Kenya: Meet the people behind the first Pride at a refugee camp in Kenya

A colorful Pride festival is set to take place for the first time in one of the world’s most infamous and homophobic refugee camps.

The Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya is the third largest in the world. It became famous for hosting the ‘Lost Boys of Sudan’. Last week, it also became the first refugee camp in the world to host a TEDx event.

It’s also home to about 200 refugees who identify as LGBTIQ, many of them from neighboring Uganda. The Ugandan refugees fled from their country after the government tried to introduce a ‘Kill the Gays’ Bill.

LGBTIQ have faced violence and death threats for years at Kakuma, but they hope this week’s Pride event will help raise awareness about the community.

It’s a risky business trying to organize a Pride festival in a country where gay sex is illegal. It can also be hard when you’re surrounded by people who label you as ‘demonic’.

But that’s exactly what Mbazira Moses, executive director of Rainbow Flag Kakuma, is trying to do. Read more via Gay Star News