A photograph to support the Ugandan LGBTQ+ community

A sale of prints produced by some of the creative industry's leading minds opened yesterday in support of Uganda's LGBTQ+ community. Project Uganda is curated by MQBMBQ, an initiative to protest the Ugandan government's new law imposing the death penalty for «aggravated homosexuality.» The MQBMBQ project was created by Jordan Anderson with the aim of promoting discourse, images and stories of the BIPOC LGTBQ+ community  in the arts, which is why, together with DeLovie Kwagala's charity fundraising group, #hashtagwhatnext, they are working to shed light on «this barbaric, senseless, oppressive and inhumane law that criminalises the existence of many people,» which is endangering the lives of the LGTBQ+ community in Uganda. The sale is a unique way to show empathy and support alongside Anderson and Kwagala, and includes photographs taken by artists and activists such as Clifford Prince King, Luca Khouri, Raphael Chatelain, Suleika Mueller and Ramie Ahmed. 

Scandebergs

Raphael Chatelain

Clifford Prince King

Mar + Vin

Ramie Ahmed

«There is discrimination in hospitals, the display and parade of bruised and chained queer bodies after mob raids,» DeLovie Kwagala said of declaring a state of emergency, «cases of corrective rape and many deaths.» For the activist, fighting for the cause is increasingly important, especially to spark conversations «outside one's bubble.» Passed on 2 May, the death penalty law was proposed last February, following - according to government reports - an apparent «grooming and recruitment of school children into homosexuality.» The law has yet to be signed, but the consequences it has brought among Uganda's LGTBQ+ communities are already being felt; many have been kicked out of their homes, fired from their jobs, or prevented from accessing their finances and hormone treatments. Prints put on sale to protest the violence and discrimination that BIPOC LGTBQ+ communities in Uganda are suffering are available on the MQBMBQ website for the duration of the month. All profits will be donated to #hastagwhatnext.