South African Deputy Minister Mmapaseka Steve Letsike received global recognition at the second International Pride Awards, held during WorldPride Amsterdam on Wednesday.
Letsike was honoured as the 2026 Emerging Leader, one of five changemakers recognised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and ILGA World.
She received the award from fellow South African Graeme Reid, the current United Nations Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The awards celebrate individuals and organisations whose courage, leadership and commitment are advancing equality for LGBTIQ+ people around the world.
Recognition for a Lifetime of LGBTIQ+ Advocacy
Serving as Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Letsike has built a longstanding legacy of feminist, LGBTIQ+ human rights and HIV activism.
Before entering Parliament in 2024, she founded Access Chapter 2, served as Chairperson of the Commonwealth Equality Network, co-chaired the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC), and chaired the National Task Team addressing LGBTIQ+ hate crimes.
In announcing the award, ILGA World said Letsike had brought her “grassroots experience into government to address discrimination, violence, unequal access to public health services and the underrepresentation of LGBTIQ+ people in political life.”
The organisation added that “Her rise in national politics is expanding LGBTIQ+ representation and demonstrating how movement leadership can shape policy and institutional change.”
‘We Cannot Squander the Freedom That We Have’
In her acceptance speech, Letsike paid tribute to the LGBTIQ+ pioneers who paved the way for her.
She described herself as “a black queer woman standing on the shoulders of the giants like Simon Nkoli, Beverley Ditsie, Phumi Mtetwa, Edwin Cameron, many people in South Africa, but also of Africans like David Kato and many others in the global north and in the global south.”
She asserted that “for so many years, LGBTI people have been silenced, and that silence has wrought injustice, has broken families, has divided humanity.”
Letsike said this underscored the importance of supporting queer people who “occupy space” in politics by taking on leadership roles to drive meaningful change. She added that “we cannot squander the freedom that we have.”
International Pride Awards Celebrate Global Changemakers
The awards formed part of the opening day of the Amsterdam WorldPride Human Rights Conference, which runs until Friday.
The other 2026 International Pride Award recipients were:
Movement Building in the Face of Hostility Award: COC Nederland (The Netherlands)
Founded in 1946, COC Nederland is the world’s oldest existing LGBTIQ+ rights organisation. It strengthens grassroots LGBTIQ+ movements confronting criminalisation, violence, discrimination and shrinking civic space. Working with more than 200 organisations in over 35 countries, it supports leadership development, organisational capacity, fundraising and international advocacy while amplifying local voices in international human rights forums. Its work has helped build more connected, inclusive and resilient equality movements, including organisations serving lesbian, bisexual and queer women, as well as trans and intersex people.
Celebrating Diverse Lives Award: Aggie Dennett Harmon (Uganda)
Ugandan trans pastor, advocate and community leader Aggie Dennett Harmon supports LGBTIQ+ people—particularly trans women—facing violence, displacement and exclusion. She co-founded Talented Youth Community Fellowship Uganda, a trans women-led organisation offering psychosocial support, trauma-informed care, peer networks and empowerment programmes. She also founded the Nange Healing and Harm Reduction Center, a safe and affirming space for trans people and people who use drugs. Through her ministry, advocacy, storytelling and books, she promotes healing and belonging while helping reconcile faith and queerness.
Lifelong Pursuit of Equality Award: Marcela Dimonty (Chile)
Marcela Dimonty is a Chilean trans activist whose life and advocacy connect the repression experienced by LGBTIQ+ people during Chile’s military dictatorship with the exclusion still faced by older trans people. After taking part in the country’s first LGBT protest in 1973 and surviving detention and torture by state forces, she transformed those experiences into decades of testimony, artistic expression and human rights advocacy. Her work has strengthened calls for memory, truth and reparation while inspiring new generations of activists.
Extraordinary Ally Award: Dr Satendra Singh (India)
Dr Satendra Singh is an Indian disability rights advocate, medical educator and ally who has challenged the pathologisation of intersex and other LGBTQ+ people in healthcare and medical education. His advocacy contributed to a 2020 recommendation by the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights to ban medically unnecessary intersex surgeries. He also developed an Inclusive Language Audit Tool, advanced trans-affirmative medical competencies and supported India’s first student-led medical school club focused on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics.
