recommends exploring media that depicts the current situation in a realistic light. Rafiki, available for streaming on Netflix, is at the top of her list. As much as Kakyo hopes for allies in the West, we need her as well. Understanding each other is, after all, the first step toward empathy and meaningful change. Dozens of states in the US, are becoming increasingly transphobic, using politics and religion to limit the rights of underprivileged, underrepresented communities. Once again, the fight for equality is more urgent and immediate than ever, both for her and for us. That’s why it should be impossible for Americans to ignore people like Trinah Kakyo and her struggle for recognition in a place that may be closer to us than we think. @TRINAHKAKYO
What Is the Future of Kakyo’s Struggle for Equality?
In her ongoing battle, Kakyo is focused on weaving a network of artists from different regions as she journeys around the world. At home, she continues empowering LGBTQ artists and promoting artistic excellence, using the experience gained abroad to organize training workshops, plan release strategies, and more. She is doing so in the shadow of Uganda’s 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act, which makes meeting spaces like the KAKYO Project effectively illegal. Hers is a fight for the right of queer organizations to exist, but if experience has taught her anything, it’s that change is possible in the face of such adversity. Kakyo knows her compatriots can change their minds. They did so during the HIV pandemic of her childhood when Uganda went from marginalizing those suffering from the disease to a more inclusive and understanding society. Art, education, and government involvement were essential back then, and they are so today. “That’s why art matters so much,” she tells me. “For mindsets and laws to change, we must find more sustainable ways of existing; we must exist even louder through movies, music, poetry, and in schools and government institutions.” Abroad, Kakyo and the KAKYO Project need new allies to expose what is happening in Uganda. Some progress has been made. She appreciates efforts from the US and other embassies to effect change, and these governments’ sanctions imposed on her home country. Kakyo is actively involved with organizations like Queer Africa and Out Magazine and
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