This Is How The Heart Beats: LGBTQ East Africa

by Jake Naughton, Jacob Kushner

Part of a groundbreaking series of photobooks on LGBTQ communities around the world, a moving portrait of a group of queer East Africans who fled their home countries for the United States

Same-sex relations are illegal in thirty-eight African countries, often under colonial-era laws. One of the most dangerous countries has been Uganda, which is attempting to pass an Anti-Homosexuality Bill (commonly known as the "Kill the Gays" bill) that seeks to broaden the criminalization of same-sex relations, making it punishable by life imprisonment and, in some instances, death.

This Is How the Heart Beats is a portrait by acclaimed photographer Jake Naughton of a group of East Africans who have fled unimaginable abuse in their homeland for the United States. One couple, Sulait and his boyfriend, had been tortured in prison in the months after the anti-homosexuality bill had been proposed and, on their release, had made their way to Kenya, where they were attacked by a mob of machete-wielding men. It was only after years in hiding that many such refugees have been resettled in the United States.

With an introduction by journalist Jacob Kushner and a foreword by Ugandan queer activist Ruth Muganzi, This Is How the Heart Beats is a record of LGBTQ forced migration unlike any other, following this community from its darkest moments to an uncertain future. At a time of great uncertainty for both LGBTQ and refugee rights, this work illuminates the stakes for those at the center of a firestorm.

160 pages, Paperback

Published February 4, 2020

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

One time during Pride, my friend and I walked past an art installation called the 'zero flags project'. We laughed and joked a bit, because there were actually dozens of flags on the square, until we read the description. It told us that these were all the flags of countries where being gay was illegal, often punishable by jailtime or even the death penalty, so the art installation would only be complete once it would reach zero flags. Surrounded by more than 60 flags, it suddenly wasn't so funny anymore.

Uganda is one of those countries where people can be sentenced to death for being queer and where homophobia is so widespread that many queer people deal with violence and discrimination from employers, neighbors and their family. This book told some of the many stories of LGBT+ people living in Uganda or just outside Uganda as refugees. The pictures (sometimes beautiful shots, sometimes simpler portraits) give an idea of their daily lives.

The pictures and stories made me think about resilience and community, but also about how important it is that we in the western countries where being queer is more accepted, should always remember that Pride is a protest and that even though we have accomplished a lot, the work is far from done.

[K.C. Norton · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

This is less joyful than some of the other books in the series -- understandably so, given the content. That said, I didn't feel like the tone of this book was one of pity or objectification. If anything, it's a reminder of how the pervasive hate and homophobia/transphobia in the US and the West impacts other parts of the world. Some of the people included here come from rural areas in Africa, and more than one of those people mentions that family members who do not have access to the vitriol promoted on Facebook, social media, or in churches with American ministers are more accepting than those who do. I also felt that the photographer's approach invited empathy more than sympathy or pity.

Saying that we need projects like this to "humanize" people living very differently gives me the ick, but these photoshoots give individual faces and specific stories to experiences that we might otherwise discuss in a more general way. Comparing the individual lives and experiences of the subjects from the installment from Japan with this book paints a more complete picture of common experiences, and how cultural norms (and the lingering effects of colonialism) impact people in the broader LGBT+ community.

[Kathrine Bruflot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Den får fire stjerner fordi den er viktig. Det er viktig å sette søkelys på situasjonen til LHBT-folk i Øst Afrika, og å vise hvem de faktisk er, ikke bare tall og statistikk, men å vise ekte mennesker og ekte historier.
Bildene er uttrykksfulle, og tar meg med til et Uganda jeg kjenner godt.
Jeg hadde nok likt mer tekst, og kanskje mer tekst til hvert bilde.