URGENT UPDATE: Kill The Gays Bill Back On Uganda Parliament Vote Agenda

Editor’s note: For the most up-to-date news on Uganda’s Kill The Gays bill, visit our Uganda section.

UPDATE: 12:20 PM ET: The bill will now be voted upon on Friday, now, as “Parliament has adjourned but will reconvene on Friday to consider the remaining bills on the agenda,” reports Warren Throckmorton.

Uganda’s Kill The Gays Bill is back on the agenda, and will be voted on Friday, after being removed overnight. The internationally-denounced bill is infamous around the world for its provision mandating the death penalty for anyone convicted of the “crime” of homosexuality, anyone convicted of same-​sex rape, anyone who is classified as a “serial offender,” even anyone with HIV. The bill is now widely expected to be voted upon — and easily pass — Friday, after two days of committee debate that its author, David Bahati, claimed had produced a version that stripped the death penalty for being gay out of the draft legislation. Parliament’s last scheduled day is today, but technically May 18 is the close of its session before a new Parliament is sworn in.

READ: U.S. State Department Responds To Uganda’s Kill The Gays Bill

“The AP report is in error. The Bill is on the agenda. Apparently, it was added sometime in the past few hours,” writes Jim Burroway of Box Turtle Bulletin just moments ago, who adds, “Despite the erroneous AP report that appears to cite a non-existent Parliament member, the bill is still scheduled for a vote.”

As The New Civil Rights Movement reported just hours ago, it is critical to note that this does not mean the Kill The Gays bill is dead. It has “died” and been resurrected several times before, and its author, M.P. David Bahati — who has strong ties to the highly influential political and religious group, The Family — is not about to let it go, especially after spending the better part of two years advocating for it, and against his gay and lesbian constituents. That appears to have been far truer than the world had hoped.

It was thought 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 — had had the desired effect. That proved to be false.

The bill has been seen by many in the western media as a diversionary tactic for a government attempting to regain control amidst an increasingly angry and rioting population — one that is extremely homophobic and anti-​gay, thanks in large part to American Evangelical groups, including The Family, that have infiltrated the country of 32 million people, 84% of whom are Christian.

 

 

TAKE ACTION:

Add your name to more than 300,000 around the world have already signed All Out’s petition.

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Contact:
His Excellency Professor Perezi K. Kamunanwire
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Tel: (202) 726 4758
Fax: (202) 726 1727
pkamunanwire@ugandaembassyus.org

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The Kill The Gays Bill also mandates jail time for those who know of homosexuals but do not report them to authorities within 24 hours and offers a maximum of seven years prison time for even renting a room to someone who is homosexual. Any assistance to a gay man or lesbian would be considered criminal.

The bill reportedly was shelved in March, but Bahati — who has said he wants to “kill every last gay person” — appeared defiant, stating at the time, “I think that the government is aware that 95 percent of Ugandans do not condone homosexuality.”