BBC NEWS
Uganda gay bill critics to deliver petition
By Martin Plaut
BBC Africa analyst
Homosexual acts are already illegal in Uganda
Campaigners opposing Uganda's anti-homosexuality bill will take a petition to
the speaker of parliament signed by 500,000 people from around the world.
The petition is the latest attempt to halt the bill, which carries the death
penalty for some homosexual acts.
US President Barack Obama has called the proposed legislation "odious".
The European Union has also condemned the bill, as did Britain's Africa
minister, Baroness Kinnock, when she visited Uganda last week.
Now ordinary Ugandans are among those who have added their signatures to a
petition being delivered to parliament on Monday.
The campaign is being led by Anglican priest Cannon Gideon Byamugisha and he
has been joined by HIV/Aids activists and civic organisations.
All are taking a risk by speaking out publicly, after campaigners for the bill
whipped up a storm of homophobic propaganda.
Homosexual acts are already illegal in Uganda, but the government has indicated
it expects the final bill to be watered down.
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