Update, 11:45 a.m. ET: Uganda’s “Kill The Gays Bill” is back on the Parliament’s agenda, and is expected to be voted on today, after being removed overnight.
“At some point during the day, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill was added to the agenda,” reports Jim Burroway at the Box Turtle Bulletin.”
Original article:
Uganda’s infamous anti-homosexuality bill, which earlier this week was thought likely to be voted upon on Wednesday, now appears to have been dropped from the agenda of the current session of the Ugandan Parliament.
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As the current session of parliament draws to a close, the bill — which is technically still at the committee stage — could, however, be carried forward into the next session of parliament.
The future of the bill remained murky. Wednesday was parliament’s last scheduled day of session, and President Yoweri Museveni was scheduled on Thursday to be sworn in after his February re-election.
It wasn’t 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 needed.
One member of parliament, John Alimadi, said Wednesday that the bill may have been dropped from the agenda because of the worldwide outcry against it.
The proposed legislation, in its current form, called for the death penalty for active homosexuals living with HIV or in cases of same-sex rape. “Serial offenders” also would face capital punishment. Anyone convicted of a homosexual act would face life imprisonment.
The bill could also lead to the imprisonment for up to three years of anyone, including heterosexual people, who fail to report within 24 hours the identities of anyone they know who is LGBT, or who supports the human rights of people who are.
The bill’s author, David Bahati has indicated he will author another similar bill and resubmit it if there was no vote in this session. Bahati said a new bill would not contain a mandated death penalty clause.
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