Kampala, May 2 (AP) Ugandan lawmakers on Tuesday passed a new version of an anti-gay bill that removes a clause which appeared to criminalise identifying as LGBTQ.

President Yoweri Museveni last month returned the bill back to the national assembly, asking for changes that differentiate between identifying as LGBTQ and actually engaging in homosexual acts.

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Homosexuality is already illegal in the East African country under a colonial-era law criminalising sex acts “against the order of nature.” The punishment for that offence is life imprisonment.

The new law prescribes the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality," which is defined as cases of sexual relations involving people infected with HIV as well as minors and other categories of vulnerable people.

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A suspect convicted of “attempted aggravated homosexuality” can be jailed for 14 years and the offense of “attempted homosexuality” is punishable by up to 10 years, according to the bill.

Although the law would no longer criminalise those who identify as LGBTQ, jail terms of up to 20 years are proposed for those who advocate or promote the rights of LGBTQ people.

The bill passed by lawmakers on Tuesday will return to Museveni, who can sign or veto it. It was not immediately clear what other changes lawmakers made to the bill in a lengthy plenary session in the capital, Kampala.

Museveni is under pressure from the international community to veto the legislation.

The US has warned of economic consequences if the legislation is enacted, and a group of UN experts described the bill previously passed by lawmakers as “an egregious violation of human rights.” (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)