In June 2020 the Ugandan LGBTQIA+ refugees in the Kakuma Refugee Camp reached out to activist Victor Mukasa, saying “Victor, we are dying, we are dying in the refugee camp”. Not much had changed since the last time Victor had worked with the refugees in 2014, even though global activists and organisations had become involved. …
June 2020 — Kakuma Refugee Camp: Refugees Approach Victor Mukasa Again, Kenya Read More »
In March 2020, The Victor Mukasa Show was broadcast live for the first time. Ugandan trans and LGBTI activist, Victor Mukasa envisioned the show as a space that would bring emerging issues for LGBTIQ+ people from the continent and the Diaspora to light. It aims to feature everything Queer and African, ranging from education, activism, …
March 2020 — First Live Broadcast of The Victor Mukasa Show, Uganda Read More »
The Fruit Basket (TFB), founded in 2016, is a trans- and migrant-led organisation based in Johannesburg South Africa. The organisation was founded by Thomars Shamuyarira, a trans migrant from Zimbabwe. TFB is a a Non-Profit Organisation that works to advance the welfare and rights of LGBTQI+ migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers who come to South …
2016 — Founding of The Fruit Basket (TFB), South Africa Read More »
On 1 August 2014, the Ugandan constitutional court dismissed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which had caused controversy both in Uganda and across the world. The court ruled that the Anti-Homosexuality Bill was null and void, citing procedural irregularities during its passage and asserting the vote cast on the Bill in Parliament technically lacked the necessary quorum to have been …
1 August 2014 — Constitutional Court Dismisses the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, Uganda Read More »
On 3 July 2014, a 4-part series about further violence in the Kakuma Refugee Camp aired on Kuchu TV, a platform created by Ugandan LGBTQIA+ activist, Victor Mukasa. Victor’s work at the Kakuma Refugee Camp started in 2014 after the first attack on the Ugandan LGBTQIA+ refugees in the Camp. You can read more about …
In an important series of 5 episodes aired on 29 June 2014, LGBTQIA+ rights activist, Victor Mukasa, provided context to the violence in the Kakuma Refugee Camp, using his TV platform, Kuchu TV. The episodes highlighted that the central issue for LGBTQIA+ refugees in the Camp was the violence perpetrated against them because they were …
29 June 2014 — Kakuma Refugee Camp: Kuchu TV Broadcast Contextualises Violence, Kenya Read More »
In June 2014, Ugandan LGBTQIA+ activist, Victor Mukasa, created a Youtube channel, Kuchu TV, which aired between 2014 and 2015. The TV station was used as a platform to give daily updates from within the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, and provided information to activists and advocates working with LGBTQIA asylum seekers in the Camp. …
The Ugandan parliament passed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill into law on 20 December 2013. The Ugandan President signed his assent to the Anti-Homosexuality Act on 24 February 2014. The Act criminalised any sexual acts and relations between people of the same sex. The maximum sentence for such offences would be the death penalty or life imprisonment. In the …
20 December 2013 — The Passing of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill into Law, Uganda Read More »
In June 2013, Neo Musangi, a Kenyan non-binary artist and activist, performed publicly in front of the building of the Kenia National Archives. The aim of the performance was intended to dismantle the gender binary and create awareness about non-binary identities. In a street performance, as citizens looked on, Neo Musangi took the audience through …
June 2013 — Non-Binary Street Performance by Neo Musangi in Nairobi, Kenya Read More »
On 10 December 2009, Ugandan activist, Victor Mukasa, co-founder of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) and program associate for the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLRHC) spoke at a landmark meeting of the United Nations General Assembly panel. The panel focused on ending human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity and …
10 December 2009 — Ugandan Activist, Victor Mukasa, Speaks at the United Nations Read More »
On 14 October 2009 the Anti-Homosexuality Bill was introduced to parliament in Uganda, sparking international outrage and condemnation. The Bill sought to further criminalise homosexuality in the country, imposing life imprisonment for those found guilty of engaging in homosexual acts, as well as imposing harsh penalties for those who failed to report known homosexuals to …
14 October 2009 — Anti-Homosexuality Bill Draft Introduced to Parliament, Uganda Read More »
17 May 2019 — The Death and Humiliation of Aunty Victoria, Tanzania Auntie Victoria was reportedly the first openly identified trans woman in Tanzania. She received gender-affirming surgery in Europe many years ago (surgery dates undocumented). When she returned to Tanzania, her home country, she owned a tavern, and generated her own income. She was …
17 May 2009 — The Humiliation and Death of Auntie Victoria, Tanzania Read More »
In 2009 the first Miss Woubi beauty pageant was held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire / Ivory Coast. The event takes its name from an Ivorian slang word (‘Woubi’) meaning ‘effeminate’ — the more feminine partner in a relationship, or as Ivorians put it, the one who “plays the role of the woman”. In 2016, 13 …
On 2 June 2008, Daisy Dube, a gender-variant person, and four friends who self-identified as drag queens, went out clubbing in the evening in Yeoville, Johannesburg. Men outside the club called them izitabane,* referring to their gender identity. In resistance, Daisy and her friends shouted back, asking them to stop insulting them by calling them …
2 June 2008 — The Murder of Drag Queen Daisy Dube, South Africa Read More »
The Matrix Support Group (MSG), also known as the People’s Matrix Association, was established in Lesotho in 2008. Although the NGO caters to the whole LGBTIQ+ community throughout Lesotho, they have a strong trans presence. Their founder and Executive Director, Tampose Mothopeng, is a trans man. They run a number of trans-specific programmes and research …
2008 — Matrix Support Group (MSG) / People’s Matrix Association Established, Lesotho Read More »
In 2007 Nigerian Reverend Jide Macaulay from House of Rainbow attended the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) meeting in Johannesburg. This ILGA conference presented the opportunity for organisations to meet and network and important organisational relationships formed. The conference was the beginning of the alliance between House of Rainbow and Gender …
In May 2007, the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) hosted a conference in Johannesburg with the aim of establishing an organisation affiliated with them on the African continent — a Pan Africa ILGA (PAI). Background The African caucus had to determine the ILGA-Africa constitution and one of the decisions was to establish the Pan …
Juliet Victor Mukasa (now known as Victor), human rights defender, and activist from Uganda claimed his identity as a transgender lesbian and started speaking out in the local media about the oppression of LGBTIQ+ people in Uganda in around 2002. Uganda is known to have a zero-tolerance policy towards homosexuality and on 5 July 2005, …
July 2005 — Trans and LGBTI Activist, Victor Mukasa, Sues Government, Uganda Read More »
On 3 March 2004, Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), now known as SMUG International, was founded by trans man and activist, Victor Mukasa, along with Sylvia Tamale. The earliest members included Val Kalende, Kamuhangire E. and David Kato, who were among the first board members. SMUG is an umbrella non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Kampala, Uganda, advocating …
3 March 2004 — Founding of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), Uganda Read More »
Featured in international film festivals in 1998, the documentary, Woubi Chéri, directed by Laurent Bocahut and Philip Brooks, focused on the lives of Woubis*, Yossis**, and other members of the Branché*** community in Ivory Coast. The award-winning documentary was featured globally in various film festivals and on a number of documentary platforms. The film won Best …
