Ugandan President: New Anti-Gay Law 'Not Necessary'

Photo via WikiCommons/Glenn Fawcett

When President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, who has been in power since 1986, singed a harsh anti-gay law into effect last year, the international community was up in arms. The country's Constitutional Court subsequently overturned the law on procedural grounds, but lawmakers had promised to introduce new legislature, which activists like Frank Mugisha feared would be even more severe. However, Museveni recently said that he had no plans for such a move, saying new anti-gay laws were not necessary. 

Speaking with reporters in Tokyo, Museveni said:

"That law was not necessary, because we already have a law which was left by the British which deals with this issue."

The situation to which he alludes is not unique to Uganda. The criminalization of homosexuality was introduced to much of the world through British imperialism—41 of 53 Commonwealth Nations retain British-imposed penalties on homosexuality, making up more than half of all countries in the world which still legally persecute the LGBT community. 

[H/T Gay Star News]