More than a hundred British Members of Parliament have condemned Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which could equate to the death penalty for those Ugandans who engage in homosexual acts.

The 118 MPs have signed what is known as an Early Day Motion (EDM) in the UK Parliament, urging the scrapping of the Bill.

The EDM, drafted by east London Labour MP Harry Cohen and gay-rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, urges the Ugandan government to “uphold international humanitarian law by abandoning the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, decriminalising same-sex acts between consenting adults in private, and outlawing discrimination against gay people”.

The controversy has been staggering. Many believe an evangelical sect’s venture in to Kampala in late November 2009 initially sparked the legislation behind the bill. Since then, it has drawn international criticism and even Ugandan President Museveni has warned of potential sanctions in trade policies stemming from its passing. Martin Ssempa, one of the main backers of the Bill, then notoriously aired an explicit slideshow to several hundred people during a church service in Kampala in February, many of whom were children, in an effort to ‘educate people about what homosexuals do‘.

British MPs behind this EDM are especially appalled that the Ugandan Bill proposes the death penalty for “serial offenders” (people who commit repeat homosexual acts) and life imprisonment for merely touching or kissing another person of the same sex with homosexual intent. Also, the bill would allow extradition of Ugandan nationals back to the homeland for engaging in homosexual behavior outside of Uganda. Further, supporting gay-rights in a political sense is allow deemed illegal.

“Even if the death penalty is dropped, the Bill will remain unacceptable. It will still violate the equality guarantees of international human rights agreements, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” added Tatchell.

“This Bill violates Article 21 of the constitution of Uganda, which guarantees equality and non-discrimination. Demonising lesbians and gay men is a diversion from the real issues that blight the lives of most Ugandans: poverty, unemployment, low wages, disease, poor sanitation, dirty drinking water and inadequate health and education services. “