David Bahati, Member of Parliament for Ndorwa West, has re-tabled the anti – homosexuality bill in the parliament of Uganda.

The bill, which seeks to further criminalize same sex among consenting adults, was tabled on Tuesday (7 February 2012) and seconded by several MPs.

This bill was first brought to the Ugandan parliament in October 2009 and met a lot of opposition from gay activists and proponents of human rights in the world.

The bill outlines its principle aims as to “prohibit any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex; and also prohibit the promotion or recognition of such sexual relations in public institutions and other places through or with the support of any Uganda government entity or non-governmental organization inside or outside Uganda”.

Supporters of the bill argue homosexual behaviour and related practices “constitute a threat to the traditional family”. If passed, the bill will make it illegal for parliament to ratify international treaties or agreements that protect LGBT rights and also prohibits the licensing of any organisations that promote homosexuality.

An LGBT campaigner said: “If this bill goes ahead to be passed into a law in Uganda, LBGTs will have no law on their side. They will, like David Kato [a Ugandan gay activist who was killed in 2011], risk being murdered in cold blood. This will be unlike the situation in South Africa or Nairobi where there are laws to guard the safety and rights of the minority.

“Many people in Uganda are homophobic and there are no public funded programmes to support gay persons. For instance there is no public HIV/AIDS programmes explicitly for men who have sex with men.”

As of to date, homosexual acts are illegal in Uganda and if convicted one may serve a term of up to 14 years in prison. This re-tabled bill previously sought to increase the punishment for being homosexual to the death sentence although it is unclear whether this clause will remain.

This re-tabled bill will now be directed to the relevant parliamentary committee for scrutiny and subsequent consideration for becoming law.