Ugandan president signs law with harsher penalties for same-sex relations, Biden threatens sanctions

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Monday signed a bill into law that creates harsher penalties for anyone who engages in gay sex, and President Biden has threatened sanctions against the country as a result. 

While engaging in homosexual acts is already illegal in Uganda, the new law adds offenses to the list and contains harsher penalties, The New York Times reported. 

Anyone trying to have same-sex relations could face up to 10 years in prison, according to the new law, which also calls for life imprisonment for anyone who does engage in it. 

The death penalty is the law’s sentence for anyone convicted of “aggravated homosexuality,” which means "same-sex relations with children or disabled people, those carried out under threat or while someone is unconscious,” according to the Times. 

“Attempted aggravated homosexuality” includes a prison sentence of up to 14 years. 

On Monday, Biden called the law “a tragic violation of universal human rights,” later adding that his administration would “evaluate the implications of this law on all aspects of U.S. engagement with Uganda.” 

“We are considering additional steps, including the application of sanctions and restriction of entry into the United States against anyone involved in serious human rights abuses or corruption,” Biden also noted in his statement. 

The law, which is called the Anti-Homosexuality Act, originally passed parliament in March. However, Museveni, who has been in power for nearly 40 years, sent the legislation back to have amendments included that made a distinction between engaging in same-sex relations and being gay. 

The Times tweeted its article on the law, titled, “Ugandan President Signs Anti-Gay Law That Includes Death Penalty as a Punishment,” with the caption, “The president of Uganda signed a punitive anti-gay bill on Monday that includes the death penalty, enshrining into law an intensifying crackdown against LGBTQ people in the East African nation. It is one of the world’s most restrictive anti-gay measures.” 

Daily Wire podcast host Michael Knowles retweeted the Times' tweet, noting, "What the @nytimes neglects to mention in this viral tweet—a fact that it does mention in the article that few will ever read—is that the death penalty is for raping children."

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), however, noted in his retweet of the Times' tweet, "This Uganda law is horrific & wrong. Any law criminalizing homosexuality or imposing the death penalty for 'aggravated homosexuality' is grotesque & an abomination. ALL civilized nations should join together in condemning this human rights abuse. #LGBTQ"