After President Yoweri Museveni enacted an anti-gay bill rated as one of the worst in the world, Ugandan activists urged international donors to impose fines on rights violators.

The senior leader rejected concerns that passing the much-debated anti-homosexuality bill would damage relations between Kampala and important foreign partners and assistance funders, particularly Washington.

PHOTO | COURTESY  President Museveni 

Among other punitive measures, the new law mandates the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality" in specific circumstances, even though Uganda has not used the death penalty in several years.

Uganda's diplomatic and financial backers have been urged to respond forcefully to the move.

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They warned that the "dangerous and discriminatory" bill would further restrict civil society freedoms under Museveni's administration, which has become increasingly authoritarian since he came to office in 1986.

She claimed that the law would deter members of the LQBTQ community from obtaining HIV treatment and would "devastate the fight."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres states that the new rule is "very concerning," and "no one should be penalized, jailed, or criminalized for whom they love."

United States President Joe Biden indicated that the US is considering sanctioning Uganda after the country passed an anti-gay policy.

PHOTO | COURTESY President Museveni 

In a statement issued on May 29, President Biden criticized the legislation, calling it a "democratic backsliding" that risked depriving Ugandans of services provided by the US.

Part of the statement notes that This heinous Act is the most recent development in Uganda's alarming human rights violations and corruption trenThe Netherlands halted a seven-million-euro subsidy to Uganda's legal system.

At the same time, Denmark and Norway diverted approximately six million euros each to private-sector projects, relief agencies, and human-rights organizations.

Despite international condemnation, the latest anti-gay law has received widespread support in the conservative country, with politicians defending the restrictions as an essential bulwark against Western immorality.

Homosexuality was criminalized in Uganda under colonial laws, but there has never been a conviction for consensual same-sex activity since independence from Britain in 1962.