Scaly Kep’na (Kinshasa, 1986) is a human rights and youth activist, musician, radio host, and founder of the Jeunialissime organization in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He works to change popular social perceptions of LGTB+ people. 

Scaly founded Jeunialissime in 2012 to support young people in his community and to inspire others to respect everyone’s human rights. The group discovered that radio was the perfect forum to confront the stigma and discrimination that still exists in Congolese society, and to allow LGBT+ youth in the DRC to speak openly about their lives and concerns. The weekly radio show Jeuniafrica, produced with the Children’s Radio Foundation and available on SoundCloud, provides a safe space for debate and dialogue in a way that is otherwise unavailable through mainstream media. The association has written many reports on how to improve the lives of LGBT+ people. Scaly’s strong presence on social media has made him a reference within this field throughout Africa and he has participated in several international conferences in order to improve and connect the LGTB+ organizations within Francophone Africa.

Image credits: Courtesy of the contributor