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Uganda: President Urges Softening of Anti-Gay Bill |
Gay Ugandans likely will not face the death penalty after the president said he opposed the provision in the proposed legislation. However, an international gay rights group said that even a watered-down bill would be repressive. President Yoweri Museveni told colleagues he believes the bill is too harsh and has encouraged his ruling National Resistance Movement Party to overturn the death sentence provision which would apply to sexually active gays living with HIV or in cases of same-sex rape according to a copy of the draft law. The proposed bill says anyone convicted of a homosexual act, including touching someone of the same sex with the intent of committing a homosexual act, would face life imprisonment. Gay rights activities say the bill promotes hatred and could set back efforts to combat HIV/AIDS in Uganda. The new bill according to gay rights activists builds on Uganda’s prohibitions against homosexuality by including Ugandans living abroad and by expanding the definition of homosexual acts to include touching. The measure was proposed in Uganda following a visit by leaders of U. S. conservative Christian ministries that promote therapy for gays to become heterosexual.
“Ugandan president urges softening of anti-gay bill,” USA Today, 1/7/10.
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