It’s Pride Month, a month that centers the radical legacy of Black and Brown queer and trans people who rose up against police brutality and state violence. This month and every month we honor and celebrate the organizing, resilience, resistance, and rebellion of our LGBTQIA + community, and continue to follow the leadership of those on the ground, in the streets, and beating down doors to institutions of power in pursuit of queer and trans liberation! 

This year for Pride, we're excited to uplift partners across the African continent who are challenging the legacy of colonialism and imperialism that oppresses those who dare to live in their authentic identity, gender expression, and sexuality. 

Join us for a special two-part series on Instagram Live (@ccrjustice) on June 24th and June 28th, 12-12:45pm EST. We’ll be in conversation with our comrades and co-conspirators in Uganda and Nigeria discussing efforts to protect and promote the rights of LGBTQIA+ people, the export of homophobic and transphobic laws and policies, and steps we can all take to help dismantle the colonial legacy of gender oppression.

• On June 24th, Pepe Julian Onziema (he/him), a Ugandan LGBTQIA+ rights and human rights activist, will be in conversation with Tabitha Mustafa (they/them), a Center for Constitutional Rights Advocacy Program Manager. Pepe is the Programme Director of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), and worked together with the Center for Constitutional Rights in a historic lawsuit against Scott Lively, a U.S.-based anti-gay extremist, for his role in the persecution of LGBTIA+ people in Uganda.
   
• On June 28th, Matthew Blaise (they/them), a Nigerian queer rights activist, will be in conversation with Center for Constitutional Rights Advocacy Associate maya finoh (they/them). Matthew was on the frontlines of last year's #EndSARS protests against police brutality in Nigeria, and was instrumental in the call to center queer Nigerian lives. They are currently working on a documentary that ties the conditions for African queer people in the present to the destablization of African regions by European colonialism in the past.

Happy Pride! Here’s to building towards a world where all of our queer and trans siblings are afforded justice, equality, safety, and abundance.