KENYA (Reuters) - A group of major businesses, led by Google and Microsoft, condemned the anti-LGBTQ law enacted by Uganda's parliament last week and warned that it will harm the economy of the East African nation.
The legislation, which makes it illegal to identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer, according to the Open for Business alliance, would reduce investment and discourage travelers.
The bill calls for the execution of anyone who engage in what is known as "aggravated homosexuality," which is defined as having sex with a person who is under the age of 18 or being HIV positive, among other offenses.
President Yoweri Museveni still needs to sign it.
Last Monday, the White House criticized the law, calling it one of the worst measures ever done against the LGBTQ community.
Museveni has not yet responded to the bill, but in 2014 he approved a law of a same nature that sparked international outrage before being overturned by a domestic court for procedural reasons.
In a statement, Open for Business said that the new rule will impair businesses' capacity to hire a bright and diverse workforce.
In addition, Yvonne Muthoni, the coalition's national director in neighboring Kenya, stated in an interview that a clause requiring businesses to disclose anyone suspected of being LGBTQ would place them "in an unsustainable situation."
She claimed that either they were breaking Ugandan law or worldwide principles of corporate accountability and the laws governing human rights in the nations where their headquarters are located.