Homosexual behavior is “repugnant to the lives of the people of
Uganda,” Simon Lokodo, the Minister for Ethics and Integrity, told CNN’s
Hala Gorani, sitting in for Christiane Amanpour, on Wednesday.
A Ugandan bill passed by parliament in December would punish gay and
lesbian people with lengthy prison sentences – including, in some cases,
life behind bars.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has just signed that bill,
according to the minister, but has not yet handed it over to parliament.
“If you want to do your thing, do it yourself,” Lokodo said. “But
please, don’t embarrass, don’t involve, don’t bring any Ugandan to this
activity, because it’s not acceptable.”
U.S. President Barack Obama in a
statement said he was “deeply disappointed” in the law and said that it
will be a “step backward for all Ugandans.”
Obama also made a tacit threat to remove the several hundred million dollars in aid that the U.S. gives Uganda annually.
“As we have conveyed to President Museveni, enacting this legislation
will complicate our valued relationship with Uganda,” he said.
“If Barack Obama likes to help Ugandans,” Lokodo said, “let him help
without strings attached, imposing … a behavior and a culture that is
non-African, non-Ugandan.”
“We had better die poor than lose our dignity.”
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