Last Updated on January 26, 2024 by Kittredge Cherry
David Kato, Ugandan LGBTQ rights activist, is considered a father of Uganda’s gay rights movement. He was beaten to death on Jan. 26, 2011 in a case that some blame on anti-gay religious rhetoric.
The anniversary of his death has become an annual event called Kuchu Memorial Day, honoring Kato and others lost due to homophobia and transphobia. “Kuchu” is a term used in Uganda for LGBTQ people.
The portrait at the top of this post was displayed at Kuchu Memorial Day services. Anyone who knows the name of the artist is asked to contact Q Spirit or share it here as a comment. The portrait shows Kato giving a backward glance against a rainbow backdrop like the LGBTQ Pride flag.
It is especially important to carry on Kato’s legacy now with battles over legal rights for LGBTQ people in many places across the Africa. Laws against homosexuality made news in Africa countries such as Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria and Gambia. (See links at the end of this article.)
David Kato (Wikipedia)
The same horrific pattern continued about a decade later. Ugandan LGBTQ activist Brian Wasswa was brutally attacked in his home in Jinja and died a day later on Oct. 5, 2019, at age 28. The gay, gender nonconforming activist was murdered as the Ugandan government was threatening to reconsider its infamous 2014 “Kill the Gays” bill imposing the death penalty for homosexuality. Wasswa was a paralegal professional and the focal person for the Children of the Sun Foundation, which provides health, legal, economic empowerment and shelter services to vulnerable LGBTIQ+ people in Uganda.
David Kato is arrested after coming out in a picture from “Heavenly Homos, Etc.: Queer Icons from LGBTQ Life, Religion, and History” by Jan Haen, a Dutch artist and priest who ministered in South Africa. He includes many scenes from Kato’s life that are rarely if ever portrayed by artists.
Many have heard of the 45 Ugandan Martyrs who were killed for their Christian faith and canonized as saints. Kato and Wasswa can be seen as a new kind of Ugandan martyr, killed for the cause of LGBTQ equality.
American evangelicals helped stir up the hostility that led to Kato’s death because they promoted a law imposing the death penalty for homosexuality. The influence of the US evangelical movement in promoting the anti-homosexuality law is explored in the award-winning 2013 documentary “God Loves Uganda.” Watch the trailer below or on YouTube.
Kato was born into the Kisule clan in their ancestral village in central Uganda, so he is sometimes called David Kato Kisule. Shortly before his murder, Kato won a lawsuit against a Ugandan magazine for identifying him as gay and calling for his execution. Kato’s murderer was sentenced to 30 years in prison, but the anti-gay motive for the murder was covered up in the trial.
A documentary about Kato, “Call Me Kuchu,” premiered in 2012 at the Berlin Film Festival. Watch the trailer for the video below.
Call Me Kuchu – Trailer from Call Me Kuchu on Vimeo.
Below is a news video about Kato from “The Rachel Maddow Show.” It includes scenes from Kato’s funeral, where Ugandan clergy speak both for and against LGBTQ rights, and David’s own voice in an NPR interview about homosexuality in Uganda.
David Kato in art
David Kato has caught the eye of many artists, including Jan Haen, whose work appears earlier in this post. Australian artist Rod Byatt drew a stark portrait of David Kato. Its unfinished quality conveys the sense of a life cut short. Byatt posted it on his blog **gasp!** (Gay Artists’ Sketchbook Project) with a reflection that begins, “We grieve over the loss of David Kato. We know that being gay is anathema to Family, Church and State, and increasingly The Media…” Byatt is part of the Urban Sketching movement that seeks to link personal identity to broader social issues.
David Kato prayers
On the anniversary of his murder, may those who honor David Kato’s legacy continue to work for justice and equality for all. May he find peace with all the other LGBTQ martyrs and saints who have gone before.
Q Spirit’s Litany of Queer Saints includes this line:
“Saint David Kato, Ugandan activist and resilient martyr, pray for us.”
Related books
“Reimagining Christianity and Sexual Diversity in Africa” by Adriaan van Klinken and Ezra Chitando.
LGBTQ Africans find support from progressive Christianity as revealed by 10 case studies. They show how African activists, thinkers and movements are adapting Christianity to promote justice for LGBTQ people. Christianity is usually dismissed as an anti-LGBTQ force in Africa, but this well-researched book breaks stereotypes, counterbalances secular LGBTQ approaches and powerfully decolonizes queer theory, theology and politics. Van Klinken is professor of religion and African studies at the University of Leeds, and extraordinary professor at the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice, University of the Western Cape. He is also co-author of another 2021 book: “Sacred Queer Stories: Ugandan LGBTQ+ Refugee Lives and the Bible,” published by Boydell and Brewer. Chitando is religion professor at the University of Zimbabwe and theology consultant on HIV/AIDS for the World Council of Churches. Published by Oxford University Press, 2021.
Hope for change is expressed in the 2016 book “In Defense of All God’s Children: The Life and Ministry of Bishop Christopher Senyonjo.” It is the life story of Uganda’s bishop who advocated for LGBTQ rights. He is featured in the film “God Loves Uganda.” After his retirement as an Anglican bishop in 1998, Senyonjo started a counseling practice. His compassion and understanding of human sexuality soon attracted LGBTQ clients. His faith compelled him to speak out against Uganda’s proposed death penalty and other harsh policies for LGBTQ people, risking his life for justice. Now at age 83, he has written a highly readable memoir revealing the unlikely and inspiring path that led him to international activism for LGBTQ rights in Uganda, in the Anglican communion, and around the world.
“Kenyan, Christian, Queer: Religion, LGBT Activism, and Arts of Resistance in Africa” by Adriaan van Klinken
“Christianity and Controversies over Homosexuality in Contemporary Africa” by Ezra Chitando and Adriaan van Klinken (Editors)
“Heterosexual Africa?: The History of an Idea from the Age of Exploration to the Age of AIDS” (book) by Marc Epprecht
“Freedom To Love For ALL: Homosexuality is not Un-African” (book) by Yemisi Ilesanmi
“American Culture Warriors in Africa: A Guide to the Exporters of Homophobia and Sexism” by Rev. Dr. Kapya Kaoma
“Boy-Wives and Female Husbands: Studies of African Homosexualities” (book) by Will Roscoe
Links related to David Kato and LGBTQ Africa
Portrait of David Kato by Random Salmon
David Kato Kisule at the Legacy Project
In Uganda, a “Fearless Voice” for Gay Rights is Brutally Silenced (Wild Reed Blog)
David Kato: A new Ugandan martyr (Queer Saints and Martyrs – And Others)
Martyrs of Uganda (Walking with Integrity Blog)
Q Spirit articles related to LGBTQ Africa
Patrick Leuben Mukajnga (Mleuben Maccarthy), Ugandan pastor and LGBTQ activist
Trinidad Jerry / Chriton Atuhwera: LGBTQ Ugandan activist killed by homophobic attack (Q Spirit)
Sally Gross: Intersex South African priest led legal reform after being defrocked
Desmond Tutu: Anti-apartheid Archbishop who stood for LGBTQ equality
FannyAnn Eddy: Lesbian martyr in Africa (Q Spirit)
Uganda Martyrs raise questions on homosexuality, religion and LGBTQ rights (Q Spirit)
Saint Walatta Petros: African nun shared a lifetime bond with a female partner in 17th-century (Q Spirit)
Dholuo Rainbow Christ Prayer highlights Africa: “Kristo Lihundu, Alam” (Q Spirit)
News reports on LGBTQ laws in Africa
Africa: Barrage of discriminatory laws stoking hate against LGBTI persons (Amnesty International, Jan. 9, 2024)
Clergy keeps off as LGBTQ activist Edwin Chiloba is laid to rest (Nairobi News, Jan. 17, 2023)
Botswana decriminalises homosexuality in landmark ruling (BBC 2019)
Report: Anti-LGBT persecution increased under Uganda law (Washington Blade 2016)
Mapping anti-gay laws in Africa (Amnestry International)
Uganda planning new anti-gay law despite opposition (BBC.com, 2014)
Another African nation to enact anti-gay law (Gambia) (msnbc.com, 2014)
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Top image credit:
Portrait of David Kato from Kuchu Memorial Day services, artist unknown.
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This post is part of the LGBTQ Saints series by Kittredge Cherry. Traditional and alternative saints, people in the Bible, LGBTQ martyrs, authors, theologians, religious leaders, artists, deities and other figures of special interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people and our allies are covered.
This article was originally published on Q Spirit in January 2017, was expanded with new material over time, and was most recently updated on Jan. 26, 2024.
Copyright © Kittredge Cherry. All rights reserved.
Qspirit.net presents the Jesus in Love Blog on LGBTQ spirituality.
Thanks for those beautiful words about David Kato. He for sure is a real hero for so many of us.