The proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda has caused much debate across the world.

An online discussion forum on BBC World’s Africa Have Your Say programme debated the proposed Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill yesterday (16 December) – and both were greeted with much controversy.

The Ugandan MP for Ndorwa West David Bahati announced the Anti-Homosexuality Bill on 13 October 2009, which proposes death for “aggravated homosexuality”, including committing the “offence” against those minors under 18, the disabled and if the offender is HIV positive.

Those caught in the act of homosexuality will be sentenced to life imprisonment, and anyone found to be promoting homosexuality or withholding information of offenders will also face a prison term. The key driver behind the laws are to preserve the “traditional family” unit of a marriage between a man and a woman.

This new legislation is stated as: “An Act to prohibit any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex; prohibit the promotion or recognition of such relations and to provide for other related matters.”

In response to the proposed act, the BBC Have Your Say forum initially posed the question, “Should homosexuals face execution?”, but this was later changed to, “Should Uganda debate gay execution?” Within hours it had generated a total of 633 comments, 189 of which were rejected by moderators.

Editor of the programme David Stead then posted an explanation of the thinking behind the decision, saying that the programme makers had “thought long and hard about using this question which prompted a lot of internal debate.”

He continued: “We agree that it is a stark and challenging question, but think that it accurately focuses on and illustrates the real issue at stake. We published it alongside clear explanatory text which gave the context of the bill itself.”

The bill is intended to strengthen Uganda’s existing laws against homosexuality under its Penal Code Act, and has been widely condemned by world leaders and human rights groups, who fear it will trigger a witchhunt against the gay community.

Canon Gideon Byamugisha, a leading member of the Ugandan Anglican Church, said the bill would breed violence and intolerance through all levels of society, “I believe that this bill [if passed into law] will be state-legislated genocide against a specific community of Ugandans, however few they may be.”

Activists have raised concerns that the bill will hinder the country’s fight against HIV/Aids among the gay community and legal experts have said it will undermine freedom of expression and association.

In Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s conservative government called the proposed law “vile and hateful”, while British Prime Minister Gordon Brown raised the issue with President Museveni during the recent Commonwealth summit in Trinidad and Tobago.

On 3 December, the Swedish government, calling the bill “appalling”, said that it would rethink its $50 million development aid to Uganda if it is passed.

It has been reported that the Rwandan Parliament is also now considering legislation that would amend the country’s penal code to criminalise homosexual acts.

Just last Thursday (10 December), Uganda’s Parliament unanimously voted to outlaw female genital mutilation, imposing a 10-year penalty on anyone who conducts the procedure and life in prison for those who physically force a woman to submit to the act.

So while it would appear that there are some highly-valuable and essential laws being passed in the Ugandan Parliament, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill is likely to divide opinion across the world.

Share your thoughts with us. Do you think it was right of the BBC to ask the question?