Anti-gay picketers demonstrate in Ugandan capital

Dec 22, 2009, 15:28 GMT

Kampala - Several hundred people demonstrated in the Ugandan capital Kampala on Tuesday against gays and lesbians, and expressed support for the country's impending tough anti-homosexual law.

The protesters, led by born-again clerics, cultural leaders, and university undergraduates, marched to the parliament where they presented a petition.

The bill - introduced by parliamentarian David Bahati - would see gay men and lesbians sentenced to life imprisonment for having sex, and a death sentence for sex with minors.

Anyone failing to report a homosexual act committed by others would face up to three years in jail.

Despite some local opposition and international outrage to the proposed law, the Ugandan government seems determined to push it through.

In a letter to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, the general secretary of the Geneva-based World Council of Churches, Samuel Kobia, said he was 'saddened and distressed to receive the news from Uganda regarding a proposed law against homosexual individuals.'

As the demonstrators were marching to parliament, Ethics and Integrity Minister James Nsaba Buturo told a news conference that foreigners were promoting opposition to the anti-gay bill.