"If the law is the passed the way it is right now, I would go to jail, and I would be killed," said Ugandan gay activist Frank Mugisha, speaking from Kampala last week, regarding the newly-revived bill known as the "kill the gays" bill, which could punish homosexuality, which is already illegal in Uganda, with life in prison or death. "The bill says anyone who commits the offense [and speaks out] against this legislation more than once is a serial offender. And the fact that I've already said in Uganda that I'm gay, and that I'm an advocate for LGBT rights, that means I'm promoting homosexuality in Uganda, according to this bill. This legislation, if passed into law, it would automatically make me a serial offender and I would be sentenced to death." (Listen to the full interview below)
Mugisha disputes those in the government in Uganda, and those among antigay leaders in the U.S., who say the death penalty provision has been removed from the bill.
"This legislation is very draconian and there have been rumors that [the death penalty provision] was removed," he said in an interview on my SiriusXM OutQ program, about the bill which the speaker of the parliament promised as a Christmas "gift" to the nation and could be voted on any day. "[But] the committee said they have completed their report, and the committee cannot change the legislation. What they can do is, they can only make recommendations in their report. So right now we are talking about legislation that has the death penalty. As of right now Parliament has never received any new or different or water-down legislation. Any recommendations [for revision] can be refused or accepted by parliament."
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