Kuchu activism, queer sex-work and “lavender marriages,” in Uganda’s virtual LGBT safe(r) spaces

Austin Bryan

Journal of Eastern African Studies, 2019, vol. 13, issue 1, 90-105

Abstract: This article builds on Michael Warner’s theory of “damaged publicness” to examine virtual queer counterpublics in Uganda. Online spaces have become a viable platform for LGBT Ugandans, locally known as kuchus, to network, organize and gain visibility. Gay “hook-up” apps, like Grindr, Scruff, and online chatrooms such as Planet Romeo provide opportunities for users to express what often cannot be expressed in public. I investigate these virtual LGBT counterpublics ethnographically through fieldwork in Kampala from June 2015 to June 2016. I argue that Uganda’s virtual queer spaces, however “private” or “public” are counterpublics, a form of space ownership bringing legitimacy to the being of “deviant” and utilized to meet specific social, cultural and economic needs.

Date: 2019
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/17531055.2018.1547258 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:rjeaxx:v:13:y:2019:i:1:p:90-105

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/rjea20

DOI: 10.1080/17531055.2018.1547258

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Eastern African Studies is currently edited by Jim Robert Brennan

More articles in Journal of Eastern African Studies from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().