Support Trans Rights in Uganda by Helping Beyonce

Beyonce Karungi is the co-founder of Trans Equality Uganda (TEU) and a dedicated global LGBTQ rights activist. She tirelessly works to promote human rights, economic empowerment, and equal access to health and social services (including HIV prevention, care, treatment, and support) for transgender women and transgender sex workers in Uganda.

Beyonce recently came to the U.S. to attend the UN Women Commission on the Status of Women conference and was scheduled to return to Uganda. Unfortunately, the early passing of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill by the Ugandan Parliament has made it dangerous for her to return. It is unlikely she would be allowed outside of the airport and with emboldened anti-LGBT sentiment, she fears attacks like she has experienced in the past.

This fund was created to help her remain in the U.S. until she is able to safely return to Uganda and continue the fight for trans rights in her home country. She is currently on a short-term visa which doesn’t allow her to work or earn income in the U.S. She needs our support to enable her to revise her visa to allow for a longer, sustainable stay, and support her basic needs including food, airline change fees, routine and gender-affirming medical care. We are setting a goal of $5,000 to help support these needs so that she can continue to fight for trans rights from the U.S. until she can return to Uganda.

In case you are not familiar with the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, formally known as Bill AHB23, it solidifies the criminalization of same-sex activity and seeks to eradicate LGBTQ activism while alienating its members from society. It has been widely condemned by numerous human rights advocates for its extreme prescriptions that include long-term imprisonment and the death penalty for the “promotion of homosexuality” and “aggravated homosexuality,” respectively, among other draconian measures. You can read more about the specifics here and virtually any major news outlet as it has drawn widespread global attention. Uganda has a long history with anti-LGBTQ measures with a similar bill being passed in 2013 and then struck down in 2014. Hopefully, this legislation will suffer the same fate! Until then, please consider supporting Beyonce so she can continue fighting for trans rights and hopefully be a part of the change that will prevent bills like this from being passed ever again.