Uganda's government has denied there is a plan to reintroduce the death penalty for gay sex.

The government “does not have any plans of reintroducing the anti-homosexuality bill on the floor of Parliament,” Esther Mbayo, minister in charge of the presidency, said in a statement, the AP reported.

Simon Lokodo, minister for ethics and integrity, said last month that the bill was forthcoming. He said that the bill was needed to “curb a rise in unnatural sex” in the nation. Uganda has a colonial-era law that criminalizes gay sex.

In 2014, Uganda's highest court struck down on a technicality a law that made gay sex punishable by death. The law was dubbed the “kill the gays” bill.

Activists worried a new bill would also prohibit the “promotion” of homosexuality. Such laws have been used elsewhere to silence the voices of LGBT rights activists.