Ugandan Gay Activist Murdered

Ugandan Gay Activist David Kato Murdered


David Kato, a prominent Ugandan gay rights activist in threatened in October with hanging on the front page of a Kampala newspaper, was found brutally beaten to death Wednesday at his home.  Kato was the advocacy officer for Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG).

The Guardianreports that Kato was bludgeoned to death at his home in the town of Mukono in the afternoon. Witnesses saw a man fleeing the scene in a car.

SMUG called for the police and government to investigate the murder seriously and for religious leaders, politicians, and media to stop demonizing LGBT people. David Bahati, a member of parliament with close connections to American evangelicals, continues to push for a bill that would impose the death penalty on gay people in some circumstances.

Val Kalende, the board chair at Freedom and Roam Uganda, said in the news release,“David’s death is a result of the hatred planted in Uganda by U.S Evangelicals in 2009. The Ugandan Government and the so-called U.S Evangelicals must take responsibility for David’s blood!”

SMUG executive director Frank Mugisha said, “No form of intimidation will stop our cause. The death of David will only be honored when the struggle for justice and equality is won. David is gone and many of us will follow, but the struggle will be won. David wanted to see a Uganda where all people will be treated equally despite their sexual orientation.”

Burial arrangements for Kato are under way for Friday afternoon at his ancestral home in Namataba, Mukono District.

The BBC offers an obituary. Kato was a primary school teacher turned activist who proudly claimed the label of the first out gay Ugandan.

Read Jeff Sharlet's October cover story for The Advocate on the deadly consequences of antigay rhetoric in Uganda.

Update:

U.K. human rights activist Peter Tatchell released the following statement on Kato's murder: 

"David will live on in our memories. He will also live on through the rights and equalities that LGBTI Ugandans will win eventually thanks to his many years of tireless groundwork and campaigning. I express my admiration and appreciation to all the members of SMUG who are battling for LGBTI freedom in conditions of great adversity and danger. Their courage and tenacity is awesome.

"This savage killing will, I hope, finally prompt Uganda's political, religious and media leaders to cease their homophobic witch-hunts. Their hatred helps create the bigoted atmosphere that leads to queer-bashing violence."

The U.S. embassy in Kampala has also issued a statement on Kato's death:

"The U.S. extends its sympathies to David's family, friends and human rights colleagues. David's courageous devotion to promoting the universal human rights of members of Uganda's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community improved the lives of minority populations in Uganda and throughout Africa, and his selfless dedication to defending human rights and speaking out against injustice served as inspiration to human rights defenders around the world."

The White House issued this statement from President Obama:

"I am deeply saddened to learn of the murder of David Kato. In Uganda, David showed tremendous courage in speaking out against hate. He was a powerful advocate for fairness and freedom. The United States mourns his murder, and we recommit ourselves to David’s work.

"At home and around the world, LGBT persons continue to be subjected to unconscionable bullying, discrimination, and hate. In the weeks preceding David Kato’s murder in Uganda, five members of the LGBT community in Honduras were also murdered. It is essential that the Governments of Uganda and Honduras investigate these killings and hold the perpetrators accountable.

"LGBT rights are not special rights; they are human rights. My Administration will continue to strongly support human rights and assistance work on behalf of LGBT persons abroad. We do this because we recognize the threat faced by leaders like David Kato, and we share their commitment to advancing freedom, fairness, and equality for all."

UPDATE:
Violence Erupts at Kato's Funeral

American Evangelicals Encourage Homophobia in Uganda

International Uproar over Uganda: Study Finds American Evangelicals Encouraging Homophobia

Rachel Maddow vs. Anti-gay Religious Wing Nuts

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow has been exposing the connections between the U.S. religious right and the anti-gay government in Uganda.

Rachel Maddow on Ties Between "The Family" and Uganda's Anti-Gay Legislation
Watch Rachel Demolish "Ex-Gay Therapist" Richard Cohen, who has inspired the anti-gay movement in Uganda



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Thanks in part to Rachel Maddow's exposure of his connection to the anti-gay movement in Uganda, Rick Warren Finally Condemns Uganda's "Kill the Gays" Bill

Christian Reich's War on Gays

The Christian Reich continues to expand its war on LGBT people. In the United States, evangelical and fundamentalist Christians have united to make their anti-gay Manhattan Declaration against women's right to abortion and marriage for gays and lesbians.

The Declaration, released last week and signed by over 150 Christian leaders and social conservatives, identifies abortion, gay marriage, and religious liberty as the three most important issues facing modern Christians, and pleads with both believers and non-believers to stand up against the first two and in defense of the third.

Nathaniel Frank does a great job of deconstructing their hypocritical and irrational defense of "traditional marriage" from the civil unions of gays and lesbians: Christian Leaders Scapegoat Gays on Marriage

The religious war against gay people is an international endeavor. In Uganda a bill is being proposed by the parliament that would call for the execution of gays.

Britain and Canada today led Commonwealth protests against a law proposed by the Ugandan parliament which would introduce the death penalty by hanging for "aggravated homosexuality".

The suggested legislation would apply to sex between gay men or lesbian women in which one person has HIV.

The bill also proposes the introduction of a three-year prison sentence for anyone who knows of the existence of a gay man or lesbian woman and fails to inform authorities in Uganda within 24 hours.

Fury at Uganda Proposal for Gay Executions

Furthermore, the Anti-Homosexuality bill in Uganda is supported by U.S. conservative Christians known as "The Family." According to Jeff Sharlet, author of The Family, the Family has been very active in supporting Uganda's right-wing government and the anti-gay legislation.

Rachel Maddow on Uganda and the Family

Rick Warren Can't "Take Sides" on Gay Executions in Uganda