麻豆社

Campaigning for gay rights in Uganda and Sri Lanka - Kim Chakanetsa speaks to two women activists in countries where homosexual acts are punishable with a prison sentence.

Kasha Nabagesera has been described as 'the face of Uganda's LGBT movement'. Since her twenties Kasha has fought for the rights of her fellow lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, which has brought her into conflict with the authorities. She says she faces daily harassment and serious threats, and doesn't walk the streets alone for fear of attack, but it's worth it. Kasha now runs Kuchu Times, a multi-media platform for the sexual health and rights of queer Africans.

In Sri Lanka, consensual sex between women was only criminalised in 1995. Rosanna Flamer-Caldera is an activist who returned to Sri Lanka after living in San Francisco and founded an organisation called Equal Ground, which educates and lobbies on behalf of LBGT+ people. She says as a lesbian she has to be hyper-vigilant at all times, and can't really have a personal life. Rosanna wants to achieve decriminalisation of homosexuality in her country by 2020.

Image: (L) Rosanna Flamer-Caldera
(R) Kasha Jaqueline Nabagesera Credit: Christine Dierenbach