Kenyan gays and lesbians and others supporting their trigger put on masks to protect their anonymity as they stage a uncommon protest towards Uganda’s powerful stance towards homosexuality and in solidarity with their counterparts there, outdoors the Uganda Excessive Fee in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2014.

Ben Curtis/AP

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Ben Curtis/AP

Kenyan gays and lesbians and others supporting their trigger put on masks to protect their anonymity as they stage a uncommon protest towards Uganda’s powerful stance towards homosexuality and in solidarity with their counterparts there, outdoors the Uganda Excessive Fee in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2014.

Ben Curtis/AP

LAGOS, Nigeria — Uganda’s parliament has handed a few of the most sweeping anti-LGBTQ+ laws on the planet. Identical-sex acts had been already illegal in Uganda, however Tuesday night time’s vote now bans figuring out as LGBTQ, or the so-called promotion of homosexual id, and follows months of anti-gay outrage in Uganda.

In a packed chamber, lawmakers in Uganda overwhelmingly voted in favor of a brand new sweeping anti-gay legislation, with solely two of the close to 400 representatives voting towards it.

“Congratulations,” stated Speaker Anita Amongst. “No matter we’re doing, we’re doing it for the folks of Uganda.”

Identical-sex acts have been felony in Uganda below British colonial-era legal guidelines, however this new laws goes a lot additional. It punishes anybody figuring out as homosexual or queer, and probably folks or rights teams seen as selling LGBTQ+ id and same-sex relations is punishable with as much as life imprisonment. Homosexuality is criminalized in additional than 30 of Africa’s 54 international locations.

Worldwide condemnation has been swift. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted that the invoice “would undermine basic human rights of all Ugandans.”

He added, “We urge the Ugandan Authorities to strongly rethink the implementation of this laws.”

United Nations Excessive Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk known as it a “deeply troubling growth.”

“If signed into legislation by the president, it’s going to render lesbian, homosexual and bisexual folks in Uganda criminals merely for present, for being who they’re,” he stated. “It might present carte blanche for the systematic violation of almost all of their human rights and serve to incite folks towards one another.”

An identical legislation was handed in Uganda in 2014 however was struck down within the courts on procedural grounds, following outrage in Uganda and from worldwide donors.

Human Rights Watch known as the brand new laws a “extra egregious model” of the earlier one.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who has spoken in assist of the laws, is anticipated to signal it into legislation.