Régis Samba Kounzi and Scaly Kep'na (Assembled and translated by Thomas Hendriks)

Author: Régis Samba Kounzi and Scaly Kep’na (Assembled and translated by Thomas Hendriks)

Régis Samba Kounzi and Scaly Kep’na (Assembled and translated by Thomas Hendriks)

Scaly Kep’na (born in Kinshasa) is a human rights activists, musician, radio maker and founder of the organization Jeunialissime in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He works towards changing social perceptions of LGBTIQA+ persons. in 2012, Scaly initiated Jeunialissime to support young people from his community. His organization uses radio as a forum for fighting stigmatization and discrimination within Congolese society and has produced podcasts under the same name. Jeunialissime is a space where young LGBTIQA+ people in DR Congo can speak openly about their lives and preoccupations. Régis Samba-Kounzi is a French-Congolese-Angolan artist born in 1969 in Brazzaville. He is part of the pioneer generation of openly gay photographers and, since 1988, of AIDS activists from the African continent. He advocated for many years as a Planet Africa and Act-Up Paris activist. From 2001 to 2009, he contributed to the writing of articles for the magazine Action, the monthly magazine of Act Up, as well as in the newsletter of Protocol South. Thomas Hendriks is a social and cultural anthropologist whose work draws from extensive fieldwork in the Democratic Republic of Congo.