Abstract
Amber (which is a pseudonym) created a safe haven with friends in the homophobic landscape of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. They experienced violent attacks for being queer, and their home was eventually confiscated
CREDIT: Taboom Media, Gala Queer Archive and Mercy Thokozane Minah
THE REFLECTIONS AND experiences of queer communities in Africa are often restricted, and many don’t get an opportunity to share their stories. This is what inspired Taboom Media to collaborate with the Gala Queer Archive to release an anthology – Love, Trouble – which was published at the end of 2024 and is part of a queer activism series.
The anthology contains 22 illustrated stories of African human rights defenders who share why they fight for LGBTQ+ equality. Most of the activists have faced resistance to their human rights work, violations and attempts to keep them quiet by restricting their voices in the media.
More widely, Gala preserves and disseminates the history and experiences of LGBTQ+ people in South Africa, while Taboom Media shines a light on taboos globally.
Brian Pellot, a co-founder of Taboom Media, is a media trainer and consultant who works to improve coverage of human rights topics in Africa.
He explained that in January 2021, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the organisation gathered 30 activists from 18 African countries for a week-long virtual media advocacy workshop to further LGBTQ+ equality.
“As our time together came to a close, we realised we weren’t done sharing our stories,” he told Index. “We all wanted to better understand what inspired our fellow activists to join this collective fight for equality.”
A queer archive started taking shape, so Taboom reached out to Gala to see how they might collaborate.
Jacob Keita works in The Gambia to raise awareness about LGBTQ+ rights, after his childhood friend Sheikh faced relentless harassment for his femininity, and eventually lost his life to a drug overdose
CREDIT: Taboom Media, Gala Queer Archive and Gavin Kendo
“We landed on the idea of commissioning queer and ally artists to produce original illustrations for each story, packaging everything together in a book,” said Pellot.
Theo the Duchess, a transwoman, was arrested in Zimbabwe based on their gender expression. In their cell, they were verbally abused and threatened with rape. They drew on their knowledge from human rights workshops to get out, and successfully sued the police
CREDIT: Taboom Media, Gala Queer Archive and Brian Kamau
Sunny (not his real name) was forced to leave Dubai after an HIV diagnosis, and told to return to his native Egypt. Being outed as gay in Egypt is a constant source of terror for him, and he now works for a queer advocacy group
CREDIT: Taboom Media, Gala Queer Archive and Elliot Jaudz Oliver
The first anthology, Hopes and Dreams That Sound Like Yours: Stories of Queer Activism in Sub-Saharan Africa, was published in English later that year. In 2022, with a new group of activists, they published Courage to Share: Queer Activism in Africa, in English and French.
Whispers and Shouts came in 2023, followed by the fourth volume Love, Trouble in 2024. The book delves into the experiences of LGBTQ+ activists and other members of queer communities who share stories that are not often documented in the mainstream media.
The book highlights the wideranging harassment that queer activists face – both socially and through legal mechanisms. Some tell stories of being bullied at school, being disowned by their families or being subjected to “conversion therapy” by religious leaders. Others speak of sexual violence and abuse.
Some have been arrested for their activism, and many speak of rising above this darkness and finding strength in their community and activism.
Pellot said it was critical to drive home the message that safe visibility for queer communities was vital in all societies.
“Sometimes this means publishing stories anonymously. Sometimes it means waving a flag in front of parliament. Each country has a different legal and social context,” he said.
“Wherever powerful leaders try to suppress and erase queer existence, we must defy this censorship – with our stories.”