Cleopatra Kambugu Kentaro

Cleopatra Kambugu Kentaro's illustrated portrait

 

Obuto bwe

Cleopatra Kambugu Kentaro yazaalibwa mu 1984. era nga yakula ne baganda be 11 e Bakuli, ku mabbali g'ekibuga kya Uganda Kampala. Mu buto bwe, yasomozebwa nnyo bato bane era nga kino kyamusindikiriza okukyusa mu nneyisa nga muwala naye nga yeyisa ng'omulenzi.

Kyamuwendo okulaba okutya okuli mu bantu okweyisa mu ngeri etategerekeka mu Africa. Nnaddala ekigambo eky'okweyisa mu ngeri ekontana n'ekikula kyo tekirina kigambo kituufu mu lulimi lwa Uganda olumanyikiddwa nga Oluganda. Bangi ku abo abeyisa bwe batyo mu Uganda bagobeddwa okuva mu maka gaabwe ng'ebiseera ebisinga babeera ba Famire. N'olwekyo, abantu abo balina abataliiyo mu Uganda anti batambulira mu kwekweka.

Emirimu gye

The struggle for LGBT rights here in East Africa is very particular to our conditions; we’re fighting in a whole different context. We don’t talk about sex in Africa, so breaking down the stigma of being lesbian, gay or bisexual is tough. It’s what made the HIV struggle so difficult.

— Cleopatra Kambugu Kentaro, Huck magazine interview, 2016

Cleo yafuna Diguli ya Sayansi mu Byobulimi (eddwadde z'ebibala saako n'eddala lyabwo, biotech, ne genetics) ku Yunivasite y'e Makerere mu Kampala College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Awanjagira okukwogera ku nsonga z'ekikula ky'abantu n'obutonde bwaabwe. Awereza nga Dayilekita wa Pulogulaamu mu kitongole kya East African Sexual Health and Rights Initiative (UHAI EASHRI), okuwa obuyambi eri empulira z'abantu mu kikula, eby'obulamu ne ddembe ly'obuntu, n'eddembe ly'obuntu eri abaana abato. Kentaro oluvanyuma ng'omuyambi w'enteekateeka (Programmes Assistant) naye yalinyisibwa ku daala lya Grant Administrator, nga yali akola ne back door grants management. Emirimu gye gilinyisizza akatale okuva lwe yabegattako. Kentaro mmmeba ku boodi y'e kitongole kya Astraea Lesbian Foundation,.

In addition, Kentaro works as a program officer with the Trans Support Initiative Uganda (TSIU), an organization that fights for social justice for transgender, intersex, and gender non-conforming citizens. Due to the stigma surrounding transgender people and other LGBTQIA+ people, the organization has very few members. In 2013, there were only 45 people working with the TSIU.

Kentaro earned a Masters of Science in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from the Makerere University College of Veterinary Medicine Animal Resources and Biosecurity. She has worked on several different projects with the National Biotechnology Centre and the National Agricultural Crop Resources Research Institute, mostly focusing on the molecular biology of the East African Highland Banana and cassava, with a goal of alleviating poverty and famine.

Advocacy

Kentaro began to question her gender identity during her studies at the university, first researching conceptions of non-binary gender in different cultures through the library and Internet. Then, around the age of 23, she began to discover the LGBTQ+ community in Uganda.

On 20 December 2013, the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act was passed, effectively outlawing homosexuality in Uganda. One week later, Kentaro was publicly outed as transgender in 2013 on the cover of Uganda's biggest tabloid, Red Pepper. Kentaro was subsequently forced to flee Uganda and found refuge in Kenya.

Personal life

Kentaro and her fiancé, Nelson, met in high school where they were in the same class. When Nelson began dating Kentaro's friend, he confided in her about the relationship. As adults, the two reconnected. They began seeing each other, and were together nearly three years before getting engaged.

In October 2021, she became the first Ugandan to have a change of gender legally recognized.

The Pearl of Africa

Kentaro began sharing her story in the popular webseries The Pearl of Africa, which was adapted into a feature-length documentary that premiered on April 30, 2016 at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival. In The Pearl of Africa, Kentaro undertakes "an intimate journey beyond binary restrictions to discover her identity", a process she noted as difficult against African norms of masculinity. Director Jonny Von Wallström followed Kentaro and her lover Nelson for 18 months, during which Kentaro bravely worked to improve the welfare of Uganda's LGBT community in spite of escalating discrimination.

The series inspired an Indiegogo campaign that successfully raised more than $10,000 for gender reassignment surgery in Thailand.

External links

• Cleopatra Kambugu Kentaro at the OkayAfrica 100 Women campaign Archived 20 March 2021 at the Wayback Machine
• The Pearl of Africa (webseries), Episode 1: A Ugandan Transgender Girl Fight for her Right to Love