Some get the facts right...

True. I am miffed by what I consider mis-reporting. Like this one.

But this is factual.

Uganda Lawmaker Wants A Gay Death Penalty

BY ON TOP MAGAZINE STAFF

PUBLISHED: OCTOBER 15, 2009

A bill introduced by Member of Parliament (MP) David Bahati, a member of the ruling National Resistance Movement, includes a provision that calls for the death penalty for gay men and women in Uganda, the BBC reported.

Bahati's Anti-Homosexuality Bill would approve the death penalty for having gay sex with a disabled person, anyone under 18 or when the accused is HIV-positive.

The bill increases the penalties for being gay in a country where it is already illegal.

It would also criminalize the “promotion of homosexuality,” effectively banning political organizations, broadcasters and publishers that advocate on behalf of gay rights. The bill's provisions that ban sexual intent are its most noxious and likely to be abused.

“A person who keeps a house, or a place of any kind for purposes of homosexuality commits an offense and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for seven years,” the bill says.

Friends and family of gay men and lesbians would also become criminals if they failed to report a violation.

“It will almost certainly lend itself to misapplication and abuse, and implicitly encourages persecution of LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] people by private actors,” the gay rights group International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission (ILGHRC) said in a statement.

“HIV prevention activities in Uganda, which rely on an ability to talk frankly about sexuality and provide condoms and other safer-sex materials, will be seriously damaged. Women, sex workers and people living with AIDS, and other marginalized groups may also find their activities tracked and criminalized through this bill,” the group adds.

The bill enjoys wide support in the Parliament and President Yoweri Museveni, a conservative, is likely to support it.

“Members of parliament are overwhelmingly supporting this bill because homosexuality is illegal in Uganda, and we have that clearly in the penal code,” MP John Otekat Emile told the BBC.

Last year Uganda's controversial ethics and integrity minister called on lawmakers to draft stricter laws against gay men and lesbians.

“Who's going to occupy Uganda 20 years from now if we all become homosexuals,” James Nsaba Buturo said at an October press conference. “We all know that homosexuals don't reproduce.”

“It is an attempt to end civilization. It is that serious,” he added.

“The state of moral health in our nation is challenging and we are concerned about the mushrooming of lesbianism and homosexuality. Ten years ago, this phenomena was not there, but the disease has penetrated everywhere,” Buturo said in calling for tougher penalties.