RELIGIOUS and POLITICAL LEADERS APPROVED OF THE SLAYING: LGBTI Ugandans have never been safe, but the threats are growing after the murder of David Kato...

Anglican Archbishop Henry Orombi/Uganda -- Deadly silent after the murder of Anglican David Kato

David Kato's Death has Galvanised Anti-LGBTI Sentiment in Uganda

¨Religious leaders here have approved the brutal slaying, a state lawmaker has proposed legislation that would require parents to report their homosexual children to police and a local newspaper has outed several suspected gays with the suggestion that they be hanged...


Kasha Jacqueline is the founder and director of Freedom and Roam Uganda (FARUG), the only exclusively lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersexual organization in Uganda

Ugandans’ response to the Kato slaying has created an almost palpable atmosphere of fear among homosexuals. Kato‘s former colleague at the rights group Freedom and Roam Uganda, Kasha Jacqueline, said she has turned off her phone because of an increase in death threats.

“We’ve never been safe, but the threats are growing,” she said, adding that institutions that would be expected to defend gays’ struggle for equality have distanced themselves from the cause.

The Uganda Human Rights Commission has found no compelling reason to take action amid rising hostility. “We don’t want to single out a group,” commission Chairman Med S.K. Kaggwa told The Washington Times. “When you start identifying with one group, you stop doing your job.”...

But anti-homosexual activists have seized on the Kato slaying as evidence that gays are conspiring to corrupt the family and are more prone to sexual abuse than heterosexuals.

“Homosexuals are killing our children,” said David Bahati, a member of parliament. “Theirs is an evil cause for corrupting our youth.”

“Kato‘s murder is bringing the national debate back to where it belongs,” he added.

Anglican and MP David Bahati, chief sponsor of ¨Kill the Gays¨ Bill pending before the Parliament of Uganda

Mr. Bahati is the chief sponsor of a bill that would make it a crime for a landlord to offer housing to a homosexual and require parents to report their homosexual children to authorities. (Homosexuality is illegal in more than 30 African countries, including Uganda.)

He brushes off criticism of his legislation by saying, “God is the author [of the bill]. I am just an instrument.”...

Mr. Bahati predicts his bill will pass after presidential elections this month.

Uganda‘s central government has issued no statements regarding Kato‘s death. HERE

Slaying of Gay Activist Spotlights Homophobia's Rise in Uganda

In this staunchly anti-homosexual country, Allen Mutebi has gotten used to moving -- five times within the last two years, to be exact.

"They suspect. They talk. Threats are made. I move on," shrugs Mutebi, a gay man who spoke on condition that his real name not be used because he feared for his safety.

The killing of gay right activist David Kato last month has reinforced anti-homosexual attitudes in Uganda.But following the killing of prominent gay rights activist David Kato two weeks ago, Mutebi plans to make one final move -- out of Uganda.

"What happened to Kato will happen to more and more people," he predicts.

The motive behind Kato's slaying is still under investigation. Police officials say it did not relate to Kato's sexuality; gay and lesbian activists suspect that it did.

Either way, Kato's death has put the national spotlight squarely on the subject of homosexuality.

Elsewhere, some high-profile murders of sexual minorities -- Matthew Shepard in the U.S., for instance -- became watersheds for greater tolerance. But here, Kato's death has reinforced anti-homosexual attitudes. HERE

· Thanks to African Activist, sidebar
· Thanks to Kasha Jacqueline, Kampala
· Thanks to The Washington Post
· Thanks to The Associated Press, Uganda
· Thanks to Ioannis Gatsiounis
· Thanks to AOL News
· Thanks to The Oslo Freedom Forum