UPDATE: Uganda President Blocks Anti-Gay Bill From Going Into Effect

Good news! The horrible anti-gay measure that passsed the Uganda legislature late last year has been prevented from going into effect by President Yoweri Museveni on procedural grounds. The bill would have provided for up to a life sentence for homosexual conduct.

The BBC reports:

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has refused to approve a controversial bill to toughen punishments for homosexuals.

He has written to the parliamentary speaker criticising her for passing it in December without a quorum.

Homosexuals were "abnormal" or were so for "mercenary reasons" and could be "rescued", a local paper quotes his letter as saying.

The bill provides for life imprisonment for homosexual acts and also makes it a crime not to report gay people.

The promotion of homosexuality - even talking about it without condemning the lifestyle - would also be punishable by a prison term.

Earlier this year the President of Nigeria signed a similarly virulent anti-gay measure into law.