A posed portrait of Kuteesa (left) and Ernest (right) who met at Kakuma refugee camp in north western Kenya. Kuteesa identifies as a transgender woman and Ernest as gay. Both fled their home country of Uganda seeking sanctuary in Kenya as refugees. They found neither safety, nor hope. Even the refugee camp, run by the UN is not safe. They suffer death threats and discrimination from others in the camp. Moving around is not safe as Kuteesa explains: “Whenever we try to fetch water, there are so many people outside there who are not gays because we lack piped water in our home, even going out to buy some food; the shops don’t sell to us. They refuse to sell to you because you are gay and that is why we no longer purchase some things.” Even seeking health care is not safe. Kuteesa says “We are so far from the hospitals and so can’t walk there because if you do, you can be stoned to death. Even if you are sick, you have to just suffer in case you fail to get someone to escort you to the hospitals… Everywhere you go, people ridicule you, and we are so misery now.” Both hope to be resettled: “I would like for us to have enough freedom to live freely without having to hide our feelings in public just like it is in some foreign countries” says Kuteesa. Kenya, October 2017. The Kakuma Refugee Camp is located in north western Kenya and houses more than 180,000 refugees. The camp is located in a semi-arid desert with temperatures over 30C. LGBTQI+ refugees are a minority; approximately 190 total with 120 Ugandans, and are often targeted by the wider refugee community. The camp, run by the UNHCR, provides food and medical support, however rations meant for a month typically last just two weeks. Treatment facilities are located miles away, and transport is not provided, posing a challenge for those with HIV / AIDS requiring life-saving medication. While in many places, there has been great progress in recent years in the movement for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or intersex (LGBTQI+) rights, including an increasing recognition of same-sex marriage, nearly 2.8 billion people live in countries where identifying as LGBTI is subject to rampant discrimination, criminalization, and even death. Same-sex acts are illegal in 76 countries; in some countries, this can result in being sentenced to death. Behind these statistics, there individuals with unique, often harrowing stories. Where Love Is Illegal was created to tell those stories. Robin Hammond/NOOR for Witness Change

Kuteesa & Ernest /

“I am Kuteesa and my husband is called Ernest. We met here in Kakoma, a refugee camp. I started in Nairobi then came here and met my man. We came here expecting a change but we haven’t seen any but have gotten so many problems in our marriage. Because we had gone to the Clinic 7 hospital one day and met a group of Sudanese who shouted when they saw us and even brought tires and firewood saying they wanted to burn us. They ended up beating me and my husband. We were out of hope when the UN car came and took us to clinic 7. But UN officials just left us there yet we were so hungry and even the doctor that had to attend to us was absent.

We were at the hospital and the doctor who attends to gays was absent. We were so hungry and decided to board a motorcycle back to our home because even the doctor who tried to help us gave us expired lubricants and condoms. The motorcyclist took us back home and our friends paid him. Right now I am suffering from anaemia but have no treatment; I have no money to go to the hospital so I just sit home and suffer from here.”

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