Even slight shift in Ugandan anti-gay policy signals improvement

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni recently opposed the strict anti-gay bill being proposed in his country, stating, “Unless I have got confirmation from scientists that this condition is not genetic, but a behavior that is acquired, I will not sign the bill.”

It is extremely comforting to know that this bill will at least be halted, considering the bill would impose the maximum sentence of life in prison for having homosexual intercourse. Although Yoweri still holds the belief that homosexuality is a learned trait in which corrupt individuals recruit others, he has recently considered the idea that even a small portion of homosexuals receive the traits genetically. This slight change in thinking is due primarily to gay-rights activists that Yoweri recently spoke with. Although there has not been just a single biological determinant for homosexuality revealed, an overwhelming amount of research suggests that it is very likely homosexuality has genetic origins and is not a learned behavior.

The fact that the Ugandan president felt looking into both sides of the debate and actually forming a new opinion based off of arguments from gay rights activists is a big step. A country that has been deemed as one of the worse places to be gay because of their extremely harsh laws against homosexual activity now has a leader whose views on the topic are changing.

This really is a testament to how activism does make significant changes. It may appear that I am giving this man too much credit because in regards to homosexuality his views still are entirely prehistoric, but in the big scheme of things, this is great progress.

So often LGBT communities in nations with a great rights record forget about how bad LGBT individuals have it in other countries. In order to make change, visibility of activists worldwide is needed. While in America we are fighting for marriage equality nationwide, others face violence, legal penalties and even death for being openly gay in their country. The struggle to obtain basic human rights still exists worldwide for the LGBT community, but there is hope that more and more progress can be achieved.

dhaynie@mavs.coloradomesa.edu

Categorised in: Opinions

This post was written by critedev