Uganda anti-gay law slammed
2009-11-20 10:55
New York - Demonstrators targeted Uganda's UN mission in New York on Thursday to protest a proposed law that would punish homosexuality with life in prison in the eastern African country.
About 40 people picketed the UN mission at Uganda House in Manhattan, chanting: "Gay rights are human rights. Dismiss the law now!"
Uganda has come under international criticism for the draft law that would punish "touch(ing) another person with the intention of committing the act of homosexuality" with life behind bars, according to the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, which organised the protest.
The law would impose the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality", including by those who are HIV positive.
"It's unimaginable. You're talking about the death penalty and prison for an entire class of human beings," said protestor Brendan Fay, 50, a filmmaker.
"It's incredible that in 2009 a nation's parliament is considering this," he added.
Creeping evil
Mark de Solla Price, 49, came to the demonstration with his male partner Vinny Allegrini and said Uganda was "on the wrong side".
He waved a placard that read "love should be legal everywhere" on one side and "shame on Uganda" on the other.
France and the United States have condemned the bill.
One of the bill's supporters, Ugandan lawmaker David Bahati, responded earlier this month by saying that "homosexuality is not a human right".
"The fact that the moral fabric of America and Europe has been put under siege by the supporters of this creeping evil of homosexuality should not suggest that we follow suit."
- SAPA