In Uganda, a law was approved that will subject those who just identify as LGBTQ+ to up to 10 years in prison.
Once the new legislation was enacted, cheers could be heard throughout the Kampala Parliament building.
It gives authorities considerable authority to target Ugandans who identify as LGBT, who already experience legal discrimination and gang violence.
Same-sex relationships are currently prohibited in more than 30 African nations, including Uganda.
But Human Rights Watch warned this appears to be the first to outlaw identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer.
The 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Bill confirms an already existing punishment of life in prison for same-sex conduct, while also increasing to 10 years the sentence for an attempt at same-sex conduct.
Violations draw severe penalties, including death for ‘aggravated homosexuality’ and life in prison for gay sex.
‘Aggravated homosexuality’ involves gay sex with people under the age of 18 or when the perpetrator is HIV positive, among other categories, according to the law.
It also creates new offences that will further curtail any activism on LGBTQ+ rights, which supporters say threaten traditional values in the conservative and religious nation.
Anyone advocating for the rights of LGBTQ+ people, or financially supporting organisations that do so, could face up to 20 years’ imprisonment.
The bill also criminalises any person who fails to report someone they suspect of participating in same-sex acts to the police, calling for a fine or imprisonment for six months.
Effectively, this targets families or friends of LGBTQ+ people failing to report their loved ones.
‘Our creator God is happy [about] what is happening. I support the bill to protect the future of our children,’ lawmaker David Bahati said during a debate on the bill.
‘This is about the sovereignty of our nation, nobody should blackmail us, nobody should intimidate us.’
The legislation will be sent to president Yoweri Museveni to be signed into law.
Frank Mugisha, a prominent Ugandan LGBTQ+ activist denounced the legislation as ‘very extreme and draconian’.
‘It criminalises being an LGBTQ+ person. They are also trying to erase the entire existence of any LGBTQ+ Ugandan,’ he warned.
President Museveni has not commented on the current proposal but he has long opposed LGBTQ+ rights.
But in 2013 he signed an anti-LGBTQ law that was widely condemned by Western countries before a domestic court struck it down on procedural grounds.