A scuffle erupted yesterday at the funeral of a murdered Ugandan gay rights activist after the presiding priest charged that homosexuality is “evil and will be punished by God.”

“You must repent. Even the animals know the difference between a male and a female,” Anglican priest Thomas Musoke told mourners at the funeral of David Kato who was killed Wednesday at his home outside the capital Kampala.

“How can human beings claim they don’t know the difference between a man and a woman and that the two have different roles?” said Fr Musoke, to shouts of support by some in the gathering.

Fr Musoke’s role was already unwelcome to some mourners and his lengthy sermon that crescendoed with gay bashing riled the leader of the Sexual Minorities Group in Uganda, Julian Pepe, who pulled the microphone from the priest, sparking a scuffle.

Police moved in to quell the melee and whisked away the priest. An excommunicated priest then wound up the ceremony attended by around 200 people, including US deputy head of mission Virginia Blaser.

Several members of Uganda’s gay community who attended Kato’s funeral wore T-shirts reading “Alluta Continua” – The Struggle Continues.