Uganda's parliament passed an anti-gay law that punishes "aggravated homosexuality" with life imprisonment.

The Bill drew widespread condemnation when it was introduced in 2010 and included the death penalty, but that was removed from the revised version passed by parliament.

Homosexuality was already illegal under a law from the British colonial era that criminalised sexual acts "against the order of nature."

The new law was introduced as a private member's Bill by an MP who claimed tougher legislation was needed to deter Western homosexuals he accused of "recruiting" Ugandan children.

Gay Ugandans accused political and religious leaders of coming under the influence of fundamentalist US Christians who want to spread their campaign of anti-gay hatred in Africa.

Campaign group Sexual Minorities Uganda is suing US evangelical Scott Lively for crimes against humanity under the Alien Tort Statute, a law allowing non-citizens to bring lawsuits in the US for alleged violations of international law.

Mr Lively's Abiding Truth Ministries has been classed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a leading US civil rights watchdog.

He spoke at a 2009 conference on the "gay agenda" and the "threat" of homosexuality which triggered a wave of anti-gay hatred.

MP David Bahati tabled his new Bill in the aftermath of the conference, while the Ugandan media began publicly outing gay people so that they could be arrested or killed.

Gay rights activist David Kato was beaten to death in 2011, shortly after the Rolling Stone newspaper had published his photo and called for him to be executed.

Mr Lively denies having a hand in writing the new law, which rolls back years of progress in defence of gay Ugandans' rights. Gay activists held their first Pride parade in 2012.

Amid international criticism, the Bill was repeatedly shelved despite the protests of Ugandan MPs.

Days before Christmas last year, parliamentary speaker Rebecca Kadaga threatened to pass the anti-gay law as a "Christmas gift" to all Ugandans.