How Queer Ugandans are Faring a Year After the Harsh Anti-LGBTQ Law Passed
In a podcast episode, titled "Not Enough Sun," produced by Radio Workshop, one woman speaks about what it’s like to live under the albatross of one of the most draconian anti-LGTBQ laws in the world.
LGBT+ campaigners from the African Equality Foundation attend a protest opposite Westminster Abbey to coincide with leaders of thirty Commonwealth countries arriving for a Commonwealth seventy-fifth anniversary service on March 11, 2024 in London, United Kingdom.
“We’re all illegal now,” read a text to Musana (who is using an alias for protection) sent by one of her friends in May 2023, after Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni signed an incredibly harsh anti-LGBTQ+ bill into law. Musana was in Kenya, enjoying a beach holiday with her girlfriend when the news came out, turning the sunny skies of her getaway into dark clouds of fear and uncertainty, as she contemplated making a new life in Kenya or returning back home.
About a year later, Musana reflects on her decision and shares what it’s like to live in a country that isn’t just pressing her against the margins, but actively seeking her entire erasure if possible. In the first part of the two-part podcast series, “Not Enough Sun,” Musana is interviewed by her friend John (who is using an alias for protection), an LGBTQ+ reporter who responded to Radio Workshop’s call for LGBTQ+ stories last August.
“Basically, [the law] makes it so that you cannot be alive. You cannot rent. You cannot get health care. You cannot exist,” Musana shares on the podcast. For years, Uganda, a conservative Christian majority country, had been a largely anti-queer society, but conditions have worsened for queer people since the anti-gay bill was signed into law. A 20 year old was charged with aggravated homosexuality last year, and could be given the death penalty if he’s convicted.
An appeal to the constitutional court upheld large parts of the bill, ensuring the continued persecution of queer people will continue and might get even worse in the near future. “I've reached a point where I can barely say the words LGBTQ anymore because it just brings me so much pain, and it's just associated with suffering,” Musana says.
“Not Enough Sun” offers a poignant look into what it’s like to live under the albatross of one of the most draconian anti-LGBTQ laws in the world. “My entire life is evidence against me. Everybody knows. People are obligated by law to report me,” Musana says. It’s a grim testimony, one that encapsulates the lived experiences of many queer Ugandans, and indeed queer Africans.
“There's not enough sun in the world. The world is dark. The world hates you. The world wants to come for you… and they have the law on their side. Who are you in the face of that?”
Listen to “Not Enough Sun”on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
- Kenya Says It's Banning LGBTQ+ Content ›
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