Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni returned the sweeping “anti-homosexuality” bill to the nation’s Parliament for changes. The legislation has received international outcry for its severe penalties, catch-all phrasing, and concerns it could devastate the HIV response in the country.
Parliament passed the bill on March 21 and then it was sent to Museveni to sign into law, veto, or send back.
The bill prescribes life imprisonment for consensual relations between people born of the same sex and the death penalty for those engaged in what legislators call “aggravated homosexuality” — which includes a “serial offender” of consensual sex, and same-sex relations with someone with a disability, mental illness, of older age, or if a person contracts a terminal illness, among other circumstances.
About the author
Sara Jervingsarajerving
Sara Jerving is a Senior Reporter at Devex, where she covers global health. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, VICE News, and Bloomberg News among others. Sara holds a master's degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she was a Lorana Sullivan fellow. She was a finalist for One World Media's Digital Media Award in 2021; a finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists in 2018; and she was part of a VICE News Tonight on HBO team that received an Emmy nomination in 2018. She received the Philip Greer Memorial Award from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2014.
