Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is expected to sign a bill Monday that criminalizes same sex marriage, a government spokeswoman told CNN. The signing is expected to take place at 9 a.m. CAT.
Last month, Museveni said he wouldn’t sign the bill, describing homosexuals as “sick” people who needed help, not imprisonment. Museveni has gone back and forth about the controversial bill.
Last week, he said he would seek advice from American scientists before he made any decision. The advice which was believed to have changed his mind as he decided to sign the bill because scientists had determined that there’s no gene for homosexuality and it was merely abnormal behavior.
Homosexual acts are illegal in Uganda. The proposed legislation passed by parliament toughens the penalties, including life imprisonment for certain acts.
Museveni said that Ugandan scientists had determined there was no gene for homosexuality.
“It was learned and could be unlearned,” he said.
Shortly after his announcement, U.S. President Barack Obama warned that enacting the bill would affect relations between the two nations. He described the proposal as an “affront and a danger to the gay community” in Uganda.