After all that hard work in 2009, this thing rears its ugly head again. Unfortunately, the climate of today's world is likely more receptive to such a policy. LGBTQ+ individuals, like all minorities, are ready scapegoats to, as Wendy said, take attention away from problems for which there appears no easy answer. None of this, however, could be done without the firm support of the Church, there and here. Shame on them.
With the "woke" and "groomer" nonsense, swathes of people are subject to unfocused, raw hatred which represents the totality of whatever those lobbing the names don't like. In Uganda this is carried a little further and placed into law. There was a time when I would never have believed something similar could happen in the US, but I now accept that it could.
When the world becomes unsettled, when there are problems that have no ready solution, when things get rough, the minorities come into the crosshairs. In those times, the Church should be there to unite us, to defend the minority from the majority. They should remind us that we are all equal under God. Instead we get, well you know what we've got and it ain't pretty. God help us.
Here in western Europe, we are very fortunate that the idea that religion should be confessional rather than cultural still seems to hold sway. Those who hanker after cultural/political religion have clearly not understood the Old Testament Scriptures, which make clear that cultural religion doesn't work - a message driven home by the New Testament.
Yes, there does seem to be confusion about the precise contents of the Act, although I think what you have posted is (as you rightly suspect) probably not what was actually passed. For one thing, it makes no logical sense to have same penalty for "homosexuality" and "aggravated homosexuality" (both are shown to attract a penalty of 10 years, while I suspect that the penalties for both may be higher than that, given that current legislation provide for 14 years in prison for some same-sex activity).
Not surprising that it made a comeback, given the current conflict between western democracies and 'manly' autocratic polities. One can imagine supporters of this new legislation having a copy of it on their mantle pieces - next to a photo of a topless Vladimir Putin.
Perhaps on a more serious note: there is a real 'man problem' in much of Africa. Women are showing that they can do pretty much anything a man can do, and many young men simply cannot get jobs. I think that this kind of shenanigans is, in a way, the psychological equivalent of men waving their private parts around in an attempt to show that they might have some kind of 'purpose' in life
Of course, things like will this make Uganda - already a failing state in many ways - a worse place, promoting yet more corruption and blackmail and other forms of violence and criminality.
As for LGBT Ugandans: well, things are dreadful now, and I'm not sure this will make a great deal of practical difference to them, the profoundly odious nature of the Act notwithstanding.
Interestingly, I read an article yesterday that cited Uganda as one of countries that it titling towards the Beijing-Moscow axis. The passing of the Bill could be understood as Ugandan MPs 'thumbing their noses' at 'the West'.
Ten years ago, I remember talking with someone who advised the then prime minister (who was instrumental in getting the 2013 Act declared unconstitutional). We agreed that it was in Uganda's interest to keep both 'the West' and China (as it was then) 'on side', so that one could be played off against the other. My interlocutor said something about "clowns"! I can't imagine to whom they might have been referring!
'The West' can get by without Uganda; in this new Cold War, there are much important fish to catch. But Uganda surely has an interest in 'keeping the West (fairly) sweet', if only to lessen the leverage that China-Russian will have on them. I'm sure that people like Museveni understand this very well. It will be very interesting to see how he handles this one (especially as the clever prime minister he had last time round has been sidelined - probably because he was clever!) ...
ADDITIONAL COMMENT: It is perhaps not surprising, given the history, that Ugandan politicians might feel inclined to 'thumb their noses' at western governments and, in one way, this foul legislation is in part yet another legacy of the evil of colonialism as well as warped, rancid 'religion'. What makes it all the sadder is that laws like this will do nothing to make Uganda a better place; quite the opposite in fact.
Re. UPDATE: I suspect it is essentially Bahati Mk 2, complete with the spice of prison time if you fail to turn over your nearest and dearest to the police [14 (1) (e) being the 'catch all' that could be used to prosecute someone for such a 'failure'].
I suppose we, on behalf of LGBT Ugandans, must be thankful that law enforcement agencies in Uganda are relatively ineffective. In practice, this law is probably pretty unworkable, and there may well be a fairly significant 'hot air' factor here.
Note the update in the text. The death penalty is for "aggravated homosexuality" which could be for repeated offences.
After all that hard work in 2009, this thing rears its ugly head again. Unfortunately, the climate of today's world is likely more receptive to such a policy. LGBTQ+ individuals, like all minorities, are ready scapegoats to, as Wendy said, take attention away from problems for which there appears no easy answer. None of this, however, could be done without the firm support of the Church, there and here. Shame on them.
With the "woke" and "groomer" nonsense, swathes of people are subject to unfocused, raw hatred which represents the totality of whatever those lobbing the names don't like. In Uganda this is carried a little further and placed into law. There was a time when I would never have believed something similar could happen in the US, but I now accept that it could.
When the world becomes unsettled, when there are problems that have no ready solution, when things get rough, the minorities come into the crosshairs. In those times, the Church should be there to unite us, to defend the minority from the majority. They should remind us that we are all equal under God. Instead we get, well you know what we've got and it ain't pretty. God help us.
Here in western Europe, we are very fortunate that the idea that religion should be confessional rather than cultural still seems to hold sway. Those who hanker after cultural/political religion have clearly not understood the Old Testament Scriptures, which make clear that cultural religion doesn't work - a message driven home by the New Testament.
Yes, there does seem to be confusion about the precise contents of the Act, although I think what you have posted is (as you rightly suspect) probably not what was actually passed. For one thing, it makes no logical sense to have same penalty for "homosexuality" and "aggravated homosexuality" (both are shown to attract a penalty of 10 years, while I suspect that the penalties for both may be higher than that, given that current legislation provide for 14 years in prison for some same-sex activity).
Not surprising that it made a comeback, given the current conflict between western democracies and 'manly' autocratic polities. One can imagine supporters of this new legislation having a copy of it on their mantle pieces - next to a photo of a topless Vladimir Putin.
The ripple effects of this in the region are significant as well. This has been playing out actively in Burundi: https://www.africanews.com/2023/03/09/burundis-homosexuality-crackdown-24-people-prosecuted// and here in in Kenya https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/23/why-are-kenya-and-uganda-cracking-down-on-lgbtq-rights. Many of us think this is a smokescreen btw for greater pressing economic issues that have yet to be dealt with by politicians and these types of broad campaigns distract from very addressing the extremely difficult economic situations here in the region. That being said, there is much reason for concern for the safety of the gay, lesbian, and transgender communities here.
I agree that much of this kind of stuff is a smokescreen. Got a whole range of deep-seated and complex problems? Easy answer: bash a minority!
On possible good thing: it will be harder for western nations to justify denying asylum to those who need it.
Perhaps on a more serious note: there is a real 'man problem' in much of Africa. Women are showing that they can do pretty much anything a man can do, and many young men simply cannot get jobs. I think that this kind of shenanigans is, in a way, the psychological equivalent of men waving their private parts around in an attempt to show that they might have some kind of 'purpose' in life
Of course, things like will this make Uganda - already a failing state in many ways - a worse place, promoting yet more corruption and blackmail and other forms of violence and criminality.
As for LGBT Ugandans: well, things are dreadful now, and I'm not sure this will make a great deal of practical difference to them, the profoundly odious nature of the Act notwithstanding.
Interestingly, I read an article yesterday that cited Uganda as one of countries that it titling towards the Beijing-Moscow axis. The passing of the Bill could be understood as Ugandan MPs 'thumbing their noses' at 'the West'.
Ten years ago, I remember talking with someone who advised the then prime minister (who was instrumental in getting the 2013 Act declared unconstitutional). We agreed that it was in Uganda's interest to keep both 'the West' and China (as it was then) 'on side', so that one could be played off against the other. My interlocutor said something about "clowns"! I can't imagine to whom they might have been referring!
'The West' can get by without Uganda; in this new Cold War, there are much important fish to catch. But Uganda surely has an interest in 'keeping the West (fairly) sweet', if only to lessen the leverage that China-Russian will have on them. I'm sure that people like Museveni understand this very well. It will be very interesting to see how he handles this one (especially as the clever prime minister he had last time round has been sidelined - probably because he was clever!) ...
ADDITIONAL COMMENT: It is perhaps not surprising, given the history, that Ugandan politicians might feel inclined to 'thumb their noses' at western governments and, in one way, this foul legislation is in part yet another legacy of the evil of colonialism as well as warped, rancid 'religion'. What makes it all the sadder is that laws like this will do nothing to make Uganda a better place; quite the opposite in fact.
Re. UPDATE: I suspect it is essentially Bahati Mk 2, complete with the spice of prison time if you fail to turn over your nearest and dearest to the police [14 (1) (e) being the 'catch all' that could be used to prosecute someone for such a 'failure'].
I suppose we, on behalf of LGBT Ugandans, must be thankful that law enforcement agencies in Uganda are relatively ineffective. In practice, this law is probably pretty unworkable, and there may well be a fairly significant 'hot air' factor here.