Ugandan government presents anti-gay bill in Parliament

A new legislation which proposes tough new penalties for same-sex relations was presented in Uganda’s parliament on Thursday, March 9.  

The bill has already been referred to a house committee for scrutiny by Annet Anita Among, the speaker of parliament, and it is speculated to be the first step in an accelerated process to pass the proposal into law.

While it is unclear how long the parliamentary process could take, it’s been reported that legislators would vote on the bill one-by-one in front of their peers.

Under the proposed law, anyone who engages in same-sex activity or who “holds out” as LGBTQ could face up to 10 years imprisonment.

There would be “a public hearing” in which sexual minorities would be allowed to participate. Annet Anita Among who made the announcement in a speech, said; 

“Let the public come express their views — including the homos — allow them to come.

“This is the time you are going to show us if you are a homo or not.”