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David Kato, a prominent gay activist threatened with hanging on the front page of a Ugandan newspaper, was brutally beaten to death at his home in Kampala on Wednesday.
Kato was the advocacy officer for Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), which confirmed his murder in a news release. He was one of the plaintiffs who won acaseagainst the Rolling Stone newspaper earlier this month.
“David has been receiving death threats since his face was put on the front page of Rolling Stone Magazine, which called for his death and the death of all homosexuals,” said SMUG. “David’s death comes directly after the Supreme Court of Uganda ruled that people must stop inciting violence against homosexuals and must respect the right to privacy and human dignity.”
The Guardian reports that Kato was bludgeoned to death in Mukono, Kampala 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 the LGBT community. 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!”
Frank Mugisha, executive director of SMUG 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 Kata are underway 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.
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