Every step forward in the march of hate gives credence to the steps that follow. Giving into public opinion and his own homophobic perspective, rather than standing up for human dignity, on Feb. 24 Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed a law  that inflicts harsh penalties on homosexual relations including life imprisonment.

His tri-fold reasons for signing such a bill being, “those who were promoting homosexuality and recruiting normal people into it,” “many of those recruited were doing so for mercenary reasons … in effect homosexual prostitutes,” and lastly “Homosexuals exhibiting themselves in public … Are we interested in seeing your sexual acts — we the public?”

His last major argument for sentencing someone to life in prison was the childlike complaint “Ewww!  I don’t want to see that.”

It resembles the thoughtless condemnation used by the Westboro Baptist Church, ‘It’s gross. It’s unnatural. I don’t understand it. Burn in hell.’ And we can all trust in the Westboro Baptist’s reasoning.

He finishes by speaking against the western persecution of this bill. In an acrobatic feat of cognitive dissonance President Museveni said, “we Africans always keep our opinions to ourselves and never seek to impose our point of view on others. If only they would let us alone.”

To inflict one’s own opinion on another group is a heinous and selfish act, yet this is precisely what Museveni is doing through this legislation.  While he seeks to portray Uganda as a victim of Western intervention, he fails to see that he is inflicting the same victimization on homosexuals.

For a brief, unintended moment, you can see the cross that homosexuals constantly wear on President Museveni’s shoulders.

Given that the majority of the Ugandan public wants harsher penalties for homosexuals, the president is acting as the arbiter of majority will.

This, however, is the same argument that’s always been used to suppress the basic human rights of a minority.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in a news conference on Feb. 18, “You could change the focus of this legislation to black or Jewish and you could be in 1930s Germany or you could be in 1950s-1960s apartheid South Africa.” Slavery in 18th century America would be a good addition to this list.

If there are basic human rights, then they are not subject to interpretation.

The will to love is one of the most basic instincts, before thought, before sight, before sound. To cut off one’s interpretation of love is not only impossible, but cruel. President Museveni has done exactly this.

By expounding this hate in public legislation he’s given precedence to the countries that will follow, an anchor to base exclusion.

One can only hope that the sanctions placed on Uganda by western countries, and what outcry will come from the public and human rights activists around the world, will be enough to turn President Museveni’s head.