I hope you see how ridiculous this "just don't show it" is, especially coming from folks who think LGBTQ+ is all about kissing and holing hands.
A global event should not be hosted in a country, state or a city where even the organisers are unable to make adequate arrangements for the safety of all attendees and speakers.
Don't abuse their tolerance and respect their customs. The same way you'd expect someone to respect you and your house rules if you invite them home. You just have to accept that people live differently in different parts of the world, maybe it's not them that are intolerant.
I'm convinced a global tech event can be hosted in Zanzibar where everyone is welcome and safe.
Your country's law punishes being gay up to life in prison.
According to the 2007 Pew Global Attitudes Project, 95% (+-4%) of Tanzanian residents believed that homosexuality is a way of life that society should not accept, which was the seventh-highest rate of non-acceptance in the 45 countries surveyed.
And this is recent news in LGBTQ health. Tldr: state sanctioned murder of LGBTQ people https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/02/03/if-we-dont-get-service...
Maybe YOUR experiences are fine. But it's not worth taking any chances on feels when the law says 'up to life in prison'.
Shithole country is not worth coming to if you're: LGBTQ, pagan, and/or an apostate. You're basically a walking death penalty for the crime of 'existing'.
You're a guest, there are some cultural do's and dont's and holding hands in public is one of the latter, even for heterosexual couples. I don't hold hands with my girlfriend in public even though it'd be totally safe to do so, it's disrespectful because it's not the local custom to do so.
In contrast, many of my LBGT friends in European capitals fear to show affection with their partner in public, with most having faced harassment and some even assault. According to our European values it should be normal and safe to express affection to our partner in public regardless of our genders, but the reality is sadly different.