About African Queer Voices (AQV).
African Queer Voices (AQV) is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization advancing the dignity, safety, leadership, and inclusion of LGBTQ+ Africans through community support, advocacy, arts and creative expression, strategic partnerships, leadership development, policy engagement, and cross-border collaboration.
Headquartered in New York City, AQV serves as a bridge between African LGBTQ+ communities, service providers, cultural institutions, researchers, policymakers, philanthropic partners, and global human rights movements. Through this convening role, we strengthen collaboration, expand access to resources, and create opportunities for African LGBTQ+ voices to inform public dialogue, influence policy, and contribute to cultural and civic life.
We believe that lasting change is built through strong communities, trusted partnerships, creative expression, and courageous leadership. Our work integrates direct community engagement with broader efforts to strengthen systems, influence institutions, and foster collaboration across sectors. By connecting local experiences with national and global conversations, AQV helps ensure that African LGBTQ+ communities are not only supported, but recognized as leaders, innovators, and contributors to positive social change.
Our Partnership with VEHRA Uganda
AQV works in collaboration with VEHRA (Visual Echoes for Human Rights Advocacy) and other emerging African LGBTQ+ organizations to strengthen cross-border exchange rooted in lived experience, cultural expression, and solidarity-based advocacy.
While AQV operates independently as a U.S.-based nonprofit organization, our partnership with VEHRA reflects a shared commitment to amplifying African LGBTQ+ voices, advancing creative resistance, and building transnational networks of care, advocacy, and cultural power.
Our Areas of Work
Rooted in African LGBTQ+ Communities
African Queer Voices works alongside LGBTQ+ Africans, including refugees, migrants, asylum seekers, artists, advocates, and community leaders navigating displacement, exclusion, and barriers to safety, opportunity, and belonging.
Our work responds to the interconnected realities affecting our communities by strengthening access to support, advancing rights and dignity, developing leadership, creating space for expression, and connecting African LGBTQ+ voices to institutions and movements that can help drive lasting change.