Clare Byarugaba is an LGBTIA+ activist and feminist from Uganda, a country where homosexuality acts are criminalized. For two years, she coordinated a national Coalition that used its collective power to successfully fight the notorious Anti Homosexuality bill 2009 until its passage in 2014. After its passage into law, Clare was outed as a lesbian on the front page of a national tabloid newspaper and forced to go into hiding in the face of a national witch hunt that included death threats. Despite the increased risk of arrest and mob violence, Clare persevered and the Coalition filed a Constitutional Petition that led to the annulment of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act.
In her current position at a Chapter Four Uganda, a Civil liberties organization, Clare is building Uganda’s first chapter of PFLAG, a global organization that supports families and allies of LGBTIA+ persons. She and the coalition were awarded the 2011 U.S. State Department Human Rights Defender Award. She is also the 2014 Oak Human Rights Fellow.