Marc Lambert Lamba a leading LGBT rights activist in Cameroon, passed away unexpectedly on August 4th of a stroke at age 44. In 2000 Lambert founded Cameroon’s first LGBT rights organization AGALES (Association for Gays and Lesbians and Supporters). In 2005, along with 10 other men, he was arrested in police raid in gay-friendly bar The Victoire in Yaounde, the country’s capital. They endured great abuses, such as being paraded before television cameras publicly ridiculed and demonised, they were held in prison for nearly a year without trial where they were denied proper food and faced routine violence from other inmates. Lambert became the group’s advocate whilst in prison turning their case into a global cause. After their release in 2006, Lambert eschewed any opportunity to seek asylum abroad, devoting himself completely to improving conditions for sexual minorities in his home country. Cameroon criminalized same-sex sexual acts in 1970s, but rarely enforced the law until the 00’s where political changes resulted in an increase of prosecutions of people under its antigay legislation.