Activist remembered

More than 100 Ugandan LGBT activists and family members gathered in Kampala last week to mark the one-year anniversary of the murder of gay activist
David Kato.

Fellow gay rights activists speaking at the event called Kato, 46, “the godfather” of the Ugandan gay movement and said his passing had left a large void in the life of the country’s gay community.

Kato was been beaten to death at his home in Mukono in January last year.

The advocacy officer for group Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), Kato was one of the plaintiffs who won a case against Uganda’s Rolling Stone newspaper that same month for publishing the names, photos and addresses of a string of Ugandan citizens thought to be gay.

The High Court of Uganda ruled that Uganda’s constitution protects the right to dignity and privacy for all Ugandans regardless of their sexual orientation. Specifically, the court ruled that inciting violence against people based on their sexual orientation threatens their right to human dignity.

The man who killed Kato was sentenced to 30 years in prison last year.