Uganda's anti-gay bill won't contain death penalty

(AP) Uganda’s anti-gay bill won’t contain death penalty
KAMPALA, Uganda
A lawmaker in Uganda says an anti-gay bill that will be voted on soon will not contain the death penalty.

Krispus Ayena, a member of the committee that has been revising the bill, said Friday that some members “argued very forcefully” against the death penalty. Parliamentarian David Bahati, who wrote the bill, predicted last year that the death penalty provision would be dropped.

The bill’s original language proposed death for cases where HIV-infected homosexuals had sex, where gay people had sex with minors or the disabled, and where they were discovered having sex for the second time.

The speaker of Uganda’s parliament recently said the bill would be passed before Christmas, renewing fears among activists who want it jettisoned.