Anti-gay bill will be law, vows Uganda’s speaker

Published on 13/11/2012 00:00

Uganda’s anti-gay bill will be passed before the end of 2012 despite international criticism, the speaker of the country’s parliament has said.

Speaker Rebecca Kadaga said that the bill, which originally mandated death for some gay acts, will become law this year.

Ugandans “are demanding it,” she said yesterday, reiterating a promise she made on Friday at a meeting of anti-gay activists who spoke of “the serious threat” posed by homosexuals to children. Some Christian clerics at the meeting in the capital, Kampala, asked the speaker to pass the law as “a Christmas gift”.

Parents and schoolchildren held up signs saying homosexuality is “an abomination”. The speaker promised to consider the bill within two weeks, declaring “the power is in our hands”.

“Who are we not to do what they have told us?,” Ms Kadaga said of those calling for the bill to be made law.