
Second lady Usha Vance and Vice President JD Vance kiss next to U.S. President Donald Trump at a rally on the inauguration day of Donald Trump's second Presidential term, inside Capital One Arena, in Washington, U.S. January 20, 2025. PHOTO/REUTERS
Twenty months after President Museveni signed into law the controversial Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023, his newly elected USA counterpart Donald Trump on Monday, hours after being sworn in, signed an executive order banning homosexuality in America.
Mr Trump, during his inauguration speech, said America would have only two genders: male and female, a move, he said, aims at ending several policies promoting racial equity and protecting rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual (LGBTQ+).
Yesterday, a section of Ugandans welcomed the decision by the US president whom they praised for doing what was Godly. The government was, however, unreachable for comment on whether the decision by Mr Trump would be used as a negotiating tool to convince international donors like the World Bank (WB) Group that sanctioned the country over the Act.
About four months after Mr Museveni signed the law which criminalises same-sex conduct, including potentially the death penalty for those convicted of aggravated homosexuality, the WB on August 8, 2023, announced that no new public financing to Uganda would be presented to its Board of Executive Directors until the efficacy of the additional measures has been tested.
This decision affected more than 30 projects worth $1.8b (Shs6.5t) that were awaiting the government’s final approval. The World Bank did not comment about the issue yesterday but a source in the Group, who asked not to be named to speak freely said: “World Bank and America are different and make different decisions.”
But government officials and religious leaders, whom Monitor contacted yesterday, said Mr Trump’s executive order on homosexuality will relieve them of the disturbance they experienced due to the anti-gay law.
Mr Chris Obore, the director of communication and public affairs at Parliament, which passed the law, welcomed Mr Trump’s decision.
“President Donald Trump has simply reiterated common sense that God created human beings as male and female. Other species too were created as male and female; that is why I have never seen or heard of a transgender dog or goat. Not even a transgender pig,” Mr Obore said.
House Speaker Anita Among, who spearheaded the passing of the law, has since been sanctioned by the US and UK over allegations of corruption.
She has on several occasions, however, linked these sanctions to her role in passing the anti-homosexuality law.
Mr Obore yesterday said: “As to whether Trump will lift sanctions is another matter but the most important issue is that he recognises human beings are either male or female, the basis on which Parliament of Uganda passed the anti-homosexuality law that largely protects children from it’s obnoxious recruitment agents.”
Renowned city pastor who has been vocal in fighting homosexuality, Martin Ssempa of Makerere Community Church, said President Trump’s executive order on homosexuality is good news for Uganda.
“American government has been hijacked by the LGBTQ insanity. And the fact that President Trump has decided to remove these executive orders, which began with Barack Obama and have also been perpetuated by Biden, is proof that we were right. It’s proof that we can begin to end this madness of men who claim to be women and marriages of men,” Pastor Ssempa said.
Pastor Ssempa is hopeful that sanctions that were put on Ugandans will be removed as they were artificially put by the LGBTQ interest. Pastor Ssempa is hopeful that sanctions that were put on Ugandans will be removed as they were artificially put by the LGBTQ interest.
Efforts to get a comment from the government were futile as all Information and Foreign Affairs Ministers did not pick up their calls by press time.