Landlords in Uganda could be jailed for renting out their premises to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) people if a new bill tabled before parliament last week is passed.

Under the new bill tabled by lawmakers on Thursday, anyone who engages in same-sex activities or who "holds out" as LGBTQ could face up to 10 years imprisonment.

The BBC reports that the law also bans funding or promotion of LGBTQ+ activities in the country where homosexuality is already illegal.

On Friday, the AFP news agency reported that Annet Anita Among, the speaker of parliament, referred the bill to a house committee for scrutiny.

This is the first step in an accelerated process to pass the proposal into law, after which a so-called “public hearing” to give sexual minorities a chance to participate will be held.

"Let the public come express their views -- including the homos -- allow them to come," she said.

The speaker added that parliamentarians would vote on the bill one by one in front of their peers, telling them “This is the time you are going to show us if you are a homo or not.”

Same-sex relations in Uganda are criminalised under colonial-era laws, attracting punishment of life imprisonment.

Reports say that there has, however, never been a conviction for consensual same-sex activity since the country gained independence from Britain in 1962.

The Ugandan Parliament is now seeking to enact a new anti-homosexuality law after courts quashed the previous one on grounds it was passed without a requisite quorum and thus illegal.

The Anti-Homosexuality Act passed on December 20, 2013, which was described by the then Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga as the best Christmas gift to Ugandans, was annulled by the country’s Constitutional Court just months after President Yoweri Museveni signed it in February 2014.