(CNSNews.com) – The White House on Wednesday expressed “grave concerns” with a bill passed by the Ugandan Parliament that criminalizes homosexuality, calling it “one of the most extreme anti-LGBTQI+ laws in the world.”
As CNSNews.com previously reported, the Parliament of Uganda voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to pass the "Anti-Homosexuality Bill, 2023," which seeks to "protect the traditional family" by prohibiting homosexual behavior and its promotion or recognition. The legislation now goes to the desk of President Yoweri Museveni, who is expected to sign it into law.
In the bill, the "offence of homosexuality" is defined as a person who "penetrates the anus or mouth of another person of the same sex with his penis or any other sexual contraption," or who "holds out as a lesbian, gay, transgender, a queer or any other sexual or gender identity that is contrary to the binary categories of male and female."
According to the bill, if someone is found guilty, they face up to 10 years in jail.
“We have grave concerns with the passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Act — AHA — by the Parliament of Uganda yesterday and increasing violence targeting LGBTQI+ persons. If the AHA is signed into law and enacted, it would impinge upon universal human rights, jeopardize progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS, deter tourism and invest [investment] in Uganda, and damage Uganda’s international reputation,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday.
“The bill is one of the most extreme anti-LGBTQI+ laws in the world. Human rights are universal. No one should be attacked, imprisoned, or killed simply because of who they are or whom they love,” she said.
When asked whether there was anything like sanctions or some concrete measure being considered by the United States if the law takes effect, NSC spokesman John Kirby said, “Yeah, well, first of all, big ‘if’ there, right? This is the parliament passing it. It still has some process to go here.
“We’re certainly watching this real closely, and we would have to take a look at whether or not there might be repercussions that we would have to take, perhaps in an economic way, should this law actually get passed — enacted, and that would be really unfortunate, because so much of the economic assistance that we provide Uganda is health assistance and largely through PEPFAR,” he said.
“And you can see a world in which, you know, a law like this, should it be enacted, would not only, as Karine rightly said, just be devastating to a whole community of people inside of Uganda, but if it were to have any kind of an effect on our economic assistance, that would only make that worse,” Kirby said.
“So, we’ll have to take a look. No decisions. We’re watching this very, very closely, and hopefully, it won’t pass, and we won’t have to do anything,” he said.