Story

Uganda Pride 2014

A Pride-goer holds up a rainbow flag before the march. Many of the LGBT Ugandans in attendance wore masks to protect their identities. Image by Daniella Zalcman. Uganda, 2014.

A crowd gets ready for the march. Image by Daniella Zalcman. Uganda, 2014.

About a hundred people marched through the Entebbe Botanical Gardens during the climax of the day's celebrations. Image by Daniella Zalcman. Uganda, 2014.

Prominent LGBT-rights activist Kasha Nabagesera was at the front of the pride march. Image by Daniella Zalcman. Uganda, 2014.

Pride day celebrants. Image by Daniella Zalcman. Uganda, 2014.

Activist Bad Black poses for a portrait during Pride celebrations. Image by Daniella Zalcman. Uganda, 2014.

On the bus from Kampala to Entebbe the morning of Pride, an activist wears a button that says "Kuchu," a Swahili word that loosely translates to "queer" used by the LGBT community. Image by Daniella Zalcman. Uganda, 2014.

A defiant Pride-goer poses for a portrait on the beach. Image by Daniella Zalcman. Uganda, 2014.

Attendees took a bread to swim in Lake Victoria. Image by Daniella Zalcman. Uganda, 2014.

Signs carried by activists and attendees during the Pride march. Image by Daniella Zalcman. Uganda, 2014.

Local children gathered to watch Pride celebrations, though perhaps thanks to cooperation and surveillance from local police the public didn't intervene. Image by Daniella Zalcman. Uganda, 2014.

Activists hang off of a car leading the Pride march, waving flags and blasting music. Image by Daniella Zalcman. Uganda, 2014.

Exhausted LGBT-rights activist Moses collapses on the grass at the end of the day's festivities. Image by Daniella Zalcman. Uganda, 2014.

A Pride attendee waves a rainbow flag as the sun goes down. Image by Daniella Zalcman. Uganda, 2014.

Barely a week after Uganda’s Constitutional Court struck down the infamous Anti-Homosexuality Act on a procedural technicality, the LGBT community held their third annual Pride celebration in Entebbe, on the banks of Lake Victoria. While activists were reluctant to call the ruling a victory — particularly because the court decision failed to address the constitutionality of the law itself — taking the AHA off the books was certainly a first step in improving life for sexual minorities in Uganda and injecting hope into a strengthening human rights movement.

David Bahati, the MP responsible for authoring the law, announced that he plans to reintroduce a new iteration of the bill in the current session of Parliament. But for now, sexual health organizations have resumed services, support groups are meeting again, and even a few LGBT-friendly bars and nightclubs are reopening their doors as well. These photos from August 9 mark a turning point in the evolution of Ugandan LGBT rights.