Thursday, July 28, 2011

Kill the Gays bill on fast-track in Uganda

Uganda’s infamous Kill The Gays bill is back and is being fast-​tracked through Parliament. The Anti-​Homosexuality Bill, or AHB, which prescribes the death penalty for being gay, was far from dead itself, and was never “shelved,” as many in the media werre falsely reporting. Rather, the Uganda Parliament merely ran out of time to debate and vote on it.

Now, with a new Parliament in session, the bill, which calls for the death penalty for the “crime” of being gay or HIV-​positive, and prison sentences for friends, family, co-​workers, and acquaintances who believe someone is homosexual but does not immediately report them to authorities, may be voted on “by the end of August,” according to Uganda expert Warren Throckmorton.

I spoke yesterday with Ugandan MP Hon. Otto Odonga who told me that the Parliament will bring back the Anti-​Homosexuality Bill soon, perhaps ‘by the end of August’,” writes Throckmorton today. “Although the re-​introduction of the antigay bill had been expected, Odonga said the bill is ‘back from the perspective of the new parliament starting from where the last parliament ended’.”

Uganda, a staunchly conservative and Christian East African country, ranks number 143 of 169 countries in the United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index, which examines a combination of health, education, and living standards. Uganda is also considered to have a high number of people who are illiterate, especially women. All these factors lead to a population easily indoctrinated into religious extremism.

Just months ago, it was hoped that worldwide outcry from nearly two million individuals who signed online petitions and contacted Ugandan embassies, as well as from governments around the world, including the U.K., and United States — which contributes a large portion of Uganda’s annual operating budget through various foreign aid entities — may have had the desired effect of convincing Uganda to permanently end its pursuit of a Kill The Gays bill. Sadly, it appears not.

No comments:

Post a Comment