Panzi

Panzi (b. Thom Hansen in 1953) is an American gay activist.

Hansen was educated at Pace University, where he studied business and accounting; thereafter he began working as a financial analyst, a business manager in the textile industry and an actor. He went on to establish his own real estate management firm which he ran for 10 years and is currently a Vice President in the International Division of a major direct marketing firm. Hansen is openly gayand has been involved in the LGBT community since the early '70s.

Imperial Court System

Panzi joined the Imperial Court of New York in 1993 and was elected to serve as its Empress XII "The Empress of Loyalty and Laughter" between 1998–99 and President of the Board of Directors from 2003–2006. Panzi also served as the Executive Secretary on the International Court Council, which oversees over 70 local Imperial Courts in the United States, Canada and Mexico from 1997 to 2007. In August 2007 he was elected President of the Council at the Hamilton-Wentworth, Canada meeting of the International Court Council.

Panzi Hospital

Panzi Hospital was founded in 1999 in Bukavu, the capital of the Sud-Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It specializes in treating survivors of violence, the large majority of whom have been sexually abused. After years of military rape in South Kivu, there is increased civilian adoption of sexual violence.

The Panzi Hospital is managed by Communauté des Eglises de Pentecôte en Afrique Centrale (CEPAC, the Pentecostal Churches in Central Africa), itself founded by the Swedish Pentecostal Mission in 1921. Director Dr. Denis Mukwege has been operating on survivors of sexual violence for over a decade, and is one of only two doctors qualified to perform the reconstructive surgery. He published an analysis of the sexual violence crisis in eastern DRC in PLoS Medicine in Dec. 2009, based on his extensive, first-hand experience. Dr. Mukwege is the recipient of the UN 2008 Human Rights Award and the 2014 Sakharov Prize, and has been nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Ross Kemp

Ross James Kemp (born 21 July 1964) is an English actor, author and BAFTA award-winning investigative journalist who rose to prominence in the role of Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Since 2006, Kemp has received international recognition as an investigative journalist for his critically acclaimed and award-winning documentary series.

Acting career

Early career

After training at Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art Kemp received his equity card appearing at the Palace Theatre, Westcliff-on-Sea alongside actors John Thaw and Richard Wilson (Scottish actor). Other roles included, for example, Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) training films and Graham Lodsworth in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale Farm (now Emmerdale). He then made guest appearances in episodes of London's Burning and Birds of a Feather. He was in a film called Playing Away in 1987 in a minor role alongside Neil Morrissey.

EastEnders

His most famous role to date is that of hardman Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Kemp made his debut in February 1990. On-screen, Kemp, as Grant, was often at the centre of EastEnders' plots, amongst them abusive marriages to Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) and Tiffany Mitchell (Martine McCutcheon), and the "Sharongate" storyline, that saw Grant's brother Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) conduct an affair with his wife.