Uganda: Killing Gays May Not Be 'Helpful'

A report from Reuters South Africa indicates an alleged 'softening' of proposed new Ugandan, anti-gay legislation.

This is what apparently passes for more compassionate hate:

Ethics and Integrity Minister Nsaba Buturo told Reuters that the revised law would now probably limit the maximum penalty for offenders to life in prison rather than execution.

"There have been a lot of discussions in government ... regarding the proposed law, but we now think a life sentence could be better because it gives room for offenders to be rehabilitated," he said in an interview.

"Killing them might not be helpful."

Considering that 'cures' for homosexuality in America in the last century included shock treatments and lobotomies, this is indeed chilling.

But, hey, a lifetime of incarceration is supposed to be more humane?

Reuters reported that Buturo still believes that homosexuality was a "moral perversion that must not be allowed to spread"

There is a vast amount of homophobia in Uganda that would force gays to remain closeted, for safety reasons alone. According to Reuters, just yesterday, "anti-gay protesters marched through the streets of the capital Kampala, shouting slogans and waving placards."

Additionally, there is no word that one of the proposed legislation's more draconian measures, incarcerating Ugandans (including journalists) for not reporting people they know to be gay, would be excised from the proposed law.

However, as of now, "serial offenders", and those who commit "aggravated homosexuality", will have the possibility of death replaced with the prospect of living a lifetime in hell.

I'll have more on this as the story develops.

(note: the above AP photo came from a 2007 Ugandan anti-gay rally, asking that the government enforce their anti-gay laws, already on the books, and demanding an American reporter be deported for writing on gay issues in the Ugandan daily, The Monitor.)