In this episode of Debunque It, host Mariana Schuetze speaks with Brant Luswata, Executive Director of Ice Breakers Uganda, about the ongoing fight for LGBTQ+ rights and health care in Uganda. As one of the country’s pioneering advocacy organizations, Ice Breakers Uganda operates at the forefront of support and resistance amid harsh anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.

Brant discusses how these laws impact daily life and organizational work, the challenges of providing essential health services, and the realities of operating under constant threat. We explore the importance of international solidarity and the innovative strategies being used to empower, educate, and sustain the community.

This episode offers a powerful look into the courage and resilience driving the movement toward a more inclusive and informed society.

In this episode of Debunque It, host Andrea Houston speaks with Richard Lusimbo, Director General of the Uganda Key Populations Consortium (UKPC), about the fight for LGBTQ+ rights, HIV care, and human dignity in one of the most hostile environments on earth. Uganda made international headlines in 2023 when it passed one of the world’s harshest anti-LGBTQ+ laws, criminalizing identity itself and escalating decades of state-sponsored homophobia. Richard shares how this law has reshaped daily life for LGBTQ+ communities, sex workers, and people living with HIV, while exposing the devastating impact of U.S. funding cuts and far-right influence on global health and human rights. We discuss the realities of raids, arrests, mob violence, online harassment, and shrinking international solidarity—and how queer and trans Ugandans are courageously organizing, resisting, and building resilience. Richard’s story is a powerful reminder that the struggle for equality must be international, intersectional, and deeply rooted in solidarity.

You can learn more about UKPC here: https://ugandakpc.org/

For Pride Month, we speak to Dennis Wamala, Ugandan activist and Program Officer at Rainbow Railroad. Dennis talks about his life as an activist and tells his story of fighting for LGBTQ people everyday, long after he left Uganda behind for a new life in Canada.