Vanessa from London Live interviewed Matt at the start of the Journey To Find Acceptance in Hampstead Cemetery. Saturday April 18th 2015
http://www.londonlive.co.uk/embed/news/2015-05-25/journey-to-find-acceptance-sponsored-walk
Matt set up the Naz and Matt Foundation in memory of his soulmate and fiancé, Naz, who passed away two days after being confronted about his sexuality by his religious parents. It was the first time that they knew their son was gay, in a relationship with Matt for 13 years and that they were planning to get married.
Dear London live
we are so glad to contact you here, we are a group of GAYs from Uganda, we are 19 members who joined up to make an association/organization here in Masaka district, to help the isolated LGTBs in this community. This is group secret, because the government of Uganda, officially illegalized gays, and lesbian relationships this has hardened our lives and it is really hard to live because no one can employ a gay, all the time we are in a hide and for this reason we cannot register our organization/ association as gays. Just knowing that you’re a gay/lesbian, you can be imprisoned for life and can never get a fair judgment, we are isolated everywhere because of what we are.
Recently we thought of ways we can get sponsorship from international gay organizations/ companies/ supporters/ philanthropists and individuals and that’s where we have landed on you. We are requesting for support so that we can run projects to make this community go forward, and help other people like us who are voiceless and also try to teach and fight for gays or Lesbians rights and letting them and every one know that is just nature not a crime, We want to create small projects that can help us raise some money, to live and help in carrying on this cause. No one can employ gays / lesbians here, there are many other people like us around here that will join us and need our help, but because LGTB community is illegalized In Uganda, they cannot come up to say they are, They keep in hide but we expect them to join. Once we all come together in a big number as LGTB community, we will be able to have a strong voice to fight for our rights.
It is for this reason we have decided to write to you to seek for help and help us make our dreams come true, but we luck funds to start up and we are living in a very poor country, We had planned chicken rearing project of a minimum budget of $11000 for the start on this matter, which we think will be helpful for our mission by generating income, but if we can raise more it will be really great, we have tried to contact very many LGTB foundations but we are not lucky yet and others don’t respond at all. We are somehow losing hope. You can contact us for more information about what we have in plan for our projects.
We will be glad to hear from you and what you offer and your advice.
Ssentume Julius – on behalf of the Group.