Bella Galhos (born 1972) is a former East Timorese independence activist during the period of Indonesian occupation of

East Timor Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

and has been a translator, presidential advisor, human rights activist and environmentalist since independence in 2002.

Early life

Galhos' father reportedly had 45 children from 18 different women. After Indonesian armed forces invaded East Timor in 1975, they captured her father and brothers, and her father sold her to a soldier at the age of three for five dollars, on the grounds that she a had a "very male, dominant personality". After a long campaign by her mother, Galhos was returned to the family. She reported a history of sexual violence at the hands of family members and Indonesian authorities thereafter. At age 16, Galhos joined the Timorese independence movement, through its "clandestine front" of young activists. In 1991, several friends of Galhos were killed in the

Santa Cruz massacre The Santa Cruz massacre (also known as the Dili massacre) was the murder of at least 250 East Timorese pro-independence demonstrators in the Santa Cruz cemetery in the capital, Dili, on 12 November 1991, during the Indonesian occupation of Eas ...

, organized by her uncle Constâncio Pinto. As a result, she lived for three years under a different identity as a double agent ostensibly working with the Indonesian authorities. In 1994 she was selected as a participant of a youth exchange programme to Canada with Canada World Youth. There she applied for asylum immediately. After East Timor's independence, Galhos studied psychology at the University of Hawaii.

Independence activism in Canada

After Galhos applied for and received refugee status in Canada, she campaigned for human rights in East Timor with the East Timor Alert Network as one of two Canadian representatives of the

National Council of Maubere Resistance The National Council of Maubere Resistance (Portuguese: Conselho Nacional da Resistência Maubere, or CNRM) was an umbrella organisation of East Timorese individuals and organisations dedicated to resisting the Indonesian occupation of East ...

. She took part in numerous international lobbying events inside and outside Canada during these years. In January 1996, Benjamin Parwoto, the Indonesian ambassador to Canada, sought out Galhos' mother and told her to silence her daughter. The event caused a public outcry and the Canadian Department of External Affairs rebuked the ambassador.

Career after independence

With the end of the Indonesian occupation in 1999, she returned to East Timor to work for the

United Nations Mission in East Timor The United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) was established by Security Council Resolution 1246 on 11 June 1999 for a period up to 31 August 1999. By Security Council Resolution 1257 of 3 August UNAMET was extended to 30 September 1999 ...

. In 2012, Galhos became a civil society adviser to President

Taur Matan Ruak José Maria de Vasconcelos (born 10 October 1956), popularly known as Taur Matan Ruak (Tetum for "Two Sharp Eyes"), is an East Timorese politician who served as 9th prime minister of East Timor from 2018 to 2023. He also served as 5th presi ...

. In 2017, she resigned from the advisory role. She returned to work at the Presidency after the election of

Jose Ramos Horta Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. Given name Mishnaic and Talmudic periods * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galilean * Jose ben Halafta ...

. Galhos founded the Leublora Green Village (LGV) in Maubisse, along with a not-for-profit environmental school (Leublora Green Schoo

This includes a women's organic farming cooperative and an organic restaurant. The project aims to promote equal rights for women and environmental awareness in East Timorese society. She has delivered TED Dili talks on issues including violence against women as part of feminist campaigning in East Timor. Galhos is a prominent activist for LGBT rights in East Timor, LGBT+ rights in East Timor. At the CODIVA (Coalition on Diversity and Action) Pride Event 2016 (the first of its kind in East Timor), Galhos became the first woman in East Timor to publicly come out as bisexual. In 2017, Galhos was co-organizer of the first Pride March in

Dili Dili (Portuguese language, Portuguese and Tetum language, Tetum: ''Díli'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Timor-Leste. It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in by mountai ...

, attended by 500 people. Together with her activist colleague and development expert Iram Saeed, Galhos founded the LGBTQ organization Arcoiris (Portuguese for rainbow). In 2024, the pair were married in Australia.

Honours and awards

* Woman of Courage 1999 (National Action Committee on the Status of Women, Canada) * UN Freedom and Human Rights Award 2003 * Earth Company Impact Hero 2015 * Dalai Lama's Unsung Hero Award, 2017 *

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's 100 Women list, 2023.

Publication

* Iram Saeed and Bella Galhos: ''A Research Report on the Lives of Lesbian and Bisexual Women and Transgender Men in Timor-Leste'', ASEAN SOGIE Caucus, East Timor, 2017.

References