Gay Ugandan Activist Murdered

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One of the complainants against a Ugandan newspaper that published photos of “Top Homos” with the caption “HANG THEM” has been bludgeoned to death in Kampala. 

David Kato, activist for the organization Sexual Minorities Uganda, won a court case to stop the paper Rolling Stone (no relation to the American magazine) from publishing photos and addresses of alleged homosexuals earlier this month, after his face appeared on the front page.  

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, though the “kill” part of Uganda’s “kill the gays” bill is dead, Ugandan homosexuals are currently subject to sentences of up to 14 years in prison, and legislation to step that up to life in prison is still expected to go before parliament soon. But that’s not enough for some vigilantes, or Giles Muhame, the editor of Rolling Stone, who has promised to appeal the injunction. Muhame did not want the public to attack those whose pictures he published, the editor explained after the announcement of Kato’s murder. No, no, that would be soul-shreddingly awful. On the contrary: “We want the government to hang people who promote homosexuality.”

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