KASHA JACQUELINE NABAGESERA
KASHA JACQUELINE NABAGESERA
Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera (born 12 April 1980), is an Ugandan LGBT activist and founder/Executive Director of Freedom and Roam Uganda, one of the main lesbian, bisexual and transgender women rights organization in the country. Having lived an open life as a lesbian, she has promoted changes to the repressive legislation and campaigned against LGBT+ social stigmatisation. She has been continuously fighting for the rights of the marginalized communities.
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.
An accountant by profession, she has excelled in human rights advocacy and obtained a certificate in human rights law. After interning with a South African LGBT+ organisation, Nabagesera founded the NGO Freedom and Roam Uganda (FARUG) in 2003. FARUG lobbies for policy change of discriminatory laws, registers human rights abuses and educates the Ugandan population about sexual orientation and gender identity. It also engages in grassroots organising to empower and mobilise the LGBT+ community to assert their rights and lead healthy lives.
She became engaged in the very “controversial” issue of gay rights in Uganda when she was just 21, and has since played a leading role in the Ugandan LGBT rights movement.
Kasha has had the courage to appear on national television in Uganda, becoming one of the first gay people to openly speak out. Similarly, she has issued press statements on behalf of the gay community, and spoke on several radio stations.
In 2007 she was brutally harassed at the World Social Forum in Nairobi after she spoke in front of 60,000 people about the respect and tolerance of homosexuals in the world. Later for appearing in the media she was again hackled, threatened and even attacked by people. Since then she has been shifting from house to house, afraid to stay long in the same place.
Nabagesera is one of the few activists in Uganda who has engaged in judicial processes to advance the rights of the LGBT+ community. When a Ugandan tabloid Rolling Stone published the names and photos of (alleged) gay and lesbian people and called for the hanging of homosexuals; in this black list Kasha Jacqueline’s name also appears; she was one of three individuals who took the newspaper to court and won. In general, Kasha has emphasized that international law should be respected. She has consistently invoked international covenants that Uganda has ratified and the Government has failed to implement. On January 26th 2011, just two weeks after winning the case, queer activist David Kato (who was also outed in the aforementioned magazine article, and who was one of the plaintiffs against the magazine) was bludgeoned to death with a hammer in his home. Due to extreme hatred and discrimination, many Ugandan LGBT+ activists have been killed. The majority of those who survived have fled the country. Nabagesera is among the few prominent members of the Ugandan LGBT+ movement who have decided to stay. Despite being arrested, attacked and subjected to harassment, Nabagesera persists in advocating for equal rights.
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.
Besides working in Uganda, Nabagesera has also frequently used regional and international mechanisms to hold the Ugandan government accountable for its failure to meet its human rights obligations. She has repeatedly testified on the situation of the LGBT+ community at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in the Gambia.
Kasha has gained international recognition for her human rights advocacy. Her honors include the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders (2011), the Nuremberg International Human Rights Award (2013), and The Right Livelihood Award (2015).
Many countries in Africa have an environment that is extremely hostile for LGBT issues but Kasha continues to work there. Although her life remains in constant danger, Kasha still lives in Uganda with her partner. She continues to fight homophobia in Africa and around the world.
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