Frank Mugisha is a respected champion of Human Rights, an anti-violence advocate and one of the few openly LGBTI activists in Uganda. Mr. Mugisha serves as the Executive Director of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), the largest and leading organization of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) movement Uganda and as the Founder of Icebreakers Uganda.
Mugisha’s work has been recognized worldwide by distinguished figures including former United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the former US Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry. He has received numerous awards including the 2011 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, the 2011 Rafto Prize for Human Rights, and the 2013 International Human Rights Film Award, along with citations and proclamations from the city councils of New York City and Philadelphia.
In 2012, Mugisha was named by the UK’s Independent magazine to its “Pink List” (now called “Rainbow List”) of most influential LGBTI individuals in the UK. In 2009 and 2014, Mugisha was named by The Advocate magazine as one of the leading activists under 40. In 2016, he was named among top 50 world leaders by Fortune magazine. In 2020, he received the African Feather Award as well as the Best Human Rights Activist in Uganda 2020 Award.
Frank Mugisha bravely continues to work for the security, equality and dignity of Uganda’s LGBTI community, despite threats to his life.
Early Life and Activism
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Mr. Mugisha was born in a suburb of Kampala, Uganda, and raised in a strict Catholic family. Mugisha was born on June 17, 1979. Mugisha knew he was gay when he was a young teenager, but his Catholic faith told him to pray those feelings away. When he finally came out to his family, they tried many times to “cure” him.
And though they were eventually accepting, they continued to wish he would not be so open with others. Being gay in Uganda was very risky-many Ugandans viewed it as both unchristian and un-African. While at college in 2004, Mugisha saw that many of his LGBTQ+ friends were struggling, so he started Icebreakers Uganda to guide those who were coming out to their families. The organization advised, provided housing, and offered ways to help make this difficult and personal revelation less stressful.
In 2007, he, along with other Ugandan LGBTI community members, came out publicly during a forty-five day media campaign entitled, “Let Us Live in Peace.” In 2009, Mr. Mugisha led human rights activists in a massive march to petition the Ugandan Parliament to stop the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which then had a death penalty, and was among the petitioners to fight the anti-gay law that was eventually nullified by the Ugandan courts. Mr. Mugisha also started the first and only LGBT Health Center in Uganda in 2012.
However, his real activism began a few years later. In December 2013, Uganda’s parliament passed a law that criminalized homosexuality; the statute carried penalties up to and including life in prison. A newspaper published the names and contact information of 100 gay men and women, leading to harassment by neighbors, family, and employers.
One of those identified was lawyer David Kato, among the first openly gay men in Uganda, a close friend of Mugisha’s, and the founder of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG). Mugisha was close friends with fellow advocate and SMUG founder David Kato, who was murdered in January 2011 after successfully suing a tabloid named Rolling Stone for publishing the names of 100 LGBT Ugandans with an encouragement to "hang them".
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In the aftermath of Kato’s death, Mugisha became the executive director of SMUG and set to work on an international campaign to bring awareness to Uganda’s human rights violations against the LGBTQ+ community. Though he regularly faced death threats and intimidation, lost jobs and friends, he never flinched from the fight. Mugisha engaged in major court battles to challenge the strict laws, and his courage paid off. In August 2014, a judge overturned the law.
Anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment remains high in Uganda, and the threat of further legislation exists, but Mugisha draws strength from adversity. In 2016, Frank Mugisha was arrested and detained for his outspoken work on LGBTQ+ rights during the Uganda Pride celebration. His arrest led to significant international criticism and pressure.
He did the same when the government refused to register the organization he leads, Sexual Minorities Uganda. He’s now a fellow at Columbia University’s Institute of Global Politics, where I’m honored to work alongside him as he defends the human rights of gay Ugandans and people around the world.
Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG)
Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) is an umbrella non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Kampala, Uganda, advocating for the protection and promotion of human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Ugandans. SMUG was formed in March 2004 as a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex (LGBTI) NGO network to address the Human rights emerging issues based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.
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SMUG/USA is a USA/IRS - 501c3 non-profit corporation and it's purpose as a LGBTI+ Rights NGO is to support the activities and programs of Sexual Minorities Uganda located in Kampala, Uganda. Support is in the form of fundraising, grant writing & administration, strategic planning, networking, linkages and contracting with like USA organizations, along with advising and coaching SMUG membership organization leadership.
Last week, Uganda’s National Bureau for Non-governmental Organizations banned Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), a prominent lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights organization, for not having officially registered with it. Frank Mugisha, SMUG’s director, informed Human Rights Watch that in 2016 the country’s name registration body, the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB), had refused to approve SMUG’s name - which is a requirement to register as a nongovernmental organization. The Ugandan government should allow SMUG to operate.
Legal Challenges and Advocacy
Currently, Mr. Mugisha is one of the plaintiffs from SMUG represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights, suing American anti gay evangelist Scott Lively for crimes against humanity for his advocacy for Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Mugisha is one of the plaintiffs from SMUG represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights using the Alien Tort Statute to sue American evangelist Scott Lively for crimes against humanity for his work on the Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill, work described as inciting the persecution of gay men and lesbians and as "conduct ... District Court Judge Michael A.
Writing in The Guardian in 2014, Mugisha argued that homophobia and the hatred behind the Anti-Homosexuality Bill were from western influences: "I am a gay man. I am also Ugandan. There is nothing un-African about me. Uganda is where I was born, grew up and call my home. It is also a country in which I have become little more than an unapprehended criminal because of whom I love.
Instances of Persecution
In March 2020, police and local residents raided the Children of the Sun Foundation, a shelter for homeless LGBTQ youth in Wakiso. They beat and arrested 23 people. Twenty residents of the shelter were detained by police for over six weeks and were denied access to lawyers. In May 2021, police raided a private celebration at another youth shelter in Wakiso and arrested 44 people, initially accusing them of holding a same-sex wedding.
Honors and Awards
In 2016, Mr. Mugisha was awarded United Nations Human Rights Defenders Recognition in 2010, the prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, the Rafto Prize, the Cinema for Peace Human Rights Award. Dr. Mugisha is a Ugandan LGBTI human rights advocate and Executive Director of SMUG & SMUG International. A recipient of the Time 100 Most Influential People, Rubaii Memorial Prize, Civil Rights Defender of the Year 2022, African Feather Award, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, and Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize, Dr. Mugisha has been recognized internationally for his activism and courage.
He was a 2014 nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize and one of Fortune's 2017 World's Greatest Leaders.
HONORS & AWARDS
- 2024 Time Magazine's 100 of the most influential voices in the world
- 2022 Civil Rights Defender of the Year 2022, Stockholm, Sweden
- 2021 Top 7 Activists to Improve LGBTI+ Human Rights in Africa - Vogue Magazine
- 2021 Regional Representative for Africa, Commonwealth Equality Network
- 2020 African Feather Award, South Africa
- 2020 Best Human Rights Activist in Uganda
- 2017 World’s Greatest Leaders List - Fortune
- 2015 Honorary Doctorate - University of Glasgow
- 2014 Nominee - Nobel Peace Prize
- 2013 PhD & Hon DUniv from, Ghent University
- 2013 International Human Rights Film Award, Cinema for Peace
- 2011 Robert F.
Table of Awards and Recognition
| Award/Recognition | Year |
|---|---|
| Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential Voices | 2024 |
| Civil Rights Defender of the Year | 2022 |
| African Feather Award | 2020 |
| Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award | 2011 |
| Rafto Prize for Human Rights | 2011 |
| International Human Rights Film Award | 2013 |
| Nominee for Nobel Peace Prize | 2014 |
| Fortune's World's Greatest Leaders | 2017 |
Progress toward a more just future is possible, but it is not inevitable. Only through the undaunted work of leaders like Frank-whose courage has earned him the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award-can change happen.
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