The BBC has once again taken flak, this time for hosting a debate on its Have Your Say section, which was entitled “Should gays face execution?” Once it became notorious, the Beeb changed the topic’s name to “Should Uganda debate gay execution?”.

On the surface this is jaw-droppingly offensive, making you cringe as you cower from your screen out of embarrassment for the BBC. However, once I read on and learnt the reasoning behind the topic, I could see why they’ve shed light on this issue, even if they have dealt with it very badly. The fact is that the Ugandan government will vote on a bill which proposes:

Life imprisonment for those convicted of a homosexual act. The death sentence where the offender has HiV, is a “serial offender” or the other person is under 18. Imprisonment for seven years for “attempted homosexuality.”

In the interests of human rights, this is an important problem. Africa is known for its intolerance towards homosexuality, much of which stems from Africans’ hard-line religious beliefs. If there is a situation arising in a country whereby people are persecuted and murdered for their sexuality, it should brought to our attention.

Britain recently signed a 10-year aid deal worth £700 million to the Ugandans. It’s very much in our interests, as British taxpayers, if our money is going to a country which is abusing its citizens’ human rights. The question shouldn’t be whether Uganda should debate gay execution, but what should Britain do to prevent the bill from passing? Then a bigger question arises – what is Britain doing to quell anti-homosexual intolerance throughout the whole of Africa?

The BBC were right to raise the issue of homophobia in Uganda. However, they approached the issue entirely wrongly.