National
Funeral of Ugandan gay leader marred by hostile priest
Murder prompts appeal to black, LGBT rights groups in U.S.
David Kato’s photo appeared on the cover of a Ugandan newspaper with a banner reading ‘hang them.’ He was later murdered.
American LGBT activists have joined a Ugandan gay leader in appealing to gay and mainline black civil rights organizations in the United States to take a vocal stand against conditions in Uganda that they say led to the Jan. 26 murder of a prominent gay advocate in his home near Kampala.
The activists spoke during a Jan. 28 telephone news conference in New York on the same day that an Anglican priest stunned friends and family members of slain Ugandan gay advocate David Kato by shouting at Kato’s burial service that homosexuality is “evil.”
According to a BBC News report, the priest, Thomas Musoke, declared before hundreds of people, “You must repent. Even animals know the difference between a male and a female.”
Reuters News Service reported that a scuffle broke out between Kato’s friends and nearby residents, who supported the priest’s remarks, prompting funeral workers to refuse to bury Kato’s coffin. Friends and family members completed the burial, Reuters reported.
Rev. Joseph Tolton, pastor of the Harlem-based Rehoboth Temple Christ Conscious Church in New York and an organizer of the Jan. 28 news conference, said a coalition of mostly African-American LGBT organizations and faith-based groups are encouraging U.S. civil rights and religious leaders to speak out more forcefully on anti-gay bias in Uganda.
“It’s an appeal to the mainline black civil rights organizations that we’ve had really good conversations with,” he said. “It’s an appeal to black industry. It’s an appeal to the LGBT African-American community and then an appeal to the boarder black community. And it’s definitely an appeal to the black faith community as well.”
Tolton was joined at the news conference by Frank Mugisha, chair of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), the group for which Kato served as outreach advocate and deputy director.
Mugisha arrived in the U.S. last month to work with Tolton and other U.S. LGBT advocates to draw attention to the hostile conditions in Uganda for LGBT people and to build opposition to a pending bill in the Uganda Parliament calling for increased legal restrictions against homosexuality, including a possible death penalty for certain sexual acts.
Kato was found bludgeoned to death inside his home in a village about 20 miles outside Kampala on Jan. 26.
The murder came less than a year after Kato sued a Ugandan newspaper for publishing his photo, name and address – along with photos and identifying information of other known gays – under a headline that said, “Hang them.”
Ugandan police have said a preliminary investigation indicates Kato was killed during a robbery and that the incident was not related to his sexual orientation. Authorities said late last week that they arrested one suspect in the case and were looking for a second suspect that they said had been living in Kato’s house.
Members of SMUG expressed skepticism over the police reports. Activists with the group say they believe Kato was targeted because of his role as a gay leader at a time when politicians and many news media outlets in Uganda were waging a vocal campaign condemning homosexuality.
His murder also took place as the country debates whether its parliament should pass a proposed law calling for tightening existing restrictions against homosexuality, with a possible death penalty for people engaging in homosexual acts. Human Rights advocates have dubbed the legislation the “kill the gays” bill.
President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton issued statements expressing sadness over Kato’s death and called on Uganda to thoroughly investigate the murder and bring the perpetrators to justice.
“In Uganda, David showed tremendous courage in speaking out against hate,” Obama said in a Jan. 27 statement. “He was a powerful advocate for fairness and freedom. The United States mourns his murder, and we recommit ourselves to David’s work.”
Clinton, in a statement released the same day as the president’s statement, called on Ugandan authorities to “quickly and thoroughly investigate and prosecute those responsible for this heinous act.”
Clinton noted that Kato played a leading role prompting Uganda’s Human Rights Commission to release a statement saying the proposed legislation against homosexuality violated the country’s constitution. She noted that Kato won his court case in a Jan. 2 ruling by Uganda’s highest court holding that newspapers could not violate privacy rights of gay people by publishing personal information about them.
“His tragic death underscores how critical it is that both the government and the people of Uganda, along with the international community, speak out against discrimination, harassment, and intimidation of Uganda’s LGBT community,” Clinton said.
Other groups participating in the news conference and making appeals for U.S. support for LGBT Ugandans were Global Justice Institute, Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD); GLO TV Network; BGM Network; GBM News; Metropolitan Community Church of New York; GayByGod.net; Rehoboth Temple; and The Fellowship.
Tolton called on LGBT advocates and their supporters in the U.S. to contact their representatives in Congress to alert them to the pending anti-gay legislation in Uganda and urge them to speak out against it.
He also called on U.S. advocates to consider providing financial support to SMUG, whose leaders he said are risking their own lives in their fight for justice for LGBT people in Uganda.
Tolton said online contributions can be made through www.GayByGod.net, an LGBT supportive faith-based website.
A press release posted on the website of the Embassy of Uganda in Washington, D.C. says Ugandan authorities believe “aggravated robbery” was the motive behind David Kato’s murder.
The press release says police are “actively searching” for the suspect still at large, who they describe as the “main suspect” and someone who was “formerly residing with and in the employment of Mr. Kato.”
“There are no indications that Mr. Kato’s campaign against the anti-homosexuality bill which was before Parliament of Uganda, or any other actions as a gay activist, were contributing factors in his death,” the release says. “The Uganda police [are] committed to thoroughly investigating this incident, as well as any other murder, and shall bring the perpetrators to justice.”
South Carolina
Man faces first S.C. ‘hate intimidation’ charge
Timothy Truett allegedly shot at gay club in Myrtle Beach on April 1
A South Carolina man remains in custody on a more than $300,000 bond after he allegedly opened fire at a Myrtle Beach nightclub on April 1, according to WMBF.
Reports say 37-year-old Timothy James Truett Jr., of Clover, S.C., was detained by the Myrtle Beach Police Department after the April 1 incident outside Pulse Ultra Club. He was later arrested and charged with possession of a weapon during a violent crime, discharging a firearm into a dwelling, discharging a firearm within city limits, malicious injury to real property valued over $5,000, and assault or intimidation due to political opinions or the exercise of civil rights.
At 10:57 a.m. on April 1, officers responded to a call about a possible shooting at Pulse Ultra Club, located in the 2700 block of South Kings Highway.
In an affidavit released later, the club’s owner, Ken Phillips, said he was doing paperwork that morning when he heard “five or six” gunshots. He went outside and found a window and the windshield of his SUV shattered by bullets. An SUV with blue plastic covering one window was left at the scene.
Police later reviewed footage that showed a silver vehicle stopping in the middle of the road. The video appeared to capture muzzle flashes coming from the passenger-side window.
According to the affidavit, an officer later pulled over a vehicle driven by Truett and found spent shell casings in the back seat, along with a gun.
Documents do not detail why Truett was ultimately charged under the state law covering assault or intimidation tied to political opinions or the exercise of civil rights.
As of April 1, records show Truett is being held in Horry County on a combined bond of more than $312,000.
WMBF spoke with Phillips after the incident and asked whether there was any prior conflict that might have led to the shooting.
“I don’t know if it’s personal, I don’t know if it’s related to being gay, I don’t know if it’s related to the bar issues,” Phillips told WMBF. “Anybody with a mindset of pulling out a weapon in broad daylight is not right.”
“My primary concern has and always will be the safety of my community and my customers,” he added. “It’s given me great concern … as to how far people will go.”
WMBF also spoke with Adam Hayes, vice chair of Myrtle Beach’s Human Rights Coalition, who was involved in pushing for the ordinance. He said that while the incident itself is troubling, it shows the policy is being put to use.
The ordinance is intended to deter “crimes that are motivated by bias or hate towards any person or persons, in whole or in part, because of the actual or perceived” identity, in the absence of a statewide hate crime law.
“It’s nice to see that something we put into policy is not just a piece of paper, that it’s actually being used,” said Hayes.
He said the shooting underscores the need for a statewide hate crime law in South Carolina and added that the incident has left the local LGBTQ community shaken.
South Carolina and Wyoming are the only two states in the U.S. without a comprehensive statewide hate crime law.
Truett remains in jail as of publication.
The White House
Trump budget would codify expanded global gag rule
Funding for LGBTQ health programs around the world would also be cut
The Trump-Vance administration’s fiscal year 2027 budget would codify the expanded global gag rule and eliminate funding for LGBTQ-specific programs in global health initiatives.
“The budget would ensure no funding supports abortion, unfettered access to birth control, and also eliminates funding for circumcision and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer services to better focus funds on life-saving assistance,” reads the proposed budget the White House released on April 3. “The United States should not pay for the world’s birth control and therapy.”
The proposed budget includes four examples of “eliminated activities.”
- In the last administration, PEPFAR funded health workers who performed over 21 abortions in Mozambique
- Promoting reproductive health education and access to birth control and other harmful programs couched under ‘family planning’ in Ghana
- A supply chain “control tower” to provide a “holistic commercial of the shelf solution” on the Office of Population and Reproductive Health (PRH)
- Promoting health equity and providing condoms and contraception in Kenya.
President Ronald Reagan in 1985 implemented the global gag rule, also known as the “Mexico City” policy, which bans U.S. foreign aid for groups that support abortion and/or offer abortion-related services.
Trump reinstated the rule during his first administration. The Biden-Harris administration shortly after it took office in January 2021 rescinded it.
The Trump-Vance White House earlier this year expanded the global gag rule to ban U.S. foreign aid for groups that promote “gender ideology.” The expansion took effect on Feb. 26.
US funding cuts have devastated global LGBTQ rights movement
The Trump-Vance administration after it took office in January 2025 moved to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development, which funded LGBTQ and intersex rights groups around the world. USAID officially shut down on July 1, 2025.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio in March 2025 announced the State Department would administer the 17 percent of USAID contracts that had not been cancelled. Rubio issued a waiver that allowed PEPFAR and other “life-saving humanitarian assistance” programs to continue to operate during the U.S. foreign aid freeze the White House announced shortly after it took office.
The global LGBTQ and intersex rights movement has lost more than an estimated $50 million in funding because of these cuts. The Washington Blade has previously reported PEPFAR-funded programs in Kenya and other African countries have been forced to suspend services and even shut down.
The Trump-Vance administration has signed healthcare-specific agreements with Kenya, Uganda, and other African countries through its American First Global Health Strategy. Advocacy groups with whom the Blade has spoken have expressed concern these partnerships will result in further exclusion and government-sanctioned discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
The proposed fiscal year 2027 budget includes $5.1 billion for “global health to end the previous administration’s abuse of these programs and to execute (the State Department’s) newly released America First Global Health Strategy.” This figure represents a $4.3 billion cut from the previous year.
“The president’s new vision of bilateral health assistance eliminates bloated Beltway Bandit contracts, does more with fewer dollars, and transitions recipient countries to self-reliance,” reads the proposed budget. “The budget would also eliminate disease-specific accounts and provide the department crucial agility to address the actual needs of each recipient country — across HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, and polio — to strengthen global health security and protect Americans from disease.”
“The budget would focus on new compacts that unify funding, achieving economies of scale in both implementation and oversight,” it adds. “Under the prior administration, only about 40 percent of PEPFAR funds supported actual service delivery, including medications, testing, commodities, and health workers, with the remaining 60 percent wasted on duplicative administrative costs, unwieldy supply chains, and layers of endless bureaucracy. The new AFGHS (America First Global Health Strategy) compacts would improve efficiency, cut red tape, and dismantle the bloated ecosystem of foreign assistance profiteers.”
The Council for Global Equality on April 3 reiterated its criticism of the expanded global gag rule, and urged Congress to reject the proposed budget.
“We won’t mince words: people are dying because of this policy,” said the Council for Global Equality in a statement. “Making this policy permanent will only ensure that U.S. foreign assistance discriminates against those who need services the most, all while forcing people around the world to adhere to the Trump administration’s extremist, ideological agenda that denies the very existence of transgender, nonbinary, and intersex persons.”
“We will not be silent as Trump threatens to upend decades of bipartisan foreign assistance programs to appease his extremist base,” added the group. “We call on Congress to immediately reject this budget and block implementation of the expanded global gag rules.”
Vice President JD Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, will visit Hungary next week.
An announcement the White House released on Thursday said the Vances will be in Budapest, the Hungarian capital, from April 7-8.
JD Vance “will hold bilateral meetings with” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The announcement further indicates the vice president “will also deliver remarks on the rich partnership between the United States and Hungary.”
The Vances will travel to Hungary less than a week before the country’s parliamentary elections take place on April 12.
Orbán, who has been in office since 2010, and his Fidesz-KDNP coalition government have faced widespread criticism over its anti-LGBTQ crackdown.
The Associated Press notes polls indicate Orbán is trailing Péter Magyar and his center-right Tisza party.
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