Ugandan presidential candidate: “Homosexuals are not the biggest threat to our society”

Ugandan presidential candidate: “Homosexuals are not the biggest threat to our society”
Image: Amama_Mbazazi is a candidate for the 2016 Ugandan Presidency. He is the first one to ever publicly support gay rights. (Image source: YouTube)

A UGANDAN politician who is running for presidency in the country’s next election has reportedly bucked the trend of some of his political peers by publicly stating his opposition to homophobia.

While it’s the first time ever a presidential candidate has made such statements, he still does not support marriage equality.

[showads ad=MREC]Amama Mbazazi — a former Prime Minister who launched his 2016 presidential campaign in June — recently said in an interview with NDS Television that he was “opposed to homophobia”.

“While I believe marriage is between a man and a woman, homosexuality is not something new,” he said.

“I have stated very clearly that there shouldn’t be any discrimination and it is not the biggest threat right now in the country.”

When he was PM, Mbabazi was opposed to the country’s infamous Anti-Homosexuality Act because he believed homosexuals should not be killed.

After Ugandan Parliament initially passed the laws in December 2013, the country’s struck it down in August 2014.

The prison life sentence of the laws targeted those who were caught having gay sex involving an HIV-infected person or sex with minors or the disabled, and when anyone is caught having gay sex for the second time. It also made it a crime to publicly promote homosexuality, which could mean simply offering HIV counselling or discussions by rights groups.

The Anti-Homosexuality Act was overturned after petitioners urged the Uganda’s Constitutional Court to determine that the government approved the law without following proper protocol.

Despite this, the country’s penal code, which still exists, punishes homosexuality with up to seven years in prison.

Nonetheless, LGBT rights activists have hailed Mbazazi’s recent comments as a significant moment of progress for Uganda.

H/T Gay Star News

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