UGANDAN OPPOSITION AGAINST ANTI-GAY BILL

It’s been reported that Uganda’s main opposition party will not support the country’s pending anti-gay bill in parliament.

The Box Turtle Bulletin said Secretary General Chris Opoka of the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) had denounced the bill in a television interview with Uganda’s independent Record TV on December 23.

“What two consenting adults do, the state has no business… absolutely! It is discriminatory. Me, I don’t understand this idea of ‘African values.’ Was [Paulo] Muwanga not a homosexual, the Kabaka? Eh? Was he not a homosexual? No! Let’s stop this nonsense! It is natural! Many children, many young boys in school, as they are growing to adults, have this tendency of attraction,” Opoka is quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, the Anglican Church’s Archbishop of York in the UK has also criticised the proposed bill.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme Dr John Sentamu, who was born in Uganda, said: “I’m opposed to the death sentence. I’m also not happy when you describe people in the kind of language you find in this private member’s bill, which seems not only victimising but also a diminishment of the individuals concerned.”

He explained that he and the Archbishop of Canterbury had not spoken out against the bill earlier “…not because we don’t want to say anything – because the position is very clear – but rather because we are trying to help.”

The anti-gay bill, which has been slammed by numerous governments and human rights bodies, would impose the death penalty on anyone who has gay sex with an HIV positive person; even between consenting adults.

It would also maintain the current life sentence for gay sex as well as making it illegal to lobby for LGBT equality, provide any support for LGBT people or even write about LGBT rights. People will face jail time if they do not turn in gays and lesbians to the authorities.

The South African government has remained silent on the issue.