Death Penalty Dropped From Uganda Antigay Bill

Life imprisonment and the death penalty will be dropped from a revised version of Uganda's antigay bill, which is expected to be presented to parliament in two weeks, according to James Nsaba Buturo, the minister of ethics and integrity.

Bloomberg reports that the draft bill, which is still under consideration by a parliamentary committee, will drop these two punishments to gain the support of religious leaders who oppose the harsh penalties.

On October 14, Ugandan lawmaker David Bahati presented the original bill, which provided for the death penalty and life imprisonment as punishment for gay sex in certain circumstances. The Ugandan government supports the bill, saying homosexuality and lesbianism are "repugnant to the Ugandan culture," Buturo said in a phone interview.

Still, he said, the government supports more refined methods of punishment, including counseling to help "attract errant people to acceptable sexual orientation."

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