Kigali – Rwandans and Americans joined at the U.S. Embassy in Kigali Tuesday to celebrate Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered (LGBT) Pride Month in Rwanda by turning the U.S. Embassy’s wall into a canvas.
More than 40 people gathered at the U.S. Embassy’s outer wall to make graffiti celebrating LGBT rights and human rights here in Rwanda and around the world. Artists from some of Rwanda’s top galleries used their visual arts skills to decorate the Embassy wall while sharing the message that everyone deserves to enjoy human rights. Representatives from Rwanda’s LGBT community also put their messages on the wall, emphasizing that all people, whether men, women, old, young, religious, atheist, LGBT or straight deserve equal protection under the law, access to healthcare, freedom of speech and all other human rights.
“Gay rights are human rights. The U.S. Embassy wanted to make sure through this art event that everyone knows all people deserve to enjoy human rights,” said Benjamin Roode, Acting Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Kigali.
The event was also a great way to show that art and expression can be positive reinforcements in society. Graffiti is a form of street art that can be used to express social or political messages for the world to see. The U.S. Embassy proudly supports arts development in Rwanda and was happy to share its walls as a canvas for important public messages.
“We came to show our unity as artists and to support human rights universally,” said Tony Cyizanye, head of Yego Arts studio. “We’re using our talents as weapons to change the world.”
You can see the art outside of the U.S. Embassy in Kigali in Kacyiru.
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