda,” said HRW Uganda researcher Oryem Nyeko.
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