David Kato facts for kids

Quick facts for kids David Kato
Born	c. 1964 Nakawala, Mukono, Uganda
Died	26 January 2011(2011-01-26) (aged 46–47) Bukusa, Mukono, Uganda
Known for	LGBT rights activist

David Kato Kisule (c. 1964 – 26 January 2011) was a Ugandan teacher and LGBT rights activist, considered a father of Uganda's gay rights movement and described as "Uganda's first openly gay man". He served as advocacy officer for Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG).

Earlier life

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. He was educated at King's College Budo and Kyambogo University and taught at various schools including the Nile Vocational Institute in Njeru near Jinja. It was here that he became aware of his orientation and was subsequently dismissed without any benefits in 1991. Later, he came out to his twin brother John Malumba Wasswa.

He left to teach for a few years in Johannesburg, South Africa during its transition from apartheid to multiracial democracy, becoming influenced by the growth of LGBT 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.

When St Herman Nkoni Boys Primary School was founded in 2002 in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Masaka (Masaka District), Kato joined the faculty.

Involvement with SMUG

Kato became highly involved with the underground LGBT rights movement in Uganda, eventually becoming one of the founding members of SMUG on 3 March 2004.

According to a series of confidential cables written by a Kampala-based United States diplomat and later released by WikiLeaks, 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 the Uganda Human Rights Commission "openly joked and snickered" during the speech.

A rumour circulated that David Bahati MP, the leading proponent of the Uganda 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 and Martin Ssempa, an evangelical Christian cleric, pounding his fist on the table in agreement.

By 2010, Kato had quit his job as a school teacher to focus on his work with SMUG in light of the events surrounding the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Kato was subsequently given a one year fellowship at the Centre for Applied Human Rights based at the University of York in the United Kingdom, a centre which provides fellowships to vulnerable and threatened human rights activists as a reprieve from the dangers they face in their own countries.

Rolling Stone case

Kato was among the 100 people whose names and photographs were published in October 2010 by the Ugandan tabloid newspaper Rolling 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 and Pepe 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" and were accompanied by the individuals' addresses.

The petition was granted on 2 November 2010, effectively ruling for the cessation of publication of Rolling Stone. The court ordered the newspaper to pay Kato and the other two plaintiffs USh 1.5 million each (approx. US$600 as of May 2012^[update]).

Death

On 26 January 2011, Kato was assaulted and severely injured in his home in Bukusa, Mukono Town. Kato later died en route to the Kawolo General Hospital.

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 having rainbow flag colours inscribed onto the sleeves.

Reactions and tributes

Kato's murder was decried by Human Rights Watch.

US President Barack Obama, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the State Department, and the European Union also condemned the murder and urged Uganda authorities to investigate the crime and to speak out against homophobia and transphobia.

In Spring 2011, Boston's American Repertory Theater and System of a Down's Serj Tankian dedicated their production of Prometheus Bound to Kato and seven other activists, stating in program notes that "by singing the story of Prometheus, the God who defied the tyrant Zeus 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".

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 Central Hugh Bayley and the Lord Mayor of York.

The David Kato Vision & Voice Award was established in his memory. The 2012 recipient, Jamaican LGBT rights activist Maurice Tomlinson, was announced on 14 December 2011 and was awarded on 29 January 2012 in London.

In 2014, Kato was inducted into the Legacy Walk, an outdoor public display in Chicago, Illinois which celebrates LGBT history and people.

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.

Documentary films

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 the Berlin International Film Festival on 11 February 2012. 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.

Kato met Roger Ross Williams shortly before his death and was an inspiration in the making of God Loves Uganda (2013), a documentary exploring connections between Christian evangelism in North America and in Uganda.

See also

In Spanish: David Kato para niños

• Abiding Truth Ministries
• LGBT rights in Uganda