Issue

LGBTQIA Rights

A transgender woman in Thailand who dreams of becoming a lawyer. A Ugandan gay rights activist who leads a double life. A lesbian in Jamaica forced to flee her country.

Pulitzer Center journalists examine the many challenges the LGBTQIA community faces, probing legal, religious, and ethical issues in the fight for equal rights. They report on a wide range of topics, from hate crimes in Russia to new gender identity laws in Bolivia. And they ask important questions: In a world plagued by stigma and homophobia, how do gender, sexual identity, and love influence the human experience? Where do LGBTQIA people find the courage to confront fear and the threat of violence?

Our journalists use many forms of media to tell their stories. Among them are Micah Fink’s full-length documentary The Abominable Crime, the stunning photography of Misha Friedman’s work in Russia and of Daniella Zalcman’s work in Uganda, and Live Hope Love, the Emmy award-winning video poetry work of Kwame Dawes, Josh Cogan and Andre Lambertson.

 

 

 

LGBTQIA Rights

Wisteria & HOPE featured in YES! Weekly

Although it's called the Black Theatre Festival, this biennial gathering of African-American artists draws creative people from all over the nation working in a variety of mediums. Kwame Dawes, the poet in residence at the University of South Carolina, will present his multimedia productions titled Wisteria and Hope during the festival. [For complete performance listings, see page 20.] Wisteria and Hope are two separate pieces performed back to back.

"Hope's Hospice" reviewed in the Jamaica Gleaner

"Hope's Hospice," a collection of poetry by Kwame Dawes inspired by his Pulitzer Center-sponsored reporting in Jamaica, was called "sublime" in a review by The Jamaica Gleaner. The poetry, which largely handles the impact of AIDs on Jamaican society, is accompanied by photographs by Joshua Cogan. According to The Gleaner, the collection "will jolt you from your slumber and spur you to think, to act" about AIDs "without being preachy."