Alice Nkom was born on January 14, 1945, in Cameroon and is one of 11 children. She attended University of Toulouse in France and the Federal University of Cameroon. Nkom has been a lawyer since 1969 and was the first Black French-speaking woman called to the bar in Cameroon.  Throughout her law career Nkom has defended low income and vulnerable people, including political prisoners, street children and women. Since 1976, she has been a stakeholder in one of the most prestigious law firms in Cameroon.

In 2003, she founded the nonprofit Association for the Defence of Homosexuality and since then has been upholding the human rights of Cameroon’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) citizens. Cameroonian law Article 347 criminalizes ‘sexual relations with a person of the same sex’, with a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment. In major cases, Nkom has defended individual homosexuals and also mounted strategic challenges to Article 347, which she argues is unconstitutional. Many international organizations, including the United Nations, have expressed concern about these laws.

Alice Nkom has supported LGBT people despite being threatened, attacked and intimidated. She has persisted to defend those that are being persecuted in spite of the difficulties she has faced. She is a lawyer putting her life on the line for others in Africa. It is clear she has the courage to stand up and speak out for LGBT minorities in spite of the difficulties she has faced.