I juxtapose the beautiful, brazen bodies on colorful display during this carnivalesque queer spectacle with a discussion of Ugandan nationhood as it is cast in a visual bodily register that is widely imagined as a beautiful black, African heterosexual body. By briefly describing the commingling of gender conformers, gender benders, and gender blenders-from the protest to their arrest and eventual release-I read the meanings of this moment of queer protests in a danger zone. AbstractHow does one read the gendered bodies on display at a queer pride event in any context? In this article, I give my interpretation of the actions of celebrants and protesters who participated in Uganda’s first Beach Pride activities held in August 2012 at the botanical gardens on the shores of Lake Victoria.
