Global equality leaders recognised at 2026 International Pride Awards

Five leading figures and organizations in the global LGBTQ+ movement have been honoured with the 2026 International Pride Awards, presented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and ILGA World at the WorldPride Human Rights Conference in Amsterdam.

This year’s “Equality Champions” are South Africa’s Deputy Minister Mmapaseka Steve Letsike, Dutch human rights organization COC Nederland, Chilean trans activist Marcela Dimonty, Ugandan trans pastor and community leader Aggie Dennett Harmon, and Indian disability rights advocate and LGBTQ+ ally Dr Satendra Singh.

Selected by an expert Awards Committee of LGBTQ+ advocates and human rights leaders from a pool of global nominations, the recipients reflect a wide spectrum of frontline work: strengthening community organizing, transforming health systems, documenting history, advancing political participation and creating safer spaces for marginalized groups. Eligible awardees from low- and middle-income countries will each receive a US$10,000 grant to support and extend their initiatives.

Mandeep Dhaliwal, Director of the Prosperity and Wellbeing Hub at UNDP, highlighted the significance of their efforts amid rising hostility and shrinking civic space for LGBTQ+ communities, noting that progress grows through people and movements confronting exclusion and inequality and reshaping institutions and communities in favour of dignity and freedom.

ILGA World’s Executive Director, Julia Ehrt, emphasized that each recipient advances equality through daily acts of organizing, caregiving, documentation, education and advocacy, united by a commitment to a world in which everyone can live free from fear and prejudice.

Movement Building: COC Nederland (the Netherlands)

Founded in 1946, COC Nederland is the oldest existing LGBTQ+ rights organization worldwide. Working with more than 200 partner organizations across over 35 countries, COC supports leadership development, organizational growth, fundraising and international advocacy. It strengthens grassroots LGBTQ+ movements confronting criminalization, violence, discrimination and reduced civic space, with particular attention to groups serving lesbian, bisexual and queer women as well as trans and intersex communities.

Celebrating Diverse Lives: Aggie Dennett Harmon (Uganda)

Aggie Dennett Harmon, a Ugandan trans pastor, advocate and community leader, focuses on LGBTQ+ people—especially trans women—who face violence, displacement and exclusion. She co-founded Talented Youth Community Fellowship Uganda, a trans women-led organization providing psychosocial support, trauma-informed care, peer networks and empowerment programmes. She also established the Nange Healing and Harm Reduction Center, which offers safe and affirming services for trans people and people who use drugs. Through ministry, advocacy, storytelling and books, she advances healing, belonging and the reconciliation of faith and queerness.

Emerging Leader: Mmapaseka Steve Letsike (South Africa)

Mmapaseka Steve Letsike is an emerging political leader whose public role is rooted in decades of human rights and social justice activism. After many years in civil society pushing for LGBTQ+ equality, improved public health and intersectional justice, she entered Parliament in 2024 and now serves as Deputy Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities. She brings community-based experience into government, addressing discrimination, violence, unequal access to health services and the underrepresentation of LGBTQ+ people in political institutions, and helping translate movement priorities into policy change.

Lifelong Pursuit of Equality: Marcela Dimonty (Chile)

Chilean trans activist Marcela Dimonty links the persecution of LGBTQ+ people during Chile’s military dictatorship with the challenges still faced by older trans people today. A participant in the country’s first LGBT protest in 1973 and a survivor of detention and torture by state forces, she has transformed those experiences into decades of testimony, artistic work and human rights advocacy. Her contributions have reinforced demands for memory, truth and reparation and have inspired successive generations of activists.

Extraordinary Ally: Dr Satendra Singh (India)

Dr Satendra Singh, an Indian disability rights advocate and medical educator, is a leading ally challenging the pathologization of intersex and other LGBTQ+ people in healthcare and medical training. His work influenced a 2020 recommendation by the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights to prohibit medically unnecessary surgeries on intersex children. He developed an Inclusive Language Audit Tool, promoted trans-affirmative medical competencies and supported the creation of India’s first student-led medical school club focused on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics.

The ceremony and global broadcast of the 2026 International Pride Awards were supported by Deutsche Bank and OUTtv. Deutsche Bank contributed to the delivery of a dynamic and meaningful event, while OUTtv expanded the reach of the awards through its television channels and international network, connecting the stories of the recipients with LGBTQ+ communities and allies worldwide.

A recording of the ceremony is available on YouTube, and further information about this year’s awardees can be found at internationalprideawards.org.

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