Voices of Solidarity Podcast

Advocating for LGBTIQ+ Rights in Uganda

In this episode of Voices of Solidarity, Hans Senfuma, an online activist and campaigner from Uganda, delivers his presentation from the ILGA Pan-African Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa. Speaking from lived experience, Hans describes what it means to advocate for LGBTIQ+ rights in a country where existence itself is criminalized, digital expression is surveilled, and visibility carries real and immediate risk. His presentation traces the legal landscape shaped by Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, the increasing dangers faced by online activists, and the emotional toll of sustained digital harassment, doxxing, and state-enabled hostility. This episode is not an interview. It is a witness — a clear, courageous articulation of the realities facing queer Ugandans today, and a call for international solidarity, accountability, and sustained support. What You’ll Hear in This Episode * The criminalization of LGBTIQ+ identity and expression in Uganda * How digital platforms have become both lifelines and danger zones * Platform suppression, shadow-banning, and content removal targeting queer advocates * The mental health cost of constant surveillance and harassment * Why activists persist — even when isolated * A call to repeal the Anti-Homosexuality Act and support grassroots resistance Content Note This episode includes discussion of criminalization, state violence, online harassment, and mental health impacts related to LGBTIQ+ persecution. Call to Action * Share this episode to amplify Hans’s voice * Support grassroots LGBTIQ+ organizations in Uganda * Advocate for accountability from governments and tech platforms * Stand in solidarity — transform one voice into a chorus About the Speaker Hans Senfuma is a Ugandan online activist and human rights campaigner whose work focuses on digital advocacy, visibility, and protection for LGBTIQ+ communities living under criminalization. His activism centers the lived realities of queer Ugandans navigating hostile legal, political, and digital environments. About This Podcast Voices of Solidarity is a mission-driven audio podcast produced by Rainbow Advocacy. The series centers lived experience as expertise, amplifying voices from communities most affected by injustice, displacement, and systemic harm. These are not conversations for performance — they are acts of listening, documentation, and solidarity. Content Note This episode includes discussion of criminalization, state violence, online harassment, and mental health impacts related to LGBTIQ+ persecution . This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ourpride.substack.com [https://ourpride.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Gay Poems for Red States

OUR PRIDE Shorts & Arts Fest [http://ourpride.org] partner organization, the international Charter for Compassion [http://charterforcompassion.org], featured an interview with author Willie Edward Taylor Carter, Jr. in their Global Reads series hosted by Felipe Zurita Quintana. Months after being named 2022 Kentucky Teacher of the Year, Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr. made a heartbreaking choice—he walked away from the classroom. I can’t stop thinking about his story. Willie spent more than a decade teaching high school English, giving everything he had to his students. But the same courage that made him a great teacher also made him a target. Early in his career, an administrator told him flat-out: “Don’t talk about being gay. No one will protect you—including me.” For a while, a new administration gave him some breathing room. But eventually, that first warning came true. School officials looked the other way as LGBTQ+ students were harassed. They looked the other way when Willie himself was harassed. He testified before Congress to shine a light on what’s happening in our schools, but by then the damage was done. He loved teaching—but no one should have to teach under threat just for being who they are. Willie’s response? He didn’t go silent. Instead, he wrote Gay Poems for Red States—a book that’s part memoir, part love letter to Appalachia, and entirely full of hope. It’s not just poetry. It’s a reminder that even in hostile places, beauty and pride can take root. Reading his story, I feel a mix of anger and admiration. Anger that we’re still here, fighting the same old battles. Admiration because Willie refuses to let hate define him—or his students. His words are a lifeline to every LGBTQ+ kid who’s searching for a home in a place that doesn’t always welcome them. This isn’t just his story. It’s all of ours. Check it out on Amazon [https://www.amazon.com/States-Willie-Edward-Taylor-Carver/dp/0813198127] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ourpride.substack.com [https://ourpride.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Our Human Rights in 2025

Greetings comrades from where you are watching this from. Well, today we all know globally that the LGBTQ plus rights are being debated about in many different countries. And this has also led to many different countries to stop their pride events. But well today, I'm just here to put out a stark reminder to all of you who are out there. Human rights are non-negotiable. The LGBTQ plus human rights are rights and they are human rights and they will go nowhere. We are here and we are to be here. I want to talk about human rights. Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms that everyone deserves, no matter who they are. These include the right to live freely, to live from violence, to speak your mind, to get an education, and to be treated fairly. But in Uganda once an LGBTQI + child is discovered in school, he or she is strictly forbidden in that school and the school administrators will say that this child will recruit others into homosexuality. We still have cases of LGBTQI +individuals being evicted by their landlords from their houses simply because they’re only males or females that are more than one living under the same roof. All these actions that affect LGBTQI + individuals in Uganda are circled with an excuse of culture, religion and how will the society see that you’re dating man and you’re a man. And forgetting that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, says that all people are born free and equal. However, people like me who were born gay in Uganda, don’t enjoy these rights and keep on hiding what we’re in order to be safe from violence and being discriminated. But in reality, our job as people globally is to make sure that these rights become a reality for everyone. This means that everyone needs to stand up for people like me who are treated unfairly and work together to create a world where everyone's rights are respected no matter who I love or who I am. When we protect the rights of others, we make our own communities stronger and more just. Human rights are connected, and an injustice anywhere affects us all. By respecting and fighting for the LGBTQI + rights, we help build a better, more compassionate world. let's commit to upholding human rights for all people. Let's work hard to ensure everyone is treated with dignity, fairness, and respect. Together, we can make a difference and create a world where justice and Equality thrive. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ourpride.substack.com [https://ourpride.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Global LGBTQIA+ Human Rights Challenges

Voices of Solidarity / OUR PRIDE Shorts & Arts Fest is a WorldPride 2025 Partner Event Matt Beard, the Executive Director of All Out [http://allout.org], discusses the organization's mission to promote LGBTQ+ rights globally and their approach to supporting frontline organizations and activists. He highlighted current challenges facing the LGBTQ+ community, including significant funding cuts and their impact on HIV/AIDS services and activism. Matt emphasizes the importance of resilience, inclusive activism, and innovative funding strategies in the ongoing fight for LGBTQ+ equality and liberation. Felipe Zurita Quintana of the Charter for Compassion [http://charterforcompassion.org] interviews Matt about his international organization working for love and equality. Matt explains All Out's mission to create a world where everyone can enjoy their rights to family, freedom, safety, and dignity, regardless of who they are or who they love. He described their approach of linking supporters with frontline organizations, conducting campaigns, and providing crowdfunding and training for young queer activists in Africa and Latin America. LGBTQ+ Activism and Community Resilience Matt discusses the current challenges facing the global LGBTQ+ community, emphasizing the need for resilience and the importance of calling people in rather than just out. He highlighs the necessity of renewing a more inclusive approach to activism, avoiding puritanical attitudes that may alienate potential allies. Matt also touches on the importance of funding and the impact of recent cuts to HIV/AIDS funding, while expressing optimism about the community's ability to overcome adversity. LGBTQ+ Activism Funding Crisis Impact Matt discusses the significant impact of funding cuts on global LGBTQ+ activism, highlighting that 45% of staff in partner organizations had already been dismissed or left, and 75% reported having to reduce or end life-saving services. He estimates that between $100-150 million had been removed from the LGBT activism system, with a recent study in South Africa projecting an additional 500,000 excess deaths from HIV/AIDS over the next decade due to these cuts. Matt emphasizes the need for innovative and strategic approaches to address the underfunding, acknowledging that there is no simple solution. LGBTQ+ Equality and Community Resilience Felipe and Matt discuss the importance of power, resilience, and funding in the fight for LGBTQ+ equality. Matt emphasizes that achieving true liberation and equality will require continued community effort despite differences, and expresses confidence in the eventual success of the movement. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ourpride.substack.com [https://ourpride.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

"Translucent" Short Film from Germany

LIVE SCREENING + Q&A with filmmaker Kat SchmitzTuesday, June 31pm CET (Central European Time / 7am USA EST) Can't join live? Catch it on the REPLAY! http://ourpride.org [http://ourpride.org] Official WorldPride Partner Event FREE REGISTRATION [https://events.ringcentral.com/events/worldpride]OUR PRIDE Shorts & Arts Fest 2025“Translucent” tells the perspective of gender-diverse athletes inspired by the real life example of tennis player Renée Richards. Produced within 48 hours, this film looks back on Renées vibrant career in competitive sport and her search for belonging through the eyes of her older self. It raises the most pressing question in the sports world right now onto the tennis court: Where do trans athletes belong in the sports principles of fairness?WATCH FREE at online at ourpride.org [http://ourpride.org]* Screenings in the Voices of Solidarity Global Gatherings This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ourpride.substack.com [https://ourpride.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]