We Are Kuchus

When Ugandan Parliament passed a bill criminalizing homosexual activity in 2013, I returned to Uganda to continue documenting the country's LGBTQ population, which suddenly found itself under siege and thrown into the international spotlight. The law called for sentences ranging from 14 years to life for charges of "aggravated homosexuality," and also criminalized any allies of the LGBTQ community: anyone from public health workers to landlords to taxi drivers could be tried and imprisoned for "promotion."

This work, shot from 2011 - 2015, attempts to explore the roots of homophobia and anti-gay legislation in East Africa, with a particular focus on the impacts of western colonialism.

This project was supported by multiple grants from The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. You can see more work from the project here.

From a 2011 series on Uganda's small community of LGBTQ activists — people who are defiantly public about their sexual identities and determined not to go underground — and their partners, most of whom were hiding their identities from their friends and families.

From a 2014 series, Double Lives, an attempt to address LGBTQ activists' desire for visibility while still protecting their images from local newspapers that had a history of appropriating imagery alongside misleading and hateful language.

From a series interviewing faith leaders in Kampala about their personal views on LGBTQ identity and how they interact with their congregations when discussing homosexuality.