Last year, he sued the Ugandan weekly newspaper Rolling Stone after it listed him in an article on what it called Uganda’s *”top”* 100 gays and lesbians, alongside a yellow banner that read *”Hang Them.”* In the Ugandan capital of Kampala, Maria Burnett of Human Rights Watch said Kato was targeted for his activism.
Maria Burnett: *”David Kato was an outspoken member of the LGBT and human rights community of Uganda. He was a member of Sexual Minorities Uganda, an organization that had been among those in the lead for fighting against the proposed anti-homosexuality bill. He had traveled internationally. He had condemned the proposed legislation. He had spoken at public events about the problem of anti-homosexual rhetoric in Uganda. And his name and photograph had been published in the Rolling Stone publication with a sub-heading that said, ‘Hang Them.’ So, he had certainly been exposed in Uganda. He has been outspoken. And we remain very concerned about what might have led to his death.”*
Ugandan police say they are pursuing two suspects in Kato’s death.
