Here and there, subtle signals emerged from the crowd, like imperceptible messages. A sidelong glance, a wink. On the evening of Saturday, November 22, two women’s bodies met and brushed against each other in front of the main stage at Nyege Nyege, East Africa’s largest electronic music festival, in Uganda. On the outskirts of Jinja, on the northern shore of Lake Victoria, this seemingly ordinary sensual moment was also an act of rebellion, courage or madness.

In early 2023, following a call from the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, the main organization overseeing Islam in Uganda, demonstrations condemning homosexuality took place across the country. A few months later, at the end of May, the country, which has been led for 40 years by President Yoweri Museveni, aged 81, ratified one of the world’s most repressive laws against homosexuals.

It introduced the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality,” meaning any same-sex relations that occur within a relationship involving hierarchy, authority or coercion.

It also imposed sentences of up to 20 years in prison for the “promotion of homosexuality,” including the publication or sharing of homosexual content online. Authorities further encouraged denunciation, with those who refused to report facing up to five years in prison. Following the enactment of the law, summary arrests and beatings became increasingly common.

‘I am scared, I am exhausted’

In this atmosphere of surveillance and repression, the Nyege Nyege festival, held every autumn, stands out as a rare moment when gay people still dared to be visible in public, even if discretion remains essential.

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