While America has the right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and basically the life we choose, Homosexuals in Uganda are living a life of opression. While a lot of these homosexuals are pressured to remain "in the closet," the more open ones might soon be facing the death penalty.

   Although homophobic and anti-homosexual ideals have been present throughout northern parts of Africa (homosexuality is currently illegal in Uganda), last March, this ideal was pushed to extremes. Three Americans who were introduced to the Ugandans as "homosexuality experts," spoke out against homosexuals at a conference in the Spring of ‘09. The "experts" claimed "the gay movement is an evil institution" aiming to "defeat the marriage-based society and replace it with a culture of sexual promiscuity." Ugandans then felt the need to defend their society and ways of life, fearing homosexuals would damage them.

    A month after the conference, a Ugandan politician proposed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009. The bill originally proposed to make death the sentence for anyone convicted of homosexuality; anyone who is sexually active and HIV positive can be convicted of "aggravated homosexuality." The bill would also allow the government to convict and penalize Ugandan homosexuals who do not still reside within the country’s limits, and anyone who writes about homosexuality will be given time in prison.

   Many people believe the death penalty is too harsh and should be amended soon. David Bahati, the proposer of the bill, believes the bill will eventually become law with or without the death penalty. Bahati was quoted in the Irish Times as saying, "The process of coming up with the law to defend our children and traditional family values in Uganda moves on." While the heterosexuals of Uganda turn on their own people to protect their ways of life, the homosexuals that dwell among these people fight to preserve their freedoms, their voices, and their lives.