More than 20 000 people marched through Johannesburg on Saturday to celebrate Pride, singing, dancing and making their support clear for LGBTQI+ communities across Africa who cannot be open safely and whose relationships are criminalised.
Swali, face coated in glitter, draped in a Ugandan flag, recounted how he had fled his country in 2021 while on bail, having been arrested when his landlady caught him having sex with his boyfriend. Uganda introduced one of the world’s harshest anti-gay laws in May, including the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality”. Same-sex relations were already illegal in Uganda, as they are in more than 30 African countries.
“Our intention today is to march for Uganda for LGBT communities in Africa that can’t march for themselves,” said Johannesburg Pride organiser Kaye Ally.