Uganda is a country where there is no clear distinction between sexual minorities and gender identity and the two are seen and condemned as one and the same. We have since 2013 followed the life of Cleopatra Kambugu, a Ugandan transgender woman who have decided to become the first transgender person acknowledge for her true gender identity.
Cleo is an former activist who has sacrificed everything for her right to love. She is battling societal transphobia and is determined to give people a human picture of a trans person. Very few stories is about the everyday human aspects of being trans. It has been too much focus on the physical aspects of being trans and not enough focus on the emotional aspects of it.
Cleo has done so much for the transgender community in Uganda, and we’ve always wanted to support her work. In the summer of 2014, Story4change took the decision and decided to start a project which could help people understand trans people from their own point of view.
On the 8th of December, the organization launched a crowd-funding campaign for Cleo. The goal was to give life to a debate and raise awareness of a the violence and discrimination that are carried out on LGBTI people in Uganda. But also to bring forward the voice of a girl who struggle’s to be accepted in the society.
Within two months, the campaign raised over $10 000, which has now made it possible for Cleo to have her sex reassignment surgery in Thailand. By inviting people to be a part of her activism, we’ve been giving these supporters a chance to help her and support her fight for human rights.
You’ll find the campaign here