The bill must be signed by President Yoweri Museveni within 30 days in order for it to become a law. The bill passed Friday removed the death penalty possibility, but lawmakers rejected a lesser punishment of 14 years in prison for other crimes under the bill, which also punishes anyone who “conducts a marriage ceremony” for two people of the same sex with a seven-year prison term. The bill, which had been first introduced in 2010, originally had death as a possible penalty for engaging in homosexual acts with a minor or if one of the participants had HIV. Aggravated homosexuality under the law includes having gay sex with someone who is infected with HIV, with minors and the disabled as well as between consenting adults having gay sex repeatedly. Uganda on Friday passed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, 2009, making gays who have sex guilty of “aggravated homosexuality,” which leaves them facing a possible maximum term of life in prison.
