Word: laws
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...matter of weeks, the Ugandan doctor's admission to TIME could land him in jail and his patients on death row. An anti-homosexuality bill now before Uganda's Parliament would include some of the harshest anti-gay regulations in the world. If the bill becomes law, the doctor, who asked that his name not be published, could be prosecuted for "aiding and abetting homosexuality." In one version of the bill, his sexually active HIV-positive patients could be found guilty of practicing acts of "aggravated homosexuality," a capital crime, according to the bill. (See the struggle for gay rights...
Thanks to a clause in the would-be law that punishes "failure to disclose the offense," anybody who heard the doctor's conversation could be locked up for failing to turn him in to the police. Even a reporter scribbling the doctor's words could be found to have "promoted homosexuality," an act punishable by five to seven years in prison. And were any of the Ugandans in the park to sleep with someone of the same sex in another country, the law would mandate their extradition to Uganda for prosecution. Only terrorists and traitors are currently subject to extraterritorial...
...think that this bill targets only homosexual individuals," said Sylvia Tamale, dean of law at Uganda's Makerere University, speaking at a public dialogue on the bill in November. "If passed into law, it will stifle the space of civil society. The bill also undermines the role of the media to report freely. We are all potential victims of this bill."(See "On Scene: With Uganda's Anti-Gay Movement...
Despite Ssempa's beliefs, experts say the law would impede efforts to stem the spread of HIV and AIDS, especially among the category of "men who have sex with men" - the terminology often used because of the stigma around being openly gay or bisexual. Many homosexuals marry or date women and identify themselves as heterosexual even though they are sleeping with men. That community is disproportionately affected by the disease in sub-Saharan Africa, in part because of a long-standing unwillingness on the continent to acknowledge homosexuality. Indeed, the situation is one of double jeopardy, combining the pariah status...
...Ugandan government accused him of holding secret meetings with groups "that promote homosexuality." Since then, Western aid officials have been decidedly silent on the topic of homosexuality and HIV. Officials at UNAIDS, for example, say their organization has adopted a formal policy not to comment on the proposed law. A UNAIDS official in Uganda, who declined to be identified, says the group believes "quiet diplomacy" is the best approach...