BBC's coverage of Uganda's 'anti-homosexuality bill' sparks controversy

The British Broadcasting Corporation has responded to the growing controversy over a question a debate on one of its programs about a Ugandan bill that would impose the death penalty against anyone found guilty of homosexuality in the East African country.

Africa Have Your Say asked its listeners to debate the question: "Should homosexuals face execution." Peter Horrocks, director of the World Service, responded to the controversy earlier today.

"The reaction from part of our audience was very strong and [we] do feel in retrospect the headline taken out of context was too stark and [we] do apologize for any offense that was caused to people, but it was an absolutely legitimate debate to have," he said. "We were having that debate clearly because that's the question the Uganda Parliament is having."

Indeed, Ugandan lawmakers are scheduled to debate the so-called "anti-homosexuality bill" in Kampala tomorrow. People have taken to the streets in Chicago, San Francisco and other cities around the world to protest the proposed law.

British activist Peter Tatchell opined the BBC should encourage debate over the draconian bill, but he added he feels editors should have approached it differently.

“I think it perfectly reasonable for the BBC to host a debate about the current Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill, but not in the terms that it was framed,” Tatchell said.

Horrocks again defended the debate he said he feels Africa Had Your Say encouraged.

"This question is being posed directly in the Ugandan Parliament and there were plenty of people who took part in the program who were supportive of it," he said. "It is a legitimate subject for debate, but clearly the way that you handle something like that with different sensitivities in different societies [over] the ways the questions are posed is something we need to be careful about."

A journalist's basic obligation is to pose difficult questions--including those that make their sources and those who hear, read or watch them uncomfortable or even angry. The idea Uganda could potentially sanction executions of gays and lesbians is a disgusting and shameful stain on the East African country. The BBC and other media outlets, however, have a responsibility to encourage an honest and open debate about the bill and the very real impact it could have on gay and lesbian Ugandans. And this obligation must trump any potential controversy and outrage that could result from such an exchange.

Violence Again Erupts at Moscow Gay Pride Events

Ultra-nationalists, members of the Russian Orthodox Church and others attacked activists and politicians with eggs, stones and fists yesterday as they tried to deliver a petition to Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov to demand their right to hold a gay Pride celebration in the Russian capital. Protesters violently attacked British gay activist Peter Tatchell, Right Said Fred front man Richard Fairbrass, German MEP Volker Beck and others as Moscow police apparently stood by and watched. Authorities later detained them alongside Italian MEP Marco Cappato, Russian gay activist Nikolai Alexeyev and more than two dozen others.

The British Broadcasting Corporation, Deutsche Welle, the Sydney [Australia] Morning Herald and other media outlets across the world documented the violence. Openly gay London Mayor Ken Livingstone, openly gay Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe and other European politicians quickly condemned the attacks as "sad," "unacceptable violence" and "a travesty to democracy." Dutch MEP Sophie Int'Veld told the Moscow News the European Union must address the continued violence against gay and lesbian Russians.

Homophobia remains widespread despite Russia's decriminalization of homosexuality in 1993. Luzhkov, who has repeatedly described gay Pride marches as 'satanic,' banned such gatherings in Moscow. Activists faced violent anti-gay protesters last year as they held their first march in defiance of the ban and of the authorities. The same situation played out again yesterday before the eyes of the world. Luzhkov, and to a greater extend Russian President Vladimir Putin, continue to disregard the rights of their own citizens. Activists within the European Union continue to call upon their own governments to challenge Putin on these continued abuses at next month's G8 summit in Germany. This weekend's violence remains a shocking reminder of the peril many Russians face within their own country. Their government continues to have blood on its hands as the world's media documented all too clearly. The European Union, the United States and other countries that claim to defend human rights and dignity must pressure Russia to protect all of its citizens. Their collective conscience mandates them to do so.



Right Said Fred front man Richard Fairbrass after anti-gay protesters assaulted him during the gay Pride events in Moscow