Brody's Notes... BBC: New Session Of Ugandan Parliament To Revisit "Kill The Gays" Bill

By Brody Levesque | Washington -- The BBC World News Service's Africa Network Report, has reported that the ninth session of Uganda’s new parliament will apparently revisit the notorious anti-homosexuality bill, calling for capital punishment for some cases of gay sex. The bill was first introduced by MP David Bahati and was designed to strengthen Uganda’s already-harsh laws against homosexuality. The 8th parliament, which was dissolved last Friday, ran out of time to debate the draft legislation

Box Turtle Bulletin's Executive Editor Jim Burroway reports:

According to a BBC Africa Network Report, today’s opening of Uganda’s 9th Parliament has brought with it the revival of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. There had been talk of a procedure by which the new Parliament may take up unfinished business from the old Parliament. If this report is correct, then it appears that this procedure has been invoked. The BBC report said:

“The 9th Parliament has inherited three controversial bills that form part of its deliberations. They include the anti-homosexuality bill which was shoved at the 11th hour of the 8th Parliament, the Marriage and Divorce Bill which, among other things, would criminalise marital rape, widow inheritance [sic], in addition to providing for women’s property rights and rights to negotiate sex including seeking divorce on grounds of the man’s impotence or the size of their sexual organ. Another controversial bill is the one that seeks to enact more stringent laws for the media.”

The Ugandan Daily Monitor also confirms the BBC and other reports that the Anti-Gay bill is among the carry-over legislation from the previous parliamentary session expected to be debated in the new session.

First-term MPs will, however, face challenges in dealing with the unfinished 2011/12 budget scrutiny and other key Bills in the House. Some of the Bills expected to be returned to the House include; The Retirement Benefits Sector Liberalisation, Bill 2011, Anti-Gay Bill, Marriage and Divorce Bill, HIV/Aids Prevention and Control Bill, Regional Governments Bill, among others.

The legislation received global condemnation from numerous nations, LGBT Equality Rights activists and human rights groups.