Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni asked
for scientific proof that being gay is not “a genetic condition”
and he's about to receive a report that purports to support that
claim.
Museveni is resisting calls to sign
into law a bill approved by lawmakers that provides for life
imprisonment for the crime of “aggravated homosexuality” and
outlaws the promotion of homosexuality.
The president, who is likely sitting on
the bill because lawmakers have the votes to override his veto, last
week declared that he would not sign the measure “unless [he] got
confirmation from scientists that this condition is not genetic, but
rather a behavior that is acquired.”
A team of scientists backed by the
nation's ruling party, which promoted the law, is expected to present
a report on the subject during a 10-day parliamentary retreat.
“From the research that I have
engaged in for some time ever since we were assigned by the caucus, I
have discovered that there is no gene that is said to produce
[homosexuality] as claimed by some people,” Medard Bitekyerez told
Uganda daily the
Observer.
Dr. Kenneth Omona claimed that half of
gay people can be turned straight.
“One study revealed that actually 50
percent of the homosexuals revert to heterosexuality if rehabilitated
in time. This, in itself, reveals a behavioral aspect,” he told
the paper.