Uganda's Parliament appears to have shelved a bill which would have made gay sex a capital offence, amidst widespread global condemnation. The proposed anti-homosexuality bill was supposed to come up for discussion in Friday's session, however it was not. The current Parliament's mandate ends on 18 May, however next week has been reserved for the swearing in of new members so it means the bill will not be discussed till the next Parliament opens, which is likely to be in June. In addition to proposing the death penalty for certain gay acts, the original bill proposed requiring anyone aware of violations of the law to report them to the authorities within a day or face criminal sanction. Human Rights Watch says the bill would have criminalized "promotion of homosexuality," jeopardising the work of promoters of human rights. "Today marks the end of a chapter in the fight to protect the rights of the LGBT community in Uganda but the struggle isn't over yet," says Graeme Reid, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Program at Human Rights Watch, "There's a real danger we might see this bill reemerge in some form." Amnesty International also released a statement expressing relief over the lack of action on the bill. "We are relieved that the Anti-Homosexuality Bill was not passed into law today," said Michelle Kagari, Amnesty International's deputy director for Africa. "This bill would have institutionalised the discrimination, including harassment and arbitrary arrests, that LGBT people in Uganda already face."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 14th May 2011 - 12:22pm