Maddow: Kato Murder An American Story

Rachel Maddow presented a segment Friday about the murder of Ugandan gay rights activist David Kato, a crime that she calls “an American story” because of U.S. evangelical leaders' promotion of deadly homophobia in the country.

The MSNBC host reviewed the circumstances of the Kato murder, the pending bill to impose the death penalty on gay people, and the connections to American evangelical leaders who preach that gay people can be “cured” in visits to Uganda, a country heavily dependent on foreign aid, including more than $500 million from the United States.

“If you show up in another country and you call yourself an expert and you sell this notion that gay people can get over being gay, then people in that country who are inclined to believe that might also believe that they can force their gay citizens to change into straight ones. They can force them, maybe, under the threat of execution,” said Maddow.

Watch the video.

Advocates around the world continue to mourn the loss of Kato and call for justice in the investigation of his murder late last month. On Monday evening in New York City, a memorial will be held at the Abyssinian Baptist Church, a prominent Baptist congregation in Harlem led by the Rev. Calvin Butts. The chairman of the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS has condemned the murder.