UGANDA: About 200 members of the Ugandan gay community mark the first anniversary of the killing of a gay rights activist in Uganda, in a service conducted by a gay religious minister

Record ID: 277652

  • Title: UGANDA: About 200 members of the Ugandan gay community mark the first anniversary of the killing of a gay rights activist in Uganda, in a service conducted by a gay religious minister
  • Date: 30th January 2012
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF PEOPLE SINGING AND CLAPPING DURING SERVICE CLOSE UP OF DAVID KATO'S PORTRAIT VARIOUS OF PRO-GAY PREACHERS SINGING DURING SERVICE CONGREGATION SINGING
  • Embargoed: 14th February 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Uganda, Uganda
  • Country: Uganda
  • Reuters ID: LVA7F48JQIEWPRCJNI7GDISJ3F99
  • Story Text: Friends, relatives and gay rights campaigners attended a memorial service in Kampala on Friday (January 27, 2012) for David Kato, an outspoken homosexual activist who was murdered in 2011.
    The service was held exactly a year after a perpetrator broke into his home in the Ugandan capital and brutally battered him to death with a hammer.
    The attack came shortly after Kato was 'outed' as homosexual by the right wing newspaper 'Rolling Stone', which printed his picture alongside other 'suspected' gay people, under the headline 'Hang Them'.
    News of his murder prompted outrage from human rights groups all over the world who use his story as an example of the brutality directed towards gay and lesbian men and women in Uganda and other parts of Africa.
    Speaking at Kato's funeral was American pro-gay preacher, Joseph Tolton who used the occasion to deliver a rabble-rousing speech against the harassment and intimidation of homosexuals in Uganda.
    "David's murder was supposed to cause all of us who support human rights to live in fear, his murder was meant for us to live in silence, to live with our heads bowed down, to leave in shame," Pastor Tolton said.
    He added that Uganda's gay community should not let Kato's death stop them from fighting against the controversial Bahati bill.
    Known as the 'anti-homosexual bill' by those who oppose it, the Bahati bill is a controversial piece of legislation that if passed would create a new offense of 'aggravated homosexuality' punishable by death in Uganda. The bill is still under debate.
    Also speaking at the memorial service was Christopher Sengonjo, a Ugandan excommunicated bishop.
    He said Kato's murder should be a reminder to gay rights activists all over the world that the fight for justice is far from won.
    "Kato was a man ready even to sacrifice himself, he was ready to sacrifice himself in order to bring about change, change and justice to oppressed," Sengonjo said.
    He was excommunicated by the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda in 2002, allegedly because of his outspoken support of homosexuality.
    David Kato, who was 48 when he was killed, is considered the father of Uganda's gay rights movement. Shortly before he was murdered he won a lawsuit against 'Rolling Stone' newspaper for printing his name and photo and calling readers for his execution.
    Nsubuga Enock, described by the police as a 'well-known thief' was arrested and charged with Kato's murder in February 2011. Enock told the court Kato was making sexual advances and that he was acting in self-defense. Enock was convicted in November last year and sentenced to 30 years.
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