The burial of Ugandan gay rights activist David Kato Kasule on Friday took an unexpected twist. After many praising speeches and a personal message from US president Barack Obama, a local pastor suddenly started to accuse the homosexual community of being evildoers, going against God’s wishes.

By Arne Doornebal, Kampala

Kato Kasule was murdered on Wednesday at his home in the Ugandan capital Kampala.

Hate speech
The pastor, who was speaking in Luganda, the local dialect, got many to start crying with disgust with his hate speech. Eventually, he was stopped by gay activists present at the burial ceremony. Dozens of them had come to pay homage to their fallen friend. They came from South-Africa, Kenya but also from Europe and the USA.

For a moment, the event almost got out of hand when villagers came to support the anti-gay pastor. People started to voice their anger and push each other around, while the pastor decided to hide himself. “We came here to bury, not to fight,” one of the attending gay activists said.

Upset
People are upset and sad about the murder of the gay right activist on Wednesday at his home in Kampala. It is said that a man entered Kato's home and struck him on the head before fleeing. The police are focusing on two potential suspects. Rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that Kato died on his way to a local hospital.

Kato who was an activist with Sexual Minorities Uganda, was featured three months earlier in the anti-gay tabloid Rolling Stone in a story that called on readers to "hang" gay rights advocates.

“David was a real patriot, he stood upfront in the battle against gay discrimination,” says one of Uganda’s leading gay activists, Long Jones. “He was a real example for us, a man with a big heart.”

History books
Police say he was murdered in a robbery, but Kato’s fellow activists disagree. “Does the police really want us to believe this is not a hate-crime, after his photo was on the front-page of the paper just three months ago?,” Ugandan professor Sylvia Tamale asked in an angry speech.

“Later we will read in our history books about him,” said the prominent professor who has been supporting minority rights for many years.

Besides two local police officers, not a single Ugandan official attended the burial. Several diplomatic missions to Uganda did send their delegations, including the Dutch, Germans and Americans. They brought with them a letter of condolence from US president Barack Obama. It said in the letter that he was ‘deeply saddened’ by Kasule’s death and he calls on the Ugandan government to hold the killers accountable.

Laid to rest
After the incident with the pastor, which put a stain on the whole ceremony, Kasule’s coffin was carried by gay activists to the banana garden behind his ancestral home for burial. In protest, the villagers and some of Kasule’s family members stayed behind.

Bishop Ssenyonjo, who was excommunicated from the Anglican church for supporting homosexuals, pronounced the last words. “It is unfortunate that we have just seen there is still a lot of discrimination. Some in the gay community therefore fear to go to church, but please don’t be discouraged. No matter whether you are homosexual or straight, if you believe in God you will always go to heaven.”