For close to two decades now, I have witnessed the never-ending brutality and stigmatization of key populations, not only in Uganda but across the global Black community.

For too long, LGBTQI+ people in Uganda and across the African continent have been subject to discrimination, social exclusion, and prosecution, which restricts their access to jobs, health care, and much more. 

A toxic concoction of prejudice and legislation, including Uganda’s 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA), has driven the LGBTQI+ community underground.

In Uganda today, LGBTQI+ people are less likely to seek out necessary, lifesaving services like HIV prevention and treatment. Drug users are regularly denied necessary harm reduction treatments. Sex workers are routinely targeted for assault and extortion by clients and by the police. 

Throughout the continent, marginalized communities are contending with intersecting forms of discrimination based on socioeconomic class, gender identity, and sexual orientation.

And so, the cycles of poverty and marginalization roll on, health inequities widen, HIV and other illnesses can spread, and mental health and general well-being suffer.

We founded the Uganda Key Populations Consortium (UKPC) in 2018 to put a stop to all this — to challenge draconian laws like the AHA and advocate for equity and equality for key populations. 

Back then, so many of us didn’t have a home — a place where we could sit together and say: This is what we, as a people, need and stand for. 

UKPC brings together LGBTQI+ people and people from other key populations to express themselves, learn and build community. We work with partners to create safe spaces — drop-in centers — across the country, where our community can connect, access health services, and make their voices heard. 

Thanks in large part to these drop-in centers, we saw a huge increase in the number of people starting antiretroviral therapy, using HIV self-testing tool kits and taking steps to prevent sexually transmitted infections.

We also establish strong relationships with civil society, nongovernmental organizations, and government partners that support us and our work to serve our community, despite constant challenges.

Today, all our work is under threat.

The AHA encourages violent abuse and discrimination against my community. A recent report paints a grim picture: since the AHA was passed, Uganda’s LGBTQI+ community has suffered 434 evictions and banishments, 309 incidents of violence, 92 recorded instances of mental health distress, and 69 arrests. 

The law also threatens people supporting LGBTQI+ communities and those providing or seeking basic health services.

Our community organizations have closed dozens of drop-in centers, shutting down a critical link between individuals and their peers — not to mention essential mental and physical health care. We have diverted much-needed funds to make our offices and meeting places safe and secure. We can’t be sure that reaching people online is safe, and that their data and identities will be protected.

Still: we are fighting back. I am fighting back. Our community is fighting back.

Changing the status quo will require more work and support. We need partners like the Global Fund and its Breaking Down Barriers initiative, because those programs empower communities to lead — and give us a voice. They also give us a platform for collective action, to continue working against the violence and hatred that, some days, feels inescapable. 

When communities come together, change is possible.

Pride is a moment to celebrate — and to protest. Every June, I take a moment to close my eyes and focus inward, to honor myself and the community that made me. To think about what we’ve accomplished, and the work still left to do. This year is no exception.

We are proud of who we are. No law can take that away from us.

Richard Lusimbo is the founder and director general of the Uganda Key Populations Consortium, and a longtime LGBTQI+ and human and health rights activist. UKPC is a partner of the Global Fund’s Breaking Down Barriers initiative, which aims to reduce human rights-related barriers to health.

It is frustrating, alarming, sad, and more than a little scary that this still needs to be said in 2024, but here we go, once again, for the record:

Trans. Rights. Are. Human. Rights.

Some so-called “leaders” throughout the country have decided that the trans community—including gender non-conforming, non-binary and intersex folks—make an easy target as political pawns in their hate-filled culture wars. Which is why it is more important than ever for the entire LGBTQ+ community and our allies to stand up boldly on behalf of the entire trans family.

Simply stated, there is no LGB without the T.

Do not for a second delude yourself into thinking that this latest attack on the trans community is “not your fight.” Ignoring transphobia does not make cisgender queer people any safer. They are coming for all of us. Look at the ominous historical precedents. The Weimar Republic was one of the most accepting political climates in recorded history. It took but a few, short years for the Nazis to take power. And where did they begin? The offices of Magnus Hirschfeld, renowned sexologist whose Institute for Sexual Science supported the rights of sexual and gender minorities, most notably the trans community. The historical parallels to today are dark indeed. Rev. Martin Niemoller famously stated of the progressive inaction during the Holocaust, “Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

We cannot allow passivity and apathy to define our future. It is incumbent and imperative for all of us to stand up for the transcommunity because it is the right thing to do. While those who seek to marginalize the TGNCNBI community attempt to position it as a recent phenomenon, trans folks have existed since the beginning of time, just like the rest of the LGBTQIA+ rainbow.

Intersectionality is more than just an intellectual buzzword when it comes to our civil rights movement. It means that an attack on reproductive autonomy is an attack on trans men and bisexual women, for example. It means that Black LGBTQ+ Lives Matter, too.

For us at the Leonard Litz LGBTQ+ Foundation, it means whether you identify as transgender, gender nonconforming, nonbinary, intersex, or anywhere on the rainbow spectrum, we stand with you. Today, Tomorrow, and Always.

Last year, we were pleased to announce the launch of the Leonard Litz TransPLUS initiative. In response to the unprecedented challenges facing transgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary, and intersex (“TGNCNBI”) members of the LGBTQ+ community, the program is providing support for organizations and individuals whose work focuses on those most impacted in this current environment.

As we all continue to embrace the nuanced, socialized, and evolving experiences of gender identity and expression, the Leonard Litz TransPLUS Initiative seeks to center and uplift those voices in our community that have historically been relegated to the far margins of the movement.

In addition to grant funding, the TransPLUS Initiative amplifies voices of TGNCNBI leaders and builds greater awareness of the community’s socio-economic and political challenges. For example, at the Creating Change Conference held in New Orleans this past winter, we were thrilled to present the Transgender Leadership Award to the very deserving Mariah Moore, who has fought tirelessly on behalf of the trans community, especially Black transgender women. At a time when more and more of our trans friends and family are being singled out for discrimination and abuse, Mariah has chosen to step up and lead the fight for human rights.

It is time for all of us to step up. We are grateful for the opportunity to lead this effort at Leonard Litz, and look forward to helping to recognize, support, and celebrate the most impactful programs, services, and advocacy efforts for the TGNCNBI community.

When we fight together, we win. Please join us!

Robyn Schlesinger is a Trustee of the Leonard Litz LGBTQ+ Foundation who spearheads the TransPLUS initiative.

The New York Times has a column headlined, “The Resistance to the Trump Administration has Already Started.” It reveals, “A sprawling network of Democratic officials, progressive activists, watchdog groups and ex-Republicans has been taking extraordinary steps to prepare for a potential second Trump presidency, drawn together by the fear that Mr. Trump’s return to power would pose a grave threat not just to their agenda but to American democracy itself.” They are preparing lawsuits for any eventuality. What they are preparing for is the second column in the Times headlined, “If Trump Wins.”

It is because of the second column the time has come for all those in the elite groups who are part of the ‘sprawling network,’ and many others, to come out of their ivory towers, and take to the streets to spread the message across the nation about what happens when democracy dies. They need to do this NOW! Despite what some think, even those groups registered as a 501(c)3 in the tax code, can get involved in politics, just not for any one candidate. They can, and must, speak out and educate voters on what will happen to their rights if Donald Trump wins. While they may not tell people to vote for Joe Biden, they can make it clear what will happen if they stay home and don’t vote, simply by telling them the truth, based on Donald Trump’s words, and the words of his supporters. Tell them what he and his sycophants are saying, what they are preparing to do. Be part of the megaphone that helps voters understand, and then trust them to do the right thing. I trust they will, if they hear, and understand, the truth.

While I can say “Vote for Biden,” a 501(c)3 organization, like some of those the Times writes about, cannot. I ran organizations with that tax status and still went up to Congress and educated staff and members. I would talk about the pros and cons of the bills being considered. I would explain what the implications of a bill were for their constituents, and then let them decide how to vote. Not saying any organization should be as bad as the evangelical pastors whose churches exist under the same tax laws, and get away with actually telling their flock who to vote for. But they must stop thinking, they can’t get out in the community and speak out. 

Preparing their lawsuits for the possibility Trump could win, is fine. Actually, if God-forbid he wins, there will be time from Nov. 5-Jan. 20 to work on them. But stopping Trump from winning by explaining in plain English to the voters why you are doing this, and what could happen to their rights, is an equally, if not more important, use of time prior to the election. Let’s face facts. If Trump is elected, and gets to appoint more judges, all the lawsuits could lose. It will be too late to do much, if our democracy is lost. Trump and his sycophants, his MAGA cult, will laugh you out of court. 

Every one of us needs to spend the next 18 weeks before Nov. 5 reminding voters to listen to what Trump, and his people, are saying and planning — and believe them. They are evil. He has said he will be a dictator. He has said he will use the DOJ to seek revenge against anyone he perceives has wronged him. He said he would have the IRS go after those he doesn’t like. He quotes Hitler. All those lawsuits will lose to that. It’s time for everyone to get their hands dirty, and get in the game. Time to get down in the mud and educate the American people before it’s too late. Those who the Times writes about are smart, and have the ability to explain why they are preparing. Tell the American people what they need to know now, so in essence, all legal preparation won’t have to be used. Do it so the results of the election on Nov. 5 will allow for those legal briefs being diligently prepared, to join Trump and his acolytes, in the dustbin of history. 

I can promise anyone who does this will go down in history as someone who helped save democracy and not just someone who thought they could have an impact after it was lost.

Peter Rosenstein is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly for the Blade.