Activists petition Ugandan parliament on anti-gay bill

Mar 1, 2010, 12:36 GMT

Kampala - Church leaders and activists on Monday handed the Ugandan parliament a half-million-signature petition protesting proposed anti-gay legislation that could see some homosexuals given the death sentence.

Lawmaker David Bahati in October tabled a bill proposing a death sentence for a homosexuals who engage in intercourse while HIV positive or perform a sexual act with a juvenile or an disabled person.

'Some people have different sexual orientations and this should be accepted,' activist Dennis Wamala told reporters after the petition was handed to the parliamentary speaker.

Uganda has been widely criticized for even contemplating the bill, with US President Barack Obama calling it 'odious'.

President Yoweri Museveni has tried to distance himself from the bill, telling parliament that the international response had made it a foreign policy issue.

'In our well considered opinion, this bill is not about protecting Ugandan culture and traditions as it purports,' the petition said. 'On the contrary, it is violating our cultures, traditions and religious values that teach against intolerance, hatred and violence.'

The bill also proposes a three-year prison sentence for those convicted of failing to report the sexual activities of gays or lesbians to the authorities.

The 500,000 signatures were collected worldwide by gay and human rights groups

HIV/AIDS activist Ruranga Rubaramira told reporters the bill, should it become law, would set back the fight against the disease.

'I have lived with HIV, for twenty five years and this was due to openness in the fight,' Rubaramira said. 'I believe that the passing of this draconian law will lead us back in the war against AIDS because gays and lesbians will hide.'

Some sections of Ugandan society including conservatives, leaders of mainstream and Pentecostal churches and Moslim clerics are angry that homosexual groups are allowed to protest the bill.

However, Reverend Gideon Byamugisha was amongst those who presented the petition to the Speaker of Parliament, and he said it was well received.