Clare Byarugaba

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Hillary Rodham Clinton with 2011 Human Rights Defender Award recipients (cropped) - Clare Byarugaba.jpg

Clare Byarugaba is a Ugandan LGBT activist in Kampala who has spoken out against the government's anti-LGBT rhetoric. [1] She is the co-coordinator of the Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law. [2] In 2013, Byarugaba was set to start a Kampala chapter of PFLAG to support relatives of LGBT persons in a country whose president banned homosexuality. [1] After this ban, she was outed by a national tabloid that put her face on its cover, threatening her life. [3] In 2014, Byarugaba joined the Women in the World summit to share her personal story through the organization's mission to give women voice and agency. [3] Byarugaba was the 2014 Oak Fellow with the Oak Institute for the Study of International Human Rights at Colby College.

Personal life

Byarugaba was born and raised in southwestern Uganda. [1] When President Yoweri Museveni banned homosexuality in Uganda, Byarugaba's mother threatened to turn her into the police for being a lesbian. [4]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Pride & Prejudice: How African LGBT Activists are Risking Their Lives to Bring Tolerance to Their Homes". Essence.com. 2016-01-27. Retrieved 2016-06-21.
  2. "Ugandan LGBT Activists: 'We Have to Stay and Fight'". www.advocate.com. 2013-12-21. Retrieved 2016-06-21.
  3. 1 2 Romano, Andrew (2014-03-15). "At Women in the World, the Reality of Uganda's Brutal Gay Ban". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2016-06-21.
  4. "Ugandan gay rights activist says her own mother threatened to hand her into police over anti-gay laws". PinkNews. 16 March 2014. Retrieved 2016-06-21.