HAPPENING NOW: LGBT Nigerians Jailed After Passage of New Anti-Gay Law

Contents:

• TOM HOLLAND’S GAY SEX SCENE 'THE CROWD ROOM' DEFEND BY FANS
• NAMIBIAN PARLIAMENT APPROV ANTI-GAY LAW SPE URT LG
• OPN: NIGERIA IS A LD-BLOOD UNTRY FOR GAY MEN – I HAVE THE SRS TO PROVE
• LGBT RIGHTS AI: WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?
• HAPPENING NOW: LGBT NIGERIANS JAILED AFTER PASSAGE OF NEW ANTI-GAY LAW
• 5 SAFT PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2019 (AND THE MOST DANGERO)
• GAY IN NIGERIA: LGBT LIFE IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST HOMOPHOBIC NATNS
• THE GAY MARRIAGE THAT BROKE THE NIGERIAN INTER
• 'SEX EDUTN'S' ERIC EFFNG IS SPIRATN TO NIGERIA'S GAYS, SAYS ACTIVIST
• ‘I WAS THE FIRST PERSON TO COME OUT AS GAY ON LIVE TV NIGERIA’

TOM HOLLAND’S GAY SEX SCENE 'THE CROWD ROOM' DEFEND BY FANS

Tom HollandFans of Brish actor Tom Holland have e to his fense after some social media ers were seemgly upset that the latt episo of his Apple TV+ seri The Crowd Room featured gay the scene, Holland’s character go to a club wh heavy black eyeler and all black. ”A lot of other ers, however, seemed very nfed over the backlash, pecially sce Spir-Man actors Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield have also played gay person wrote, “Watchg agile cishet men have breakdowns over the reason Tom Holland is trendg is sweet we to me.

I wanted to start meangful nversatns around genr norms and masculy that speak specifilly to our reali as gay men wh a culture that is poisonoly patriarchal and eply homophobic. Agast a backdrop of adly anti-gay vlence, A Nasty Boy dared to be a haven for gay men Nigeria and, no time, received ternatnal attentn through CNN, BBC, The Guardian, The Enomist, Vogue, and others. And yet, even this gome attack pal parison to the fatal btaly many Nigerian gay men have too often experienced the form of lynchgs or pillory wh tir before they’re set on fire and burnt alive—not for terrorism or worse, but for beg gay, for beg human, a sperately homophobic untry.

A 2017 survey by The Iniative for Equal Rights (TIERS), a Nigerian-based human rights anizatn, showed 90% of Nigerians support the ntued enforcement of Nigeria’s anti-gay laws. Image source, Getty ImagIn the latt sign of risg homophobia different Ain untri, a Kenyan opposn MP is leadg a mpaign for parliament to further crimalise the untry's small LGBTQ muny.

NAMIBIAN PARLIAMENT APPROV ANTI-GAY LAW SPE URT LG

Gee Peter Kaluma's move after neighbourg Uganda adopted a tough new anti-gay law, rejectg threats by US Print Joe Bin to impose sanctns and travel rtrictns on "anyone volved ser human rights ab". "We want to prohib everythg to do wh homosexualy, " Mr Kaluma tells me, addg that his bill will be much broar than the legislatn passed by Uganda's parliament and approved by Print Yoweri Meveni May.

OPN: NIGERIA IS A LD-BLOOD UNTRY FOR GAY MEN – I HAVE THE SRS TO PROVE

The Ugandan law is regard as one of the harsht anti-LGBTQ laws the propos life imprisonment for anyone nvicted of homosexualy, and the ath penalty for so-lled aggravated s, which clu havg gay sex wh someone below the age of 18 or where someone be fected wh a life-long illns such as the other si of the ntent, MPs Ghana earlier this month unanimoly voted favour of amendments to the untry's anti-gay legislatn, phg closer to beg enacted to law. Though ls harsh than Uganda's new law, the Promotn of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Fay Valu Bill propos a three-year prison sentence for anyone who intifi as LGBTQ and a 10-year sentence for anyone who promot homosexualy. Gay sex is already illegal Kenya, but the ernment n also be tolerant of gay people - for example, has given asylum to people om other Ain untri, cludg Uganda, who faced persecutn their home untri bee of their sexual orientatn.

Image source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Many Kenyans believe that gay rights are agast their relign - whether Christian or MlimAlthough the meetg Uganda was billed as an attempt to protect the "sovereignty" of Ain stat, was actually -sponsored by an Amerin Christian right-wg anisatn, Fay Watch Internatnal (FWI) Kapya Kaoma, a Zambian prit the Anglin Church and an amic at Boston Universy the US, says Ain untri are beg targeted by FWI and siar US-based anisatns, and that the impact of s lobbyg has been "horrible and humane" parts of Ai, fuellg what he lls "ant homophobia". "It is one thg to say: 'I don't agree wh you beg gay', but we didn't have the ant one, where policians now are sayg: 'You go to jail for life, you go to jail for talkg about beg gay, you go to jail bee you're livg wh your fellow woman', " Dr Kaoma says.

"It sensis children to sex, " she Slater also quot om the manual, cludg l which say that facilators of lsons should have "a ntral, acceptg attu towards homosexualy".

LGBT RIGHTS AI: WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?

Anyone who speaks out support of, meets wh, or participat a group advotg for the rights of lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and tersex (LGBTI) people also risks 10 years prison. Jo here and take actn to ensure that everyone gets to have the right to too many Ain untri ntue to monize and crimalise homosexualy to this the world ntu to try and be more acceptg of people om all walks of life, there are still 69 untri where same-sex relatnships are still nsired to be crime. Nkoli’s sexualy almost st him his posn as the secretary of Congrs of South Ain Stunts(COSAS), many of the members of the COSAS movement had lack of unrstandg or acceptance of homosexualy.

Succeedg this, 1982 Nkoli joed the Gay and Lbian Associatn of South Ai (GASA) as one of the few black members of the anisatn efforts of tergratg his the a Nkoli and fellow Black members endured a seri of racial microaggrsns as part GASA, he went on to start a branch of GASA known as the Saturday Group for people who were exclud by the ma prison 1984 for treason alongsi other anti-apartheid activists  the Delmas Trial, the anisatn cled to support him, statg that the charg were not “gay matters” his release, Nkoli tablished the Gay and Lbian Organisatn of Wswatersrand (GLOW) alongsi fellow LGBTQ+ activist Beverly Dsie.

From a very young age, UK-based Cameroonian blogger and LGBTQ+ activist Bandy Kiki, knew that she was Kiki first moved to the UK, she feared for her life whenever she would attend gathergs wh members of the LGBTQ+ muny bee her native untry homosexualy is a crimal offence which n be punishable by maximum of five years Febary 2021 at least 24 people have been arrted and forced to unrgo an anal eximatn and HIV tt  Cameroon. She is a spokperson for Rabow Equaly Hub, which fights for the rights of queer people the April 2021 she publicly stood up for two transgenr women om her home untry who were arrted at a rtrant for wearg women’s clothg and charged for “attempted homosexualy.

HAPPENING NOW: LGBT NIGERIANS JAILED AFTER PASSAGE OF NEW ANTI-GAY LAW

In 2017, he started A Nasty Boy magaze, Nigeria’s first publitn that was dited solely to the LGBTQ+ members wh the purpose of celebratg and regnisg their liv and experienc the wt Ain he was fally startg to live his tth universy, Akon was met wh a harsh realy after his iend outed him to a mp he scribed as wagg a “war agast homosexualy. Popular thor and gay rights Kenyan activist Byanvanga Waaa first ma his mark when he publilly me out his article entled “I am a homosexual, Mum” later said the article was a missg chapter om his 2011 tobgraphy “One Day I Will Wre About This Place, ” spired by the monizatn of homosexualy on the Ain ntent. ”This g out piece by Waaa not only created nversatns about homosexualy his native untry of Kenya where homosexualy still remas illegal, but lead him to be clud on the TIME 100 as one of the most fluencial people the world.

In 2010, Mugisha was among the people who succsfully took Ugandan newspaper, Rollg Stone, to urt after they published nam, pictur, home and work addrs of people who were gay for them to be 2013, Mugisha opposed the crimalisatn of homosexualy Uganda. When she me out to her fay, Biubwa was kicked out of her home and told to only return once she was a “normal person” has been part of and morated panels Kenya about gay rights. In an say for Global Cizen, Donkor scrib that he knew he was gay om a young age and tried his bt to supprs was only at universy where he started to accept himself for what he tly was and began to be cur about anizatns that help people like him, and to his shock there were no LGBTQ+ anizatns fuelled him to start his own anizatn orr to be a bean of light for people who feel like him.

Many Ains who are not gay or bisexual – sexually attracted only to people of the same sex or of both sex – claim that beg gay or bisexual is not acceptable for relig and cultural reasons. Collectively, the strsful factors crease the likelihood of mental health problems and low life-satisfactn among gay and bisexual relative to heterosexual dividuals.

5 SAFT PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2019 (AND THE MOST DANGERO)

We asked 89 gay and bisexual Nigerian men to fill qutnnair that asked them about self-stigma due to beg gay and bisexual, qualy of life and the pg strategi they ed.

In an attempt to help terme the worst plac for gay travelers, the duo created the 2019 LGBTQ+ Danger Inx, rankg the world’s most dangero—and saft—untri for gay travelers. The journalists looked at the top 150 most-vised untri the world by the number of g tourists, then ranked them g eight factors, cludg laws agast gay relatnships, legal protectn agast discrimatn and more.

“In 2018, India managed to annul Sectn 377, a Brish lonial-era law prohibg ‘unnatural acts, ’ orr to legalize nsensual gay sex, ” says Fergson, who pots out that ancient Indian lerature such as the Mahabharata and Ramayana have many referenc to LGBTQ+ hero cludg transgenr warrrs and two queens who ma love orr for one queen to get pregnant wh an heir for their kgdom.

GAY IN NIGERIA: LGBT LIFE IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST HOMOPHOBIC NATNS

“We found this to be a b ironic as the reason for many of the harsh homophobic laws untri throughout the world is largely leftover om laws created durg Brish le, ” says Fergson. Wh an overall natnal attu that is relaxed and acceptg towards homosexualy, Belgium is known for havg a vibrant gay and lbian scene, particularly Bssels, ” says Fergson. It was ranked so highly largely due to the extreme penalti for simply beg gay, which clu up to 14 years prison and the ath penalty stat unr Sharia law, ” says Fergson.

THE GAY MARRIAGE THAT BROKE THE NIGERIAN INTER

“Iran ma #6 on the x, due part to s extreme punishments for homosexualy, which clu 100 lash for homosexual terurse or the ath penalty, and 31 lash for same-sex acts other than terurse, ” says Fergson. “Historilly, Barbados and some other Caribbean islands have had poor anti-LGBTQ+ legislatn and practic, largely left over om the Brish occupatn which put the laws place and rerced anti-gay attus.

'SEX EDUTN'S' ERIC EFFNG IS SPIRATN TO NIGERIA'S GAYS, SAYS ACTIVIST

Unfortunately, imposed punishment for homosexualy is severe and the existence of gay people Malaysia was nied by their tourism mister as recently as March 2019, ” says Fergson. That said, the LGBTQ+ muny is margalized this untry and there are heavy nsequenc for beg homosexual, which clu seven years to life prison for any same-sex act, ” says Fergson. Unfortunately, thgs may soon be gettg even worse for the LGBTQ+ muny, as the Ugandan ernment has recently lled to retroduce an anti-homosexualy bill, which would clu the ath penalty for same-sex acts, the midst of the recent murr of a gay Ugandan activist.

“Groups advotg for LGBTQ+ rights are threatened by the erng thori Palte, who nsir homosexualy to be ‘a blow to, and vlatn of, the ials and valu of Paltian society. Currently, Kenyan law stat that same-sex terurse between mal rults 14 years prison, while all other homosexual acts between mal are punished wh five years imprisonment, ” says Fergson. LAGOS, Nigeria -- Life Nigeria, one of the world’s most anti-gay natns, is a daily stggle for Aola, a closeted, workg-class homosexual man livg on the outskirts of Abuja, the natn’s small, central (not his real name) has been lled offensive nam, sulted and ostracized over assumptns about his sexualy, so he shields his te self fear that g out would only attract more tense abe.

Meanwhile, some young, wealthy gay Nigerians who spend most of their time the louche, Wternized Victoria Island sectn of Lagos -- the massive, quickly mornizg megalopolis on Nigeria’s southwtern ast -- are able to live a quasi-open life spe the vilent homophobia that l much of the rt of the Aola, a portly man his thirti who earns a most livg as a ok at a terg pany Abuja, that life of openns is difficult to said he worri about discrimatn every time he walks out the door, pecially light of a law passed this year that, should be signed by Print Goodluck Jonathan, would make the sheer act of beg gay punishable by up to 14 years prison. ”Aola’s fears are supported by statistil evince: A study of 39 natns published by the Pew Rearch Center June emed Nigeria the least-acceptg natn of the lot for gays, wh 98 percent of survey rponnts sayg society should not accept homosexualy, edgg out ultranservative Jordan by a sgle percentage Acceptg BubbleSix upper-class gay profsnals who met wh the Internatnal Bs Tim at a Victoria Island rtrant last week say that bee they mostly stay wh that neighborhood’s fairly tolerant bubble, they are largely able to avoid Aola’s nstant state of fear.

‘I WAS THE FIRST PERSON TO COME OUT AS GAY ON LIVE TV NIGERIA’

”Crimalizg HomosexualyBeg gay Nigeria has long meant hidg the shadows of society, but fear and anxiety among most members of the natn’s gay muny have grown markedly sce May 30, when the Nigerian Senate passed a bill makg the simple act of beg homosexual a crime punishable by as long as 14 years prison. Jonathan has not yet signed or vetoed the bill -- which was prevly passed by the Nigerian Hoe of Reprentativ -- nor has he sent a clear signal of which si he will eventually take on the ntroversial bill, upled wh legal rtrictns on gay marriage, is actually lenient pared wh the suatn faced by gays the Mlim-domated north of the natn, where Shariah Islamic law mak homosexualy a pal offense punishable some areas by stong to though the measure is not yet officially on the books, has already had a chillg effect on gay life Nigeria, acrdg to Aisha, a lbian iend of Fatima’s. ” But now, she said, there is a wily held, albe premature, belief that “’s illegal and rri a sentence” of more than a dozen years behd bars, which further timidat Nigeria’s gay populatn.

Although Fatima nsirs Abuja to be “like gay central of Nigeria, ” the place she said she would go to “hook up wh a girl, several girls, one weekend, ” that si of gay life isn’t accsible to many homosexual rints of the pal who aren’t as well-heeled as said that due to the discrimatn he fac Abuja, he unrground channels and word-of-mouth to fd other gay people to teract wh or date.

Someone you’re sure is gay troduc you to someone else who is, who troduc you to someone else who is, and so on, ” he, Aola has been threatened and sulted on numero ocsns. Kgsley, a straight iend of Aola’s who has wnsed anti-gay discrimatn of others firsthand Abuja and surroundg areas, said that such sentiments are sadly que mon Nigeria. “There are people like me who accept them, but then there are lots of people who once they fd out someone is gay, they refe to have any kd of ntact wh them, ” Kgsley explaed as we sat his sedan, wag out one of Abuja’s notor “go-slow” traffic jams.