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
“I lost my
family because of what I am. . . . My mom found out what I was—and
she asked me to leave.” —Natah, a lesbian living in Kampala
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.
This Is How the
Heart Beats was designed by Emerson, Wajdowicz Studios (EWS).
