This article contains text that is written in a promotional tone .(May 2021) |
Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera | |
---|---|
Born | c. 1980 (age 42–43) |
Nationality | Ugandan |
Occupation | LGBT rights activist |
Organization | Freedom & Roam Uganda |
Awards | Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, Right Livelihood Award |
Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera (also known as Jacqueline Kasha) (born c. 1980) [1] is a Ugandan LGBT rights activist and the founder and executive director of the LGBT rights organization Freedom & Roam Uganda (FARUG). [2] [3] She received the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in 2011 [4] and the Right Livelihood Award in 2015. [5]
Nabagesera attended several schools after being continually suspended and expelled due to her sexual orientation, as it was discovered that she wrote love letters to other girls; [6] she attended Gayaza Junior School, Maryhill High School, Mariam High School, and Namasagali College. At Nkumba University, she studied accounting and earned a bachelor's degree in business administration, [6] and in 2004 she took a degree course in information technology and a certificate in marketing from the New Vision Group in Kampala. In 2005, she enrolled at Human Rights Education Associates, a human rights education and global training center for distance learners based in Massachusetts, USA. In 2006, she completed a certificate in journalism at the Johannesburg Media School, where she trained students from African countries such as Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Uganda in activism. In 2008, she was certified to "train the trainers" by the Frontline Human Rights Defenders in Dublin, Ireland. [7]
In 1999, she campaigned to end homophobia in Uganda, where homosexuality is illegal. [9]
In 2010, Ugandan newspaper Rolling Stone published names and photos of people believed to be homosexual, with the headline "Hang Them". It listed Nabagesera and her colleague David Kato, [9] both of whom sued the tabloid and set a benchmark for human rights in Uganda. [10] [ clarification needed ] Nabagesera explained it set a precedence as an attempt to protect “privacy and the safety we all have against incitements to violence”. [11] Kato was later killed following the legal battle with the publication. [9]
Nabagasera has continued the fight for gay rights in Uganda. Under FARUG, she has fought to decriminalize homosexuality in Uganda by circumventing the Ugandan anti-homosexuality bill. She refers to it as a Nuremberg law that mandates stiff sentences ranging from prison sentences to the death penalty, which also rules that citizens who do not report homosexuals to the authorities can face up to three years in jail. [12]
In 2011, Nabagesera was said to be the only founding member of the LGBT movement from the 90s still living in Uganda. [13] [14] She spoke at the 2017 WorldPride summit in Madrid, and led a discussion about LGBTQIA+ in Africa with Najma Kousri from Tunisia, South African Yahia Zaidi, Alimi Bisi Ademola from Nigeria, and Michèle Ndoki from Cameroon. [8]
Nabagesera tried to adopt a child in Uganda, as the adoption process does not use sexuality as a bar to adoption in Uganda, but she was told that she could not adopt because she "wasn't palatable". [15]
In 2013 Nabagesera founded a magazine, Bombastic, with writing from LGBT Ugandans about the discrimination they had experienced. [16]
In May 2017, Nabagesera was arrested in Rwanda upon arrival at Kigali International Airport before being deported to Uganda. Police claimed the arrest was for drunkenness and gross misconduct, while Nabagesera claimed it was prompted by political motivation. [17]
Nabagesera has received international recognition for her work as an activist.
Velvetpark magazine, an international queer women's magazine, described her as a "Braveheart” and voted her the most inspiring queer woman in the world in 2010. [18]
In 2011, Nabagesera was named in the centenary celebration of International Women's Day. That same year she was a guest speaker at the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. [19] Nabagesera was listed among the 50 most inspiring Feminist Women in Africa in 2011 and is the first gay rights activist to receive the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders. [2] [20] According to Michelle Kagari of Amnesty International, the award "recognises [Nabagesera's] tremendous courage in the face of discrimination and violence against LGBT people in Uganda. Her passion to promote equality and her tireless work to end a despicable climate of fear is an inspiration to LGBT activists the world over ..." [21]
In November 2011, she was awarded the Rafto Prize in Bergen, Norway, with Sexual Minorities Uganda, an umbrella organization that she co-founded in 2004.
In February 2013, Nabagesera was given the Honorary Award of QX magazine in Stockholm, Sweden. That same year in April, she received the James Joyce Award from the University College Dublin, the Sean McBride Award from Amnesty International Dublin, the Civil Courage Prize in Berlin, the International Activist of the Year Award for the GALAS (Gay and Lesbian Awards, organised by the National Lesbian and Gay Federation of Ireland), and the Nuremberg International Human Rights Award.
In 2015, she won the Right Livelihood Awards for her "courage and persistence, despite violence and intimidation, in working for the right of LGBTI people to a life free from prejudice and persecution". [5]
In April 2019, Nabagesera was presented with the Bonham Centre Award from The Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies, University of Toronto, for her contributions to the advancement and education of issues surrounding sexual identification. [22]
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people living in Rwanda face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. While neither homosexuality nor homosexual acts are illegal, homosexuality is considered a taboo topic, and there is no significant public discussion of this issue in any region of the country and LGBT persons face stigmatization among the broader population. No special legislative protections are afforded to LGBT citizens, and same-sex marriages are not recognized by the state, as the Constitution of Rwanda provides that "[o]nly civil monogamous marriage between a man and a woman is recognized". LGBT Rwandans have reported being harassed, blackmailed, and even arrested by the police under various laws dealing with public order and morality.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Uganda face severe legal challenges, active discrimination, state persecution and stigmatisation not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female homosexual activity is illegal in Uganda.
With the exception of South Africa and Cape Verde, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Africa are limited in comparison to the Americas, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Out of the 55 states recognised by the United Nations or African Union or both, the International Gay and Lesbian Association stated in 2015 that homosexuality is outlawed in 34 African countries. Human Rights Watch notes that another two countries, Benin and the Central African Republic, do not outlaw homosexuality, but have certain laws which discriminate against homosexual individuals. Many of the laws that criminalize homosexuality are colonial-era laws.
The Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014 was an act passed by the Parliament of Uganda on 20 December 2013, which prohibited sexual relations between persons of the same sex. The act was previously called the "Kill the Gays bill" in the western mainstream media due to death penalty clauses proposed in the original version, but the penalty was later amended to life imprisonment. The bill was signed into law by the President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni on 24 February 2014. On 1 August 2014, however, the Constitutional Court of Uganda ruled the act invalid on procedural grounds.
Alice Nkom is a Cameroonian lawyer, well known for her advocacy towards decriminalization of homosexuality in Cameroon. She studied law in Toulouse and has been a lawyer in Douala since 1969. At the age of 24, she was the first black French-speaking woman called to the bar in Cameroon.
Rolling Stone was a weekly tabloid newspaper published in Kampala, Uganda. The paper published its first issue on 23 August 2010, under the direction of 22-year-old Giles Muhame and two classmates from Kampala's Makerere University. According to Muhame, the paper's title was derived from the local word enkurungu: "It's a metaphor for something that strikes with lightning speed, that can kill someone if it is thrown at them." The paper was small, with a circulation of approximately 2000 copies. It suspended publication in November 2010 after the High Court ruled that it had violated the fundamental rights of LGBT Ugandans by attempting to out them and calling for their deaths. One of those listed, David Kato, was subsequently murdered.
Christopher Senyonjo is a clergyman and campaigner for LGBT rights in Uganda. He was elevated to bishop in the Church of Uganda in 1974 and retired in 1998. In 2001, he was barred from performing services. Whilst it is widely claimed that this is because of his stance on gay rights, the church claims that it was because of his participation in the consecration of a man to be a bishop of a church with which the Church of Uganda is not in communion. He has since worked with the Charismatic Church of Uganda and the progressive Episcopal Church of the United States, and founded Integrity Uganda and the Saint Paul's Reconciliation and Equality Centre in Kampala. In 2006 the Church of Uganda declared him "no longer a bishop" and revoked all remaining privileges for his involvement with the Charismatic denomination. For his stance Senyonjo has received several honours including the Clinton Global Citizen Award, and has been invited to participate in documentaries and international speaking tours.
Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) is an umbrella non-governmental organization based in Kampala, Uganda. It has been described as the country's leading gay rights advocacy group.
David Kato Kisule was a Ugandan teacher and LGBT rights activist, considered a father of Uganda's gay rights movement and described as "Uganda's first openly gay man". He served as advocacy officer for Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG).
The majority of the countries of the Commonwealth of Nations, formerly known as the British Commonwealth, still criminalise sexual acts between consenting adults of the same sex and other forms of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression. Homosexual activity remains a criminal offence in 32 of the 56 sovereign states of the Commonwealth; and legal in only 24.
Frank Mugisha is a Ugandan LGBT advocate and Executive Director of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), who has won the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award and Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize 2011 for his activism. Mugisha is one of the most prominent advocates for LGBT rights in Uganda.
Freedom and Roam Uganda (FARUG) is a human rights organization that addresses discrimination against lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LBTIQ) people in Uganda.
Call Me Kuchu is a 2012 American documentary film directed by Malika Zouhali-Worrall and Katherine Fairfax Wright. The film explores the struggles of the LGBT community in Uganda, focusing in part on the 2011 murder of LGBT activist David Kato.
Pepe Julian Onziema is a Ugandan LGBT rights and human rights defender and trans man. He began his human rights work in 2003. He has since participated in organizing LGBT pride celebrations in Uganda.
John "Longjones" Abdallah Wambere is a Ugandan gay rights activist and co-founder of Spectrum Uganda Initiatives, a Kampala-based LGBTI rights advocacy organization with a focus on health education. Because of the threat of violence and persecution he faces in Uganda, Wambere was approved for asylum in the United States by the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services on September 11, 2014. He currently resides in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Maurice Tomlinson is a Jamaican lawyer, law professor, and gay rights activist currently living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He has been a leading gay rights and HIV activist in the Caribbean for over 20 years and is one of the only Jamaican advocates to challenge the country's 1864 British colonially-imposed anti gay Sodomy Law. This law predominantly affects men who have sex with men (MSM) and carries a possible jail sentence of up to ten years imprisonment with hard labour.
Richard Lusimbo is a Ugandan LGBT activist, documentary filmmaker, and public speaker who gained international attention when he was outed in a Ugandan tabloid newspaper for being gay.
Capital punishment as a criminal punishment for homosexuality has been implemented by a number of countries in their history. It currently remains a legal punishment in several countries and regions, most of which have sharia–based criminal laws except for Uganda.
This is a timeline of notable events in the history of non-heterosexual conforming people of African ancestry, who may identify as LGBTIQGNC, men who have sex with men, or related culturally specific identities. This timeline includes events both in Africa, the Americas and Europe and in the global African diaspora, as the histories are very deeply linked.
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