The newspaper Red Pepper (pictured above) published the list of names and some picture, outing several Ugandans under the headline "Exposed." The list includes some
Ugandans that had previously not disclosed their sexual orientations, according to the Associated Press.
On Monday, President Yoweri Museveni, who called homosexuality "unnatural" and not a human right, signed a bill making gay sex a crime punishable with up to life in prison.
"What sort of people are they?” Museveni asked in an interview with CNN. "I never knew what they were doing. I’ve just been told recently and what they do is terrible. Disgusting."
Homosexuality has been illegal in Uganda since colonial times, but the new law toughens existing penalties for anyone caught engaging in homosexual sex. It also criminalizes positive talk of homosexuality.
It also criminalizes positive talk of homosexuality. Life in prison is the punishment even for first-time offenders, and an earlier version of the bill actually proposed the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality," the AP reports.
This is not the first time the press has sided with the Uganda government and called out homosexuals. In 2011, a now-defunct tabloid published a similar list and called for the execution of homosexuals.
Following that list, David Kato, a prominent Ugandan gay activist, was killed. Ugandan LGBT rights activists like Jacqueline Kasha view the list as a new witch hunt against homosexuals in the country.
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