Uganda: Party-style Pride after victory in court
A hundred-plus people attended Uganda’s third annual Pride festivities, held yesterday on a beach in Entebbe.
The mood was celebratory, because the Constitutional Court had just overturned Uganda’s harsh Anti-Homosexuality Act on Aug. 1.
Dancing 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.
“This event is to bring us together. Everyone was in hiding before because of the anti-homosexuality law,” organiser Sandra Ntebi told AFP. “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.
Gay men and women face frequent harassment and threats of violence, but activists celebrated openly on Saturday.
“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.
One pair of activists waved a rainbow flag with a slogan appealing for people to “join hands” to end the “genocide” of homosexuals. There were few police in attendance and no protestors.
Although 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.
“We are here to walk for those who can’t walk, who are afraid to walk,” said Kimbugwe. “We are here to celebrate our rights.”
From Frank Mugisha, leader of Sexual Minorities Uganda, on Twitter:
Pride Uganda 2014 successfully concluded. Thanx to Uganda Police, especially Entebbe police.
Thank you, all my friends who supported Uganda Pride.
Related articles
- (2014) LGBT Ugandans Hold Pride Parade In the Wake of Anti-gay Law’s Invalidation (towleroad.com)
- (2014) Uganda: Why celebrating Pride matters so much (76crimes.com)
- (2013) In a small step forward, Ugandan pride parade is peaceful (76crimes.com)
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(2012) Tale of Uganda pride: rainbow colors, worries, arrest (76crimes.com)
- (2012) Photos: Police raid Uganda pride celebration (76crimes.com)
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Colin Stewart posted: “A hundred-plus people attended Uganda’s third annual Pride festivities, held yesterday on a beach in Entebbe.
The mood was celebratory, because the Constitutional Court had just overturned Uganda’s harsh Anti-Homosexuality Act on Aug. 1.
From Ag”