Kampala
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has joined the crusade against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009 and is understood to have spoken to President Museveni on Friday, voicing his opposition against the proposed legislation.
Mr Brown met President Museveni at the Commonwealth Heads of Government conference in Trinidad and Tobago and reportedly made it clear to him that he is opposed to the new law that would impose life imprisonment to homosexuals in Uganda.
The Private Members Bill drawn up by Ndorwa West MP David Bahati also proposes the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality”- defined in the proposed law as any sexual act between gays or lesbians in which one person has the HIV/Aids virus.
Major international news outlets reported yesterday that the matter caused a furore at the Commonwealth meet, with Uganda facing isolation.
“The country’s plans have caused a backlash from other Commonwealth nations and condemnation from gay rights groups who want Uganda thrown out of the Commonwealth unless they back down,” reported the UK’s Telegraph newspaper.
Awkward moment
“The clash was set to lead to an awkward moment, as Mr Brown was thought to be seated next to President Museveni at an official banquet last night [Friday],” reported the UK’s Daily Express yesterday.
Quoting a source at Mr Brown’s office, The Telegraph reported: “A Downing Street source said, ‘The Prime Minister did raise it and you can take it that he was not supportive of the idea.’”
Even before Mr Museveni made the trip to Trinidad, activists were urging the Commonwealth to suspend Uganda’s membership if the new law is passed.
The gay rights row appears to have overshadowed the Commonwealth meeting where Mr Museveni is outgoing chairman. Uganda hosted the Chogm in 2007 and Mr Museveni has since been its chairman.
Although it is not clear how Mr Museveni reacted to Mr Brown’s reservations on the Bill, the NRM leader has publicly expressed his dread against homosexuality.
Mr Museveni recently told a gathering of youth in Kampala to turn away from homosexuality.
“I hear European homosexuals are recruiting in Africa. We used to have very few homosexuals traditionally,” he said, adding: “You should discourage your colleagues [who are gay] because God was not foolish to do the way he arranged.”
Mr Bahati told Sunday Monitor yesterday that he was certain President Museveni would be “unfazed” by the amount of international pressure piling against the Bill.
“We believe that homosexuality is not a common value for the commonwealth,” he said in a telephone interview. “There is no amount of pressure or intimidation that can deter us from defending our traditional family set up.”
However, the row will have left Commonwealth leaders divided, especially because they hold deeply polarised views on homosexuality. Some Commonwealth countries, including Britain and Canada, have liberal views on the subject, but many African and Caribbean nations that are members of the Commonwealth, a grouping which brings together former British colonies, are socially conservative and maintain laws on their books that criminalise homosexuality.