We Are Here: African LGBT Activists Fighting for Freedom
These bold advocates are defying dangerous taboos.
1 / 10
David Kato of Uganda - The late Ugandan LGBT activist David Kato once said: “If we keep on hiding, they will say we are not here.” Throughout Africa, members of the LGBT community have taken Kato’s words to heart, defying discrimination to defend their human rights. Keep reading to meet several audacious individuals fighting to champion LGBT rights across Africa. —Patrice Peck (SOUTH AFRICA - Tags: SOCIETY)
2 / 10
David Kato of Uganda - As Uganda’s first openly gay man and a founding member of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), the late David Kato is often referred to as the father of Uganda’s gay rights movement. When Kato was found bludgeoned to death in his home in 2011, his brutal demise sparked an overwhelming global outcry. (Photo: Courtesy of Cinedigm)
3 / 10
Frank Mugisha of Uganda - Frank Mugisha, the executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), is one of the few openly gay activists in his country. His daring work has earned him the 2011 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award. “What keeps me going is mostly the challenges I go through,” Mugisha, 33, told Ottawa Citizen. “But also, more importantly, the voices of the people I amplify.” (Photo: Courtesy Rafto Foundation for Human Rights)
4 / 10
John "Long Jones" Abdallah Wambere of Uganda - As the operations coordinator for Spectrum Uganda Initiatives, Long Jones is an activist and HIV/AIDS health advocate at the forefront of Africa’s LGBT movement. “Each day is a new day and I just get more [fired up] to do what I [believe] is a calling,” he told BET.com. (Photo: Amanda Edwards/WireImage/Getty Images)
5 / 10
Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera of Uganda - A former accountant turned global activist, Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera is the Founder and Executive Director of LGBT rights organization Freedom & Roam Uganda (FARUG.) She has received numerous accolades, including the 2011 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders and 2013 Nuremberg International Human Rights Award. (Photo: Courtesy of Freedom & Roam Uganda)
ADVERTISEMENT
6 / 10
Joël Gustave Nana Ngongang of Cameroon - Known to many as Joel Nana, Cameroon native Joël Gustave Nana Ngongang has worked throughout the continent, addressing human, health and LGBT rights at both national and international levels. Prior to his current position as executive director of the African Men for Sexual Health and Rights (AMSHeR), the Ph.D. candidate held the title of Africa Research and Policy coordinator at International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. (Photo: Courtesy The Global Forum on MSM & HIV)
7 / 10
Paul Kasonkomona of Zambia - Human rights and HIV/AIDS activist Paul Kasonkomona was arrested April 2013 after he appeared on live television calling for the Zambian government to decriminalize homosexuality. His case has been transferred to Zambia's High Court, although the hearing date has yet to be confirmed. (Photo: Joseph Mwenda/AFP/Getty Images)
8 / 10
Aba Taylor of Ghana - For over a decade, first-generation Ghanaian Aba Taylor has lived and worked in Africa and across the globe, empowering LGBT Africans, HIV/AIDS communities and other marginalized groups. The Columbia alum directed the 2012 documentary Coming in America to spotlight how gay Africans in the United States navigate the tumultuous terrains of identity, culture, family and community. (Photo: Courtesy of QAYN)
9 / 10
Williams Rashidi of Nigeria - In a daring move to defeat Nigeria’s same-sex marriage bill in 2009, Williams Rashidi spoke before the nation’s parliament as an openly gay man. He now serves as founding executive director of Queer Alliance Nigeria, a human rights, health advocacy and support group for the LGBTI community in Nigeria. “It is already a trial to survive the hardship of our nations let alone the discrimination we face as sexual minorities,” he wrote in a 2011 statement. (Photo: Reuters)