Anti-gay law a done deal

Uganda's president has enacted a law that imposes harsh penalties for homosexuality yesterday, defying protests from rights groups, criticism from Western donors and a US warning that it will complicate relations.

The new law provides for harsher punishments for anyone caught having gay sex, imposes jail terms of up to life for "aggravated homosexuality", including sex with a minor or having sex when HIV-positive.

It criminalised lesbianism for the first time and made it a crime to help anyone engage in homosexual acts.

Gay rights activists in Uganda said they planned a legal challenge.

Ugandan MPs and others broke into loud applause as President Yoweri Museveni put his signature to the act.

"There's now an attempt [by the West] at social imperialism, to impose social values. We're sorry to see that you [the West] live the way you live but we keep quiet about it," he said.

The legislation exposes the wide gulf between the continent's often culturally conservative administrations and many of the foreign states that support them.

"I feel sick. My country is in a state of insanity right now," said Ugandan gay activist Kasha Nabagesera, adding that the gay community intended to challenge the new law in court.

Gay and lesbian bodies fear the act will encourage other governments to strengthen penalties, increase harassment, and make it impossible to live an openly gay life.

"Clawing back these basic rights and criminalising the expression of divergent views doesn't bode well for anyone in Uganda," said Maria Burnett, of Human Rights Watch.

Homosexuality is taboo in almost all African countries and illegal in 37, including Uganda, where rights groups say gay people have long risked jail.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan signed a bill into law last month that criminalises same-sex relationships, defying Western pressure over gay rights and provoking criticism from the US.

The Uganda law was enacted a week after US President Barack Obama said its passing would be "a step backward for all Ugandans".

A senior official said the US would review its relations with Uganda if the law were enacted.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said yesterday that London questioned the law's compatibility with the Ugandan constitution and its treaty obligations.

Uganda is a key Western ally in the fight against Islamic extremism in Somalia, where Ugandan troops form the backbone of the African Union peacekeeping force battling al-Qaeda-aligned terrorists.

Uganda expects to pump oil for the first time in 2016 and hopes the inflow of petrodollars will cut its dependence on foreign aid.

"Museveni knows that though the West cares about homosexuality, it's not to the extent that it would punish a good ally," said Ugandan political analyst Angelo Izama.