The BBC has included Ugandan LGBTQ+ rights activist Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera and Colombian trans ecologist Brigitte Baptiste on its list of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world.
The BBC said about Brigitte Baptiste: “As a transwoman biologist, Brigitte Baptiste explores the common patterns between biodiversity and gender identity.
“She uses a queer lens to analyse landscapes and species in a bid to expand the notion of ‘nature’ to better protect ecosystems. In her 2018 TEDx talk, she used the Quindío wax palm, Colombia’s national tree, as an example of how “the change of sex and gender has been regularly reported by science” across the lifetime of species.
“A renowned academic, Baptiste spent 10 years as director of the Alexander von Humboldt Institute and currently serves as president of Universidad EAN in Bogota, a higher-education institution focused on sustainable entrepreneurship.
“She has also campaigned for better funding to get more LGTBQ+ people into higher education.”
The BBC said about Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera: “Homosexual acts are illegal in Uganda, punishable by prison sentences – and LGBTQ+ advocate Kasha Nabagesera is fighting to change these repressive laws.
“As an openly gay woman, she has made a profound impact campaigning against LGBTQ+ stigma across Africa.
“Nabagesera has successfully sued newspapers and the Ugandan government for anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric: she has twice challenged anti-homosexuality laws in Ugandan courts and is currently challenging a 2023 act.
The list also includes stranded astronaut Sunita Williams, rape survivor Gisèle Pelicot, actress Sharon Stone, Olympic athletes Rebeca Andrade and Allyson Felix, singer Raye, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nadia Murad, visual artist Tracey Emin, climate campaigner Adenike Oladosu and writer Cristina Rivera Garza.
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