Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni told
a crowd this week that he signed a harsh anti-gay bill because being
gay is a choice.
“It is not genetic. It is not
congenital. It is behavior,” Museveni said. “That's why I said
I'm now going to sign the bill, 'cause I'm convinced with the
available information that these people are not born like that, they
just learned. And they can unlearn what they have learned.”
Museveni spoke at a stadium in Kampala
where 30,000 Ugandans had gathered to thank him for signing the
legislation which allows up to life imprisonment for the crime of
“aggravated homosexuality.”
About $118 million worth of aid has
either been stopped or redirected by Western donors in response to
the law.
“We don't need aid … because a
country like Uganda is one of the riches on Earth,” Museveni told
the cheering crowd.
MP David Bahati, who sponsored the
bill, also spoke at the rally.
“We all agree that promotion of
homosexuality is wrong. We all agree that recruitment of children
into this terrible behavior is flat out wrong,” Bahati said.