Kanyi Okeke
A Ugandan newspaper has published a list of what it called the country’s 200 top homosexuals, outing some who previously had not identified themselves as gay, a day after the president passed the anti-gay law. The Red Pepper tabloid published the names and some pictures in a front-page story under the headline: “EXPOSED!”
The list included prominent Ugandan gay activists such as Pepe Julian Onziema, who has repeatedly warned that the new law could spark violence. There was also a popular Ugandan hip-hop star as well as a Catholic priest. The new law punishes gay sex with up to life in prison.
The bill originally proposed the death penalty for aggravated homosexuality, defined as repeated gay sex between consenting adults and acts involving a minor, a disabled person or where one partner was infected with HIV. The law also calls for first-time offenders to be sentenced to 14 years in jail.
In signing the bill, Ugandan President said the measure was needed because the west was promoting homosexuality in Africa. He also accused careless western groups of trying to recruit Ugandan children into homosexuality
