David Kato | |
|---|---|
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| Born | c. 1964[1] Nakawala,Mukono, Uganda |
| Died | 26 January 2011(2011-01-26) (aged 46–47) Bukusa, Mukono, Uganda |
| Cause of death | Murder |
| Known for | LGBT rights activist |
David Kato Kisule (c. 1964 – 26 January 2011)[2] was a Ugandan teacher andLGBT rights activist, considered a father ofUganda's gay rights movement[3] and described as "Uganda's first openly gay man".[4] He served as advocacy officer forSexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG).
Kato wasassassinated at his home in January 26, 2011, shortly after winning a lawsuit against a magazine which had published his name and photograph identifying him as gay and calling for him to be executed.[5]
Born to the Kisule clan in its ancestral village of Nakawala,Namataba Town Council,Mukono District, he received the name "Kato" because he was the younger of twins.[6] He was educated atKing's College Budo andKyambogo University and taught at various schools including the Nile Vocational Institute inNjeru nearJinja. It was here that he became aware of his sexual orientation and was subsequently dismissed without any benefits in 1991. Later, hecame out to his twin brother John Malumba Wasswa.[2]
He left to teach for a few years inJohannesburg, South Africa[2] during its transition from apartheid tomultiracial democracy, becoming influenced by the end of the apartheid-era ban on sodomy and the growth ofLGBT rights in South Africa. Coming back to Uganda in 1998, he decided to come out in public through a press conference; he was arrested and held in police custody for a week due to this action. He continued to maintain contact with pro-LGBT activists outside the country, withLGEP executive director Phumzile S. Mtetwa later citing an encounter with Kato at the 1999ILGA World Conference.[7]
When St Herman Nkoni Boys Primary School was founded in 2002 in theRoman Catholic Diocese of Masaka (Masaka District), Kato joined the faculty.[8]
Kato became highly involved with the undergroundLGBT rights movement in Uganda, eventually becoming one of the founding members ofSMUG on 3 March 2004.
According to aseries of confidential cables written by a Kampala-based United States diplomat and later released byWikiLeaks, Kato spoke during a November 2009 United Nations-funded consultative conference on human rights. During the conference, Kato spoke on the issue of LGBT rights and the anti-LGBT atmosphere in Uganda. Members of theUganda Human Rights Commission "openly joked and snickered" during the speech.[9]
A rumour circulated thatDavid Bahati MP, the leading proponent of theUganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill, had ordered the Inspector General of Police to arrest Kato, causing Kato and other attending members of SMUG to leave the conference immediately after he finished the speech. Bahati then made a "tirade against homosexuality" to the conference, resulting in massive applause andMartin Ssempa, an evangelical Christian cleric, pounding his fist on the table in agreement.[9]
By 2010, Kato had quit his job as a school teacher to focus on his work with SMUG in light of the events surrounding theUganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill.[2] Kato was subsequently given a one year fellowship at the Centre for Applied Human Rights based at theUniversity of York in the United Kingdom, a centre which provides fellowships to vulnerable and threatenedhuman rights activists as a reprieve from the dangers they face in their own countries.[10]
Kato was among the 100 people whose names and photographs were published in October 2010 by the Ugandan tabloid newspaperRolling Stone in an article which called for their execution as homosexuals. Kato and two other SMUG members who were also listed in the article –Kasha Nabagesera andPepe Julian Onziema – sued the newspaper to force it to stop publishing the names and pictures of people it believed to be gay or lesbian. The photos were published under a headline of "Hang them"[11][5] and were accompanied by the individuals' addresses.[12]
The petition was granted on 2 November 2010, effectively ruling for the cessation of publication ofRolling Stone.[12][13] Giles Muhame, the paper's managing editor, commented: "I haven't seen the court injunction but the war against gays will and must continue. We have to protect our children from this dirty homosexual affront."[13] On 3 January 2011, High Court Justice V. F. Kibuuka Musoke ruled thatRolling Stone's publication of the lists, and the accompanying incitation to violence, threatened Kato's and the others' "fundamental rights and freedoms;" attacked their right tohuman dignity; and violated their constitutionalright to privacy.[14] The court ordered the newspaper to pay Kato and the other two plaintiffsUSh 1.5 million each (approx. US$600 as of May 2012[update]).[14]
On 26 January 2011, at around 2:00 PMEAT (11:00 UTC), after talking on the phone with SMUG member Julian Pepe Onziema a few hours before, Kato was assaulted in his home in Bukusa,Mukono Town,[15] by a man who hit him twice in the head with a hammer. The man then fled on foot. Kato later died en route to theKawolo General Hospital. Kato's colleagues note that Kato had spoken of an increase in threats and harassment since the court victory, and they believe that hissexual orientation and his activism were the motive for the murder.[15]
Joe Oloka-Onyango, who worked with Kato on the court case, said, "This is a very strange thing to happen in the middle of the day, and suggests pre-meditation."[15] According to reports inThe New York Times[3] and theSydney Morning Herald,[11] questions have been raised about the murder being linked to Kato's sexuality.Human Rights Watch andAmnesty International have both called for an in-depth and impartial investigation into the case, and for protection for gay activists.[11]James Nsaba Buturo, the Ugandan Minister of State for Ethics and Integrity, is on record as having declared that "Homosexuals can forget about human rights".[3]
A police spokesperson initially blamed the murder on robbers who had allegedly killed at least 10 people in the area over the previous two months. Police arrested one suspect, Kato's driver,[16] and were seeking a second.[17] On 2 February 2011, police announced the arrest of Nsubuga Enoch, saying that he had confessed to the murder. A police spokesperson described Enoch as a "well-known thief" and local gardener, but stated as to Enoch's alleged motive, "It wasn't a robbery and it wasn't because Kato was an activist. It was a personal disagreement but I can't say more than that."[16]
A police source alleged to theUganda Monitor that Enoch had murdered Kato because Kato would not pay him for sexual favours,[18] an allegation that was repeated by the Ugandan ambassador to Belgium in a letter to European Parliament PresidentJerzy Buzek.[19] The Ugandan Ambassador later reiterated this version of events in a letter to the European Parliament, stating that Kato had earlier paid for "his prostitute" to be released from prison, but had then been attacked by him for refusing to pay for sex.[19]
After being spotted by Nakabago residents in Mukono district, Sidney Nsubuga Enoch was arrested, and prosecuted at Mukono High Court by the lead State Prosecutor, Loe Karungi. He was sentenced to 30 years with hard labour, by Justice Joseph Mulangira, on Thursday 10 November 2011. The apparent motive was robbery.[20]
Kato's funeral was held on 28 January 2011, in Nakawala. Present at the funeral were family, friends and co-activists, many of whom wore t-shirts bearing his photo in front, the Portuguese "la[sic] luta continua" in the back and havingrainbow flag colours inscribed onto the sleeves.[21] The Christian preacher at the funeral – Anglican pastor Thomas Musoke – preached against the gays and lesbians present, making comparisons toSodom and Gomorrah, before the activists ran to the pulpit and grabbed the microphone from him, forcing him to retreat from the pulpit to Kato's father's house.[22]
An unidentified female activist angrily exclaimed "Who are you to judge others?" and villagers sided with the preacher as scuffles broke out during the proceedings. Villagers refused to bury Kato at his burial place. The task was then undertaken by his friends and co-workers.[22] In place of the preacher who left the scene after the fighting, excommunicatedChurch of Uganda bishopChristopher Senyonjo officiated at Kato's burial in the presence of friends and cameras.
The murder was decried byHuman Rights Watch,[23] with senior Africa researcher Maria Burnett adding that "David Kato's death is a tragic loss to the human rights community."Amnesty International stated that it was "appalled by the shocking murder of David Kato," and called for a "credible and impartial investigation into his murder."[24] Both also asked the Ugandan government to protect other gay rights activists.[15]
US PresidentBarack Obama,[25] US Secretary of StateHillary Clinton and the State Department,[26][27] and theEuropean Union[28] also condemned the murder and urged Uganda authorities to investigate the crime and to speak out against homophobia and transphobia. "I am deeply saddened to learn of the murder," Obama said. "David showed tremendous courage in speaking out against hate. He was a powerful advocate for fairness and freedom."[29]
Rowan Williams, the AnglicanArchbishop of Canterbury, spoke on behalf of theAnglican Communion, "Such violence [as the death of David Kato] has been consistently condemned by the Anglican Communion worldwide. This event also makes it all the more urgent for the British Government to secure the safety of LGBT asylum seekers in the UK. This is a moment to take very serious stock and to address those attitudes of mind which endanger the lives of men and women belonging to sexual minorities."[30]
For his newspaper's alleged role in the murder,Rolling Stone editor Giles Muhame stated "When we called for hanging of gay people, we meant ... after they have gone through the legal process ... I did not call for them to be killed in cold blood like he was."[31] However, he stated, "I have no regrets about the story. We were just exposing people who were doing wrong."[32]
In Spring 2011,Boston'sAmerican Repertory Theater andSystem of a Down'sSerj Tankian dedicated their production ofPrometheus Bound to Kato and seven other activists, stating in program notes that "by singing the story ofPrometheus, the God who defied the tyrantZeus by giving the human race both fire and art, this production hopes to give a voice to those currently being silenced or endangered by modern-day oppressors".[33]
The Gay Pride event in York, United Kingdom, held on 30 July 2011 commemorated Kato. A minute of silence was observed and hundreds of rainbow coloured balloons were released in his memory by Member of Parliament for York CentralHugh Bayley and theLord Mayor of York.[34]
The David Kato Vision & Voice Award was established in his memory. The 2012 recipient, JamaicanLGBTQ rights activistMaurice Tomlinson, was announced on 14 December 2011 and was awarded on 29 January 2012 in London. Participant organisations include Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF), Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG),International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), GIZ –Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, Herbert Smith LLP, andILGA-Europe.[35]
In 2014, Kato was inducted into theLegacy Walk, an outdoor public display inChicago, Illinois which celebratesLGBTQ history and people.[36][37]
On 16 June 2021, the University of York announced that Kato would be the namesake of the new David Kato College, the first college on York's campus to be named after a person of African descent.[38][39]
Kato was interviewed by US filmmakers Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Zouhali-Worrall for a documentary film on his life,Call Me Kuchu, which premiered at theBerlin International Film Festival on 11 February 2012.[40] A short film using footage from the film,They Will Say We Are Not Here, was posted to the New York Times website on the first anniversary of his death.[41]
Kato metRoger Ross Williams shortly before his death and was an inspiration in the making ofGod Loves Uganda (2013),[42] a documentary exploring connections between Christian evangelism in North America and in Uganda.
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