Marnell, JohnCamminga, BBompani, BarbaraWairuri, Kamau2026-04-302026-04-302026-02-26Marnell, J., Camminga, B, Bompani, B., & Wairuri, K (eds.). (2026). East African Queer and Trans Displacements. Bloomsbury Academic. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350422063978-1-3504-2205-6978-1-3504-2204-9https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350422063https://hdl.handle.net/10315/43723This Open Access book is published under a CC-BY-NC-ND license.Bringing together diverse case studies and interdisciplinary perspectives, this open access collection serves as the first in-depth examination of queer and trans displacement in East Africa. The collection features original creative works by queer and trans diasporic writers and artists with first-hand experiences of displacement. The last decade has seen a sharp rise in state-sponsored homophobia and transphobia in East Africa. This includes discriminatory legislation, such as the widely condemned Anti-Homosexuality Act in Uganda, and government-initiated crackdowns, such as the 'anti-gay taskforce' launched in Tanzania in 2018. The politicisation of sexual and gender rights in the region is often presented as a moral crusade (i.e. a return to traditional/family values) and is enacted with the support of many religious and cultural leaders. It is within this context that an ever-increasing number of LGBTQI+ people are leaving their homes and seeking protection elsewhere. But East Africa cannot be reduced to a site from which LGBTQI+ displacement emanates. Several countries in the region act as either host countries or transit points, even as they produce LGBTQI+ refugees of their own. These complex social, political and legal dynamics make East Africa a productive site for theorising queer and trans displacement. The region offers insights into how, when and why LGBTQI+ Africans move, the social obstacles they face, and the different survival strategies they deploy. Despite this, research on East African queer and trans displacements remains sparse.Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/LGBTQI+East AfricansQueer displacementTransgender displacementKenyaUgandaRwandaBook