Uganda: Campaign against death penalty for gays

Hundreds of anti-AIDS campaigners on March 1 urged Ugandan lawmakers to reject a proposed anti-gay law calling for tough penalties against homosexuality, including the death penalty, AFP said that day.

Around 400 activists presented parliamentary speaker Edward Ssekandi with a petition against the bill. One of the protesters, Reverend Canon Gideon Byamugisha, said: "The bill is not about protecting Ugandan culture and traditions as it purports. On the contrary it is violating our cultures, traditions and religious values that teach against intolerance, injustice, hatred and violence."

Another activist, Rubaramira Ruranga, told AFP: "The bill threatens all of us. It threatens the health, peace and the well-being of Ugandan citizens and goes against the Ugandan constitution which provides for freedom from discrimination on the grounds of sex, race, colour, ethnicity, tribe, birth and creed."

Add your name to an international petition against the bill.

From GLW issue 830