“HOMOSEXUALITY NOT A HUMAN RIGHT”

The man behind the draconian anti-gay law under consideration in Uganda’s parliament has defended the bill in a newspaper article titled “Homosexuality is not a human right”.

David Bahati, the ruling party MP who has been described as the architect of the proposed law said in Uganda’s Observer that it “is a nice piece of legislation. It is a consolidation of values of Ugandans and the country at large. It aims at holding the integrity of Ugandans high in the sky”.

As recorded by reporter David Tash Lumu, Bahati insists in the article that “this Bill is not about hate or discrimination. We are not involved in a hate campaign.”

But we are pursuing a campaign and a genuine cause of protecting our traditional family. The best output from a family is got when it is led by a mother and a father. The family is the epitome of creation. And anything that deviates from our family values is evil, unacceptable,” he says.

“We are happy that we are involved in this issue of attacking homosexuality head on. And generally people have started to see this cause as something that is highly needed,” adds the MP. “It is not an easy task. Combating homosexuality is not easy. There is massive recruitment in schools—mostly single-sex schools.”

He concludes by stating that the country will not bow down to international pressure to repeal the bill.

“Uganda will never exchange her dignity for money. While we are poor in terms of finances, we are extremely rich in dignity. And we will never accept homosexuality for the sake of appeasing other countries or as an incentive for their money,” says Bahati.

Although homosexuality can already be punished with life imprisonment in Uganda, the new legislation, should it be passed, would see people convicted of “aggravated homosexuality” punished with the death penalty.

The law would also mete out jail sentences to those who in any way lobby for, advocate for or even write about LGBT equality.

Read the full article here.