Julius Kaggwa is a prominent Ugandan

intersex Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical b ...

and

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

activist and executive director of intersex support organization ''Support Initiative for People with atypical sex Development'' (SIPD). In 2010, Kaggwa was a joint winner of the

Human Rights First Human Rights First (formerly known as the Lawyers Committee for International Human Rights) is a nonpartisan, 501(c)(3), international human rights organization based in New York City and Washington, D.C. In 2004, Human Rights First started its " ...

Human Rights Award. The following year, he was a joint winner of the Human Rights Defenders Award.

Activism

Kaggwa campaigns on health, support and human rights issues facing intersex people, and also gender non-conforming people, and against the Ugandan "Anti-homosexuality" Bill. Kaggwa has described how intersex infants may be mutilated or terminated due to the stigma surrounding their birth, and mothers may be stigmatized. SIPD aims to change cultural attitudes, and support appropriate medical care. Intersex conditions are viewed as a medical issue, in contrast to homosexuality, but as a committed Christian, Kaggwa argues that violence and discrimination against

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

people is incompatible with his faith. In 2016, Kaggwa described how increasing discrimination against

people in Uganda has contributed to a lack of safety for intersex people.

Awards and recognition

In 2010, Kaggwa was a joint winner of the

2010 Human Rights Award for his work leading the fight against an anti-homosexuality bill in Uganda, and helping to create a more tolerant environment for sexual minorities. As a member of Uganda’s Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law, Kaggwa was a joint winner in the Human Rights Defenders Award, 2011.

Selected bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaggwa, Julius Living people Intersex rights activists Transgender rights activists Ugandan LGBT rights activists Intersex rights in Uganda Year of birth missing (living people) Intersex writers