A Ugandan MP has brought back a notorious anti-gay bill, but has removed a provision where the death penalty would have been enforced for some gay acts. BBC reports that no longer will those found guilty of "aggravated homosexuality" - defined as when one of the participants is a minor, HIV-positive, disabled or a "serial offender" - would no longer face the death penalty, as originally proposed. A BBC correspondent says MPs laughed, clapped and cried out: "Our bill, our bill," when its architect David Bahati reintroduced the draft legislation on Tuesday. The “kill the gays” bill was shelved in 2011 after an international outcry. The reintroduced bill still has a punishment of life in prison for “homosexual offences” in a nation which already outlaws gay sex. BBC reports that under the revised bill anyone failing to report to the authorities a person they knew to be gay would also be liable to prosecution. The bill was first introduced in 2009, but has never made it to a debate in the chamber. "It’s alarming and disappointing that Uganda’s Parliament will once again consider the Anti-Homosexuality Bill," says Michelle Kagari, Deputy Africa Programme Director at Amnesty International. "If passed, it would represent a grave assault on the human rights of all Ugandans, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity," she said. "The bill introduces draconian provisions on top of Uganda’s existing prohibition on consensual same-sex relations, which already violates international norms," Amnesty said. "At the bill’s reintroduction, the Speaker informed the House that the bill would not need to be considered again by the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, raising fears that it could be passed into law imminently," Amnesty said. "The bill would significantly hamper the work of human rights defenders and others who find themselves in conflict with the law merely by carrying out their legitimate activities. "The knock-on effect of passing this bill would reach far beyond gay and lesbian people in Uganda impeding the legitimate work of civil society, public health professionals, and community leaders." "This deplorable bill would not only violate the rights of Ugandans to life, to non-discrimination, to equality before the law, and to privacy, but would sanction hatred, violence and the persecution of a group of people based on whom they love alone," Kagari said. "We strongly urge the Ugandan Parliament to reject this bill in its entirety. It must not legislate hate."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 9th February 2012 - 1:12pm