Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera: Passionate human being, daughter, sister, lover and human rights worker in Uganda

¨I’ve lived my life fighting for gay rights openly in Uganda and I’ve had to pay a price for that¨

Ugandan lesbian activist's powerful speech to Amnesty International (AI)'s International Council meeting in Geneva, Switzerland

¨...I am a very passionate human being, a daughter, a sister and a lover. Amongst all of that I am a human being who is willing to go, join other people in the struggle to work for human rights. And this time today I want to share with you my experience as a gay rights activist.

In Africa over 38 countries criminalise homosexuality. These are ordinary citizens who contribute to the development of their countries, but they are being criminalised simply for who they love and because of who they are attracted to. In Uganda where I come from, homosexuality is illegal and carries a maximum penalty of five imprisonment. However, in 2009 a bill was proposed in the Parliament of Uganda saying that life imprisonment is a very weak law to criminalise homosexuality and now they are proposing the death penalty.

I’ve lived my life fighting for gay rights openly in Uganda and I’ve had to pay a price for that. I’ve been evicted from house to house. My office has been evicted. I can no longer move on the streets openly. I’ve been attacked. And these are just a few of the things that happened to me and my community.

Early this year, I lost a dear friend and comrade, David Kato HERE. He stood out of the darkness to fight for the freedom and liberty of my community. The price he paid was to be murdered in cold blood during the day in his house. Just as we are still trying to deal with the tragedy, four months later a member of my community committed suicide because his family disowned him, his work sacked him, he had no where to go.

As if that was not enough, in broad day light a house of one of my members was set ablaze with letters left behind. That is just the beginning, they are coming for all of us.

Where does all of this homophobia come from. It comes from the press. It comes from the State. It comes from the culture and the religious institutions.

We are not scared. These are our lives we are fighting for. It is not easy and we are very aware of it. But we cannot afford to sit back there, because if we sit back there we shall have lost the battle for human rights. We are very aware that some of us may never live to see the freedoms and liberties we are fighting for today. But we are just honoured that we are part of this ground breaking struggle to make a better place for the future generations. Not only in Uganda and not only in Africa, but also in the world...¨ please read it all, HERE

·  Thanks to LGBT Asylum News, sidebar

·  Thanks to Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera, video, HERE
·  Thanks to  AmnestyInternational

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER/UGANDA: “an exceptional woman of a rare courage, fighting under death threat for human dignity and the rights of homosexuals and marginalised people in Africa."

 Ugandan Activist Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera has been awarded the 2011 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders

The Jury of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders (MEA), meeting in Geneva, selects Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera as the Laureate for her work for LGBT rights and marginalised people in Uganda

Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera, a Ugandan woman, is the founder and Executive Director of Freedom and Roam Uganda, a main lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights organization. Kasha has had the courage to appear on national television in Uganda, she has issued press statements on behalf of the gay community, and spoke on several radio stations. Already in 2007 she was harassed at the World Social Forum in Nairobi, and on many occasions afterwards she was hackled, threatened and even attacked by people for appearing in the media. Since then she has been shifting from house to house, afraid to stay long in the same place. On 26 January 2011 one of her colleagues, gay activist David Kato, was murdered following the publication of a “gay list” by the Ugandan tabloid Rolling Stone calling for their hanging; in this black list Kasha Jacqueline’s name also appears. The Chairman of the Jury of the MEA, Hans Thoolen, describes the laureate as “an exceptional woman of a rare courage, fighting under death threat for human dignity and the rights of homosexuals and marginalised people in Africa”. With this award the Jury wants to underline its position against the discrimination of people based on gender or sexual orientation.

The Ceremony of the Martin Ennals Award will take place in the Victoria Hall of Geneva late in the year. HERE

The Heroic Kuchus of Uganda

·  Thanks to African Activist, sidebar
·  Thanks to Hans Thoolen, MEA
·  Thanks to Martin Ennals Award
·  Thanks to Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera
· Amplifying Africa's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) Voices