Ugandan homosexuals under threat after tabloid lists names of 200 top gays

A tabloid in Uganda has reportedly divulged the names of the country's "200 top homosexuals", posing threat for gays, who now fear a witch hunt following the revelation.

The tabloid 'Red Pepper' listed the names under a headline that read "Exposed", a day after President Yoweri Museveni signed an anti-gay bill that punishes gay sex with up to life in prison.

According to the BBC, many of the people named on Red Pepper's list are known to be homosexuals, and some of them live abroad.

The list also includes some Ugandans who had not identified themselves as gay before.

Condemning the act by the tabloid, Jacqueline Kasha, a prominent Ugandan lesbian activist, who also appeared on Red Pepper's list, tweeted that the media witch-hunt was back.

Meanwhile, Uganda already had laws that dubbed homosexual as illegal, but the new law intends to ban the promotion of homosexuality while covering lesbians for the first time.