uganda bans gay marriage

By Mark Levy 365Gay.com Cape Town, South Africa Bureau

September 30, 2005: Kampala - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has signed into law a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, making the country the only one in the world to have a specific constitutional reference outlawing gay marriage.

The amendment says that "marriage is lawful only if entered into between a man and a woman" and specifies that "it is unlawful for same-sex couples to marry".

It does allows the government to enact a law in 2006 setting down specific penalties for gays who wed.

Next to Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, Museveni runs the most repressive anti-gay regime in Africa. Homosexuality remains illegal in Uganda. Gays are routinely arrested on the streets of Kampala, the capital, and often beaten and tortured while in prison.

The marriage ban has been condemned by international human rights groups.

Two years ago the country's only LGBT rights groups warned that if the government did not stop attacking gays it would form its own political party. (story) The government threatened the group with arrest and since that time hundreds of gays have left to South Africa seeking political asylum.

Last year Museveni told an international AIDS conference that condoms are less effective for HIV prevention than campaigns to promote abstinence and loving relationships. (story) The policy won the instant approval of the Bush Administration.

This summer the United Nations complained that because of the government's policy there was a shortage of condoms in the country (story) and blamed support for abstinence programs on the US government.

In addition to giving final approval to the same-sex marriage ban Museveni signed a constitutional amendment abolishing presidential term limits.

Without the change, Museveni would have been forced to step down when his current, second-elected term ends in March 2006