As an activist, it’s good to tell a story. The fact that I had never seen open communication and participation in some hate speeches that had constantly gone around, it was interesting to see organizations that we reached while distributing Bombastic Magazine react by pulling down Tweets that they had made for the day. They asked us to pull down any Tweets that were associated with them too. This got me thinking, how do we engage with these entities that are in the human rights fraternity as a community that associates with Bombastic Magazine?

Sometimes, we do these campaigns and there are unexpected reactions. Given the homophobic society, we expect 80% or a given fraction to be negative in perception and violations in this specific area where we made the delivery. A person can even see a magazine and ignore it. But the way Bombastic magazine is, from the cover pages to the language and topics, all are points of attraction. During the field distribution, leaving contacts and taking pictures for documentation was also exciting. There were some organizations which mentioned that they are pro- LGBT and related to international organizations that support LGBTIQ human rights but a magazine shook them.

Also the expectations from different editions. The edition that focused on transgender persons intrigued me by the reactions received especially on stories about binding and periods. It was more about LGBTQ individuals demystifying the myths, stereotypes and assumptions that have been fronted by the public and didn’t raise so much dust.

When it came to the magazine that focused on Lesbian, Bisexual and Queer women, hell broke loose because male parliamentarians and politicians were arguing. It raised the fact that we live and operate in a very patriarchal society. Despite the work that we have done in regards to Feminism, Womanism, the Gender Spectrum and Equality, this showed that more needs to be done because the stories being told are unique. Why would an edition that focusses on women raise so much dust and attempt to reintroduce the anti gay law? To me, that reaction was madness and went on to prove that there is a lot of work that has to be done. We are still doing it and we shall continue to do it with all those who are on board and those willing to join us.

Bombastic Magazine is here to challenge the media that has been doing a lot of character assassination. We have seen online platforms, print, radio and television present our issues in a negative way. So Bombastic magazine has been a platform that has rectified those errors and also given so much education to the different fraternities in human rights, legal, health, sports, religion and the women’s movement. We have seen progress and am so thankful. –Diane Sydney Bakuraira