“We are here to walk for those who can’t walk, who are afraid to walk,” said Kimbugwe. (Photo courtesy of Twitter and PinkDotSG)Īlthough organizers had expected more than 500 people to attend the event, fewer than 200 turned up, said gay activist Moses Kimbugwe, who noted that many were afraid of possible violence following a court’s decision earlier this month to jettison an anti-gay law that had wide support among Ugandans. There were few police in attendance and no protestors.Ĭelebrating Pride Uganda. One pair of activists waved a rainbow flag with a slogan appealing for people to “join hands” to end the “genocide” of homosexuals. “Since I discovered I was gay I feared coming out, but now I have the courage after the law was thrown out,” said Alex Musoke, one of more than 100 people at the event. Gay men and women face frequent harassment and threats of violence, but activists celebrated openly on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Twitter via Gay Star News) Uganda Pride showed that not all Ugandan Christians are homophobic. “It is a happy day for all of us, getting together,” Ntebi said, noting that police had granted permission for the invitation-only “Uganda Pride” rally. Everyone was in hiding before because of the anti-homosexuality law,” organiser Sandra Ntebi told AFP. (Photos courtesy of Facebook)ĭancing and waving rainbow-coloured flags, Ugandan activists held their first gay pride rally Saturday since the overturning of a tough anti-homosexuality law, which authorities have appealed. Pirate-style party-goers at Uganda Pride.
The mood was celebratory, because the Constitutional Court had just overturned Uganda’s harsh Anti-Homosexuality Act on Aug. Clearly, more work needs to be done.A hundred-plus people attended Uganda’s third annual Pride festivities, held yesterday on a beach in Entebbe.
While the Beach Pride activities and the release of all marchers from the police station signify optimism for LGBTIQ rights in this African country, the context of criminalization that was encapsulated by the police raid and arrest of queer civilians, as well as the continued existence of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in our parliament-and the recent passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Act (2014) by our members of parliament and the president-still pose significant challenges to the full actualization of this optimism. I juxtapose the beautiful, brazen bodies on colorful display during this carnivalesque queer spectacle with a discussion of Ugandan nationhood as it is cast in a visual bodily register that is widely imagined as a beautiful black, African heterosexual body. By briefly describing the commingling of gender conformers, gender benders, and gender blenders-from the protest to their arrest and eventual release-I read the meanings of this moment of queer protests in a danger zone. AbstractHow does one read the gendered bodies on display at a queer pride event in any context? In this article, I give my interpretation of the actions of celebrants and protesters who participated in Uganda’s first Beach Pride activities held in August 2012 at the botanical gardens on the shores of Lake Victoria.