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

September 25, 2008 | Pulitzer Center

Kwame Dawes reads from HOPE

Alex Amend

HOPE: Living and Loving with HIV in Jamaica

"It's about soul. It's about humanity. It's about beauty, and beauty can be ugly. But it's still beauty." - Kwame Dawes

Poet, writer, and Pulitzer Center grantee Kwame Dawes read from his forthcoming book of poetry and discussed the experiences that inspired his work early Monday evening at Busboys and Poets.

Dawes' work, "Hope", is an assemblage of poems he wrote while exploring and reporting on the parts of Jamaica hit hardest by HIV and AIDS for the Pulitzer Center last winter and spring.