Cleopatra Kambugu Kentaro

Last updated

Cleopatra Kambugu Kentaro
Born1984 (age 39–40)
Bakuli, Uganda
Nationality Ugandan
Education
Occupation Human rights activist
Website Cleopatra Kambugu on LinkedIn

Cleopatra Kambugu Kentaro is a Ugandan transgender woman and human rights activist, advocating for equality and social justice with particular focus on sex workers and gender non-conforming communities. Kentaro is recognised for her advocacy and was featured in the 2016 award-winning feature-length documentary The Pearl of Africa. [1]

Contents

Early life

Cleopatra Kambugu Kentaro was born in 1984. [2] She grew up with 11 siblings in Bakuli, a suburb on the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda. During her childhood, she experienced hardships among her peers as she transitioned into a transgender girl. [2]

It is worth noting the stigma surrounding gender nonconformity in Africa. Most notably, the word transgender is absent in the local Ugandan language, Luganda. Many transgender Ugandans have been abused or driven out of their homes, most of the time by their own families. Because of this, the Ugandan transgender community often must exist underground. [3]

Career

The struggle for LGBT rights here in East Africa is very particular to our conditions; we’re fighting in a whole different context. We don’t talk about sex in Africa, so breaking down the stigma of being lesbian, gay or bisexual is tough. It’s what made the HIV struggle so difficult.

— Cleopatra Kambugu Kentaro, Huck magazine interview, 2016

Cleo obtained a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (crop pathology, biotech, and genetics) at the Makerere University Kampala College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. [4]

She advocates for open discussion of gender and sexuality. [1] [5] She works as a Director of Programmes for the East African Sexual Health and Rights Initiative (UHAI EASHRI), supporting the sexuality, health, and human rights of minorities. [6] Kentaro initially joined as Programmes Assistant, but has risen to become the Grant Administrator, where she is tasked with back door grants management. [7] Her work has grown the grant making docket substantially since she joined. [8] [4] Kentaro is also a member on the Astraea Lesbian Foundation's activist advisory Board, [4] where she brings an activist and philanthropist perspective. [8]

In addition, Kentaro works as a program officer with the Trans Support Initiative Uganda (TSIU), an organization that fights for social justice for transgender, intersex, and gender non-conforming citizens. Due to the stigma surrounding transgender people and other LGBTQIA+ people, the organization has very few members. In 2013, there were only 45 people working with the TSIU. [3]

Kentaro earned a Masters of Science in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from the Makerere University College of Veterinary Medicine Animal Resources and Biosecurity. She has worked on several different projects with the National Biotechnology Centre and the National Agricultural Crop Resources Research Institute, mostly focusing on the molecular biology of the East African Highland Banana and cassava, with a goal of alleviating poverty and famine. [4] [9]

Advocacy

Kentaro began to question her gender identity during her studies at the university, first researching conceptions of non-binary gender in different cultures through the library and Internet. Then, around the age of 23, she began to discover the LGBTQ+ community in Uganda. [10]

On 20 December 2013, the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act was passed, effectively outlawing homosexuality in Uganda. One week later, Kentaro was publicly outed as transgender in 2013 on the cover of Uganda's biggest tabloid, Red Pepper . [10] Kentaro was subsequently forced to flee Uganda and found refuge in Kenya. [1]

Personal life

Kentaro and her fiancé, Nelson, met in high school where they were in the same class. When Nelson began dating Kentaro's friend, he confided in her about the relationship. As adults, the two reconnected. They began seeing each other, and were together nearly three years before getting engaged. [11]

In October 2021, she became the first Ugandan to have a change of gender legally recognized. [2]

The Pearl of Africa

Kentaro began sharing her story in the popular webseries The Pearl of Africa, which was adapted into a feature-length documentary that premiered on April 30, 2016 at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival. [10] In The Pearl of Africa, Kentaro undertakes "an intimate journey beyond binary restrictions to discover her identity", a process she noted as difficult against African norms of masculinity. [1] Director Jonny Von Wallström followed Kentaro and her lover Nelson for 18 months, during which Kentaro bravely worked to improve the welfare of Uganda's LGBT community in spite of escalating discrimination. [10]

The series inspired an Indiegogo campaign that successfully raised more than $10,000 for gender reassignment surgery in Thailand. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transfeminism</span> Branch of feminism

Transfeminism, or trans feminism, is a branch of feminism focused on transgender women and informed by transgender studies. Transfeminism focuses on the effects of transmisogyny and patriarchy on trans women. It is related to the broader field of queer theory. The term was popularized by Emi Koyama in The Transfeminist Manifesto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Makerere University</span> Ugandan public university

Makerere University is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922, and the oldest currently active university in East Africa. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of nine colleges and one school offering programmes for about 36,000 undergraduates and 4,000 postgraduates. These colleges include College of Natural Sciences (CONAS), College of Health Sciences (CHS), College of Engineering Art & Design (CEDAT), College of Agriculture and Environmental Studies (CAES), College Of Business and Management Sciences (CoBAMS), College of Humanities & Social Sciences (CHUSS), College of Computing and Information Sciences (COCIS), College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources & Bio-security (COVAB), College of Education and External Studies (CEES) and Makerere University Business School (MUBS). In addition, Makerere has onother campus in Eastern Uganda Jinja City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Uganda</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Uganda face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Same-sex sexual activity is illegal for both men and women in Uganda. Originally criminalised by British colonial laws introduced when Uganda became a British protectorate, these laws have been retained since the country gained its independence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylvia Tamale</span> Ugandan academic and activist

Sylvia Rosila Tamale is a Ugandan academic, and human rights activist in Uganda. She was the first woman dean in the law faculty at Makerere University, Uganda.

Syda Namirembe Bbumba is a Ugandan accountant, politician and banker. She served in the Cabinet of Uganda as Minister of Energy and Minerals from 2002 to 2006, Minister of Gender, Labor and Social Development from 2006 to 2008, Minister of Finance from 2009 to 2011, and Minister of Gender, Labor and Social Development again from 2011 to 2012. She was also the elected Member of Parliament for Nakaseke County North, Nakaseke District She was the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on National Economy and also Chairperson of the Parliamentary Islamic Banking Forum. She was Sub-Saharan Africa's representative to the OIC Women Advisory Panel.

Freedom and Roam Uganda (FARUG) is a human rights organization that addresses discrimination against lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LBTIQ) people in Uganda.

Feminist views on transgender topics vary widely.

Mary Jossy Nakhanda Okwakol is a Ugandan university professor, academic administrator, zoologist and community leader. She is the current chairperson of the Uganda National Examinations Board.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miss Major Griffin-Gracy</span> American activist and author (born 1940s)

Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, often referred to as Miss Major, is an American author, activist, and community organizer for transgender rights. She has participated in activism and community organizing for a range of causes, and served as the first executive director for the Transgender Gender Variant Intersex Justice Project.

Joy Constance Kwesiga is a Ugandan academic, academic administrator, gender specialist, and community activist. She is the vice chancellor of Kabale University, a public institution of higher education in Uganda and accredited by the Uganda National Council for Higher Education in 2005.

Nthabiseng Mokoena is a prominent South African intersex activist and an advisory board member for the first intersex human rights fund.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African-American LGBT community</span> African-American population within the LGBT community

The African-American LGBT community, otherwise referred to as the Black American LGBT community, is part of the overall LGBT culture and overall African-American culture. The initialism LGBT stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender.

<i>The Pearl of Africa</i> 2016 film

The Pearl of Africa is a documentary film directed by Johnny von Wallstroem, focusing on the life of Cleopatra Kambugu, a Ugandan born woman who decide to live openly as a trans woman despite hostility towards same-sex relations in the country.

Lillian Tibatemwa-Ekirikubinza is a Ugandan lawyer, academic and judge, who has served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Uganda, since 2015.

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.

Sarah Ssali, is a Ugandan social scientist, researcher, academic and academic administrator, who is an associate professor and dean of the School of Gender Studies at Makerere University, Uganda's oldest and largest public university.

Lesbian erasure is a form of lesbophobia that involves the tendency to ignore, remove, falsify, or reexplain evidence of lesbian women or relationships in history, academia, the news media, and other primary sources. Lesbian erasure also refers to instances wherein lesbian issues, activism, and identity is deemphasized or ignored within feminist groups or the LGBT community.

Andrew Ddungu Kambugu is a Ugandan physician who serves as The Sande-McKinnell Executive Director at Uganda Infectious Disease Institute and a Honorary Senior lecturer at Makerere University College of Sciences. He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota. In July 2020, he was appointed to the United Nations 2021 Food System Scientific Group.

Damalie Nakanjako, is a Ugandan specialist physician, internist, immunologist, infectious diseases consultant, academic and researcher, who serves as the Principal and Professor of Medicine at Makerere University College of Health Sciences. Immediately prior to her present position, she served as Dean of Makerere University School of Medicine, from 2019 until 17 February 2021.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Cleopatra Kambugu Kentaro". OKAYAFRICA's 100 WOMEN. Archived from the original on 20 March 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Somuah-Annan, Grace (11 October 2021). "Uganda officially recognizes first transgender citizen". 3news.com. Archived from the original on 11 October 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  3. 1 2 "LGBTI Africa: A Trans Woman in Uganda". Archived from the original on 28 July 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Cleo Kambugu | WEF | Women Economic Forum". WEF. 28 September 2016. Archived from the original on 20 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  5. ↑ Segalov, Michael (1 November 2016). "Ugandan trans woman Cleo Kambugu Kentaro is fighting for her right to love". Huck . Archived from the original on 20 March 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  6. ↑ Garrison, Mark; College, the Journalism program at Langara (10 October 2021). "Uganda Recognises Its First Transgender Citizen, Cleopatra Kambugu". Star Observer. Archived from the original on 10 October 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  7. ↑ "Cleo Kambugu". Astraea Lesbian Foundation For Justice. Archived from the original on 20 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  8. 1 2 "Cleopatra Kambugu". TvT. Archived from the original on 28 July 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  9. ↑ Kambugu, Cleopatra. "Profile". LinkedIn .
  10. 1 2 3 4 Brathwaite, Les Fabian (28 April 2016). "'The Pearl of Africa': An Interview with Africa's First Openly Transgender Star Cleopatra Kambugu". Out. Archived from the original on 20 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  11. 1 2 "A Story Of Radical Love And Acceptance In 'The Pearl Of Africa'". OkayAfrica. 16 December 2015. Archived from the original on 28 July 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.