American Photography 40 Winners

Lady Tina, in the wig, and Pretty Peter are trans women who fled harsh anti LGBT laws in Uganda and now live in a safe house in Nairobi, Kenya. They live with other trans woman and keeps a low profile, only dressing as women within the privacy of the house and only very occasionally going out like that to a sympathetic bar. Both were jailed for their trans lifestyle and experienced sexual assault in prison in Uganda.

Lady Tina, in the wig, and Pretty Peter are trans women who fled harsh anti LGBT laws in Uganda and now live in a safe house in Nairobi, Kenya. They live with other trans woman and keeps a low profile, only dressing as women within the privacy of the house and only very occasionally going out like that to a sympathetic bar. Both were jailed for their trans lifestyle and experienced sexual assault in prison in Uganda. They prefer to dress and live as women but most often have to confine this to their safe house.

Trans women Olivia and Pretty are seen on the weekend in a local hotel swimming pool close to their safe house, this is one of the very few places where they can risk being themselves when no-one is watching. Olivia is sick and living in a refugee camp and Pretty plays an almost maternal role in their relationship. In this image, they waited until they were alone at the pool until moving into each others arms. They are seen comforting each other in a rare moment of public spontaneity. This kind of display of affection would draw negative attention in almost all of Kenya and the police would likely be called.

Olivia and Pretty are trans women who fled harsh anti LGBT laws in Uganda. They are photographed in Pretty’s bedroom in a safe house for trans women in Nairobi. Olivia has been using a hair remover so that she can apply her make-up. Today they will go to Church and then to a nightclub in Nairobi and they always prepare extensively for these outings. It’s not safe for them to be seen in public as trans women so they have to plan carefully, using a trusted driver and entering and exiting in as discreet a fashion as possible,