Uganda has criminalized homosexual relations for decades, but the country just took it a step further. Today (May 29), President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda signed a new anti-homosexuality bill into law that legalizes the death penalty in certain situations.

A previous version of the legislation criminalized simply identifying as LGBTQ. But after the Ugandan parliament passed that version in April, Museveni sent it back to the legislature for editing, according to ABC News. A distinction had to be made between identifying as LGBTQ and actually engaging in homosexual acts, which upset some lawmakers, who believed he would cave to international pressure and veto the proposal.

While it doesn’t go so far as to criminalize simply being LGBTQ, the law still has strict provisions for those who commit acts of “aggravated homosexuality,” defined as cases of sexual relations involving people who are HIV-positive, as well as with minors and other groups of vulnerable people. Anyone convicted of “attempted aggravated homosexuality” can be imprisoned for up to 14 years, per The Associated Press.

Parliamentary Speaker Anita Among shared her joy in a statement claiming that the president had “answered the cries of our people” by signing the bill into law. “I thank His Excellency, the president, for his steadfast action in the interest of Uganda,” Among shared after it was made official, per ABC. “With a lot of humility, I thank my colleagues, the Members of Parliament, for withstanding all the pressure from bullies and doomsday conspiracy theorists in the interest of our country.”

Meanwhile, members of Uganda‘s LGBTQ community have been on the receiving end of rising discrimination and violence. With the new law, many are worried about how much personal liberty and safety they actually have. “There are no words to describe the feeling of being persecuted by everyone around you, just for being yourself, for being who you are,” a Kampala-based member of the community told ABC. Another added, “The vitriol we receive daily on social media has always been vicious, but nothing like the last few months.”