Is the Bill Dead?

 

Uganda’s parliament appeared Wednesday to have dropped plans to debate a controversial anti-gay bill after a global outcry from all over the world,  most notably the US and the UK.

This anti-gay bill was first proposed in 2009 but wasn’t debated until last Friday. The bill had been scheduled to be debated before the full parliament today  (Wednesday) but was dropped from the schedule.

The future of the bill remains shady and unsure,  today’s  parliament session is the last one and President Yoweri Museveni is scheduled on Thursday to be sworn in after his February re-election.  So it’s not clear if the bill could be carried forward to the next session or if the bill’s author would have to offer a new bill, which he has said he will do if he needed to.   The original bill, as you will remember would mandate a death sentence in some cases, part of the reason it attracted global attention. The bill’s author, David Bahati, has said a new version of the bill would not contain the death penalty, but no amended version has been released publicly.

One member of parliament, John Alimadi, said today that the bill may have been dropped from the agenda because of the worldwide outcry against it.   There have been online petitions that have gathered more than 1.4 million signatures. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch called the bill’s progress deeply alarming. A U.S. congressman said if the bill passes he would urge huge cuts in international aid, and the U.S. State Department again voiced its opposition.  In the UK the foreign secretary, William Hague, even wrote on Twitter: "We oppose this Bill and will continue to raise our concerns with Ugandan Government. We urge Ugandan MPs to reject it [......] Our embassy is lobbying Ugandan gov & the UK initiated a formal EU demarche to the Ugandan foreign minister on the bill."

“If adopted, a bill further criminalizing homosexuality would constitute a significant step backwards for the protection of human rights in Uganda,” said Hilary Fuller Renner, a spokeswoman for the US State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs. “Respect for human rights is key to Uganda’s long-term political stability and democratic development, as well as its public health and economic prosperity.”

Companies that have finical ties with Uganda are starting to be boycotted including UK healthy food company Graze.

According to local groups the  harassment of gays has increased in Uganda since the bill was announced in October 2009.   Last year a tabloid newspaper in Uganda published the names and photos of men it alleged were gay. One cover included the words “Hang Them.” Shortly afterward, in January, a prominent gay rights activist whose picture was published was bludgeoned to death, though authorities contend David Kato’s sexual orientation had nothing to do with the killing.

Fear is also running high in the country for supporters of gay rights or equality,  wo may or may not be gay themselves as the bill, if it became law states - Anyone who “aids, abets, counsels or procures another to engage of acts of homosexuality” would face seven years in prison. Landlords who rent rooms or homes to homosexuals also could get seven years.

In another scary move, support for the bill has also come from the Anglican Church of Uganda.

The world is watching Uganda at the moment.