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# Colombian trans ecologist and Ugandan LGBTQ+ rights activist included on BBC’s list of 100 inspiring and influential women
- URL: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/colombian-trans-ecologist-and-ugandan-lgbtq-rights-activist-included-on-bbcs-list-of-100-inspiring-and-influential-women/
- Published: 2024-12-31T11:46:50.000Z
- Updated: 2024-12-31T11:46:50.000Z
- Description: 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 c
- Author: Graham Robson
- Tags: BBC, LGBT, LGBTQ

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.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/c4bfc5d2-71e1-447d-b9c5-af892d5481cc-e1735644876720.webp)

**Brigitte Baptiste**

“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.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/170222125917-06-kasha-jacqueline-nabagesera-restricted-scaled-e1735644957102.jpg)

**Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera**

“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.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/screenshot-2024-12-31-at-11-32-28-e1735644765599.png)

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**.