The bill's original 2009 version, named "Kill The Gays," went as far as calling for the death penalty for certain homosexual acts; that provision was shelved following international furore. Under its latest iteration, anyone who conducts marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples faces seven years behind bars.
Failure to report homosexual activity to police is also criminalized. Doctors who treat gays, landlords who rent them property and those suspected of being LBGTQ are subject to five-year prison terms under the bill. Anyone who offers support to homosexuals will also be committing a criminal offense, which can reportedly extend to counseling. supporters in the nation and worldwide decried the bill's passage.
"The witch hunt had already started, and now it has been legitimized by the parliament of Uganda, which is very scary," said Clare Byarugaba, who coordinates the Ugandan Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law, a gay rights group.
"We don't know how brutal the police will be now that the bill has passed. With this legitimization, it's going to get worse."
President Yoweri Museveni has to sign the bill within 30 days to make it official.
