The draconian penalties in Uganda\u2019s proposed \u201d\u02dcAnti-Homosexuality Bill\u2019 have come under sharp criticism from the Christian Churches of Uganda.<\/p>\n
In its December 17 Christmas message, the Uganda Joint Christian Council, a coalition of the country\u2019s Anglican, Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, said that while its individual member churches had not yet issued formal statements on the proposed bill, all were opposed to the harsh penalties proposed for the suppression of vice.<\/p>\n
On 14 Oct MP David Bahati of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) tabled a private-members bill before parliament entitled the \u201d\u02dcAnti-Homosexuality Bill\u2019 that would stiffen Uganda\u2019s sodomy laws. The proposed law has come in part in response to concerns over growing child-sex tourism in East Africa and the highly publicized arrests of two NGO workers, as well as with the perception that Uganda\u2019s culture is under siege by the West.<\/p>\n