Jailg of gay Ivorian men stok fears LGBT safe haven | Rters

Contents:

• IVORY COAST OFFICIALS REFE TO EXPLA WHY TWO GAY MEN WERE JAILED
• JAILG OF GAY IVORIAN MEN STOK FEARS LGBT SAFE HAVEN

IVORY COAST OFFICIALS REFE TO EXPLA WHY TWO GAY MEN WERE JAILED

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Blood donatns by MSMs Côte d’Ivoire is banned (fe ferral) (fe ferral) Permanent ferral for homosexual and bisexual people. Authori the Ivory Coast have refed to expla why two gay men were arrted and jailed a untry that do not crimalise same-sex acts, and is wily regard as a bean of tolerance for sexual, 31, and Abdoul, 19, are openly gay but ny any romantic relatnship.

They were arrted October a village southwtern Ivory Coast, apparently for “public cency” prosecutors have cled to nfirm the charge agast them, activists say if the cency law was ed would be the first known stance of the provisn beg ed to jail gay people the Reid, director of the LGBT rights programme at Human Rights Watch, said: “A vague law, arbrary arrts and an unexplaed nvictn: this is pletely ntrary to the le of law. ”The se highlights the limed geographic reach of many gay rights groups the regn. In Ivory Coast and neighbourg untri, most activism tak place major ci and there is often ltle ntact wh more remote Cameroon, where activists have long documented the ernment’s rigoro applitn of s anti-gay law, lol groups still have only a fat ia of what go on outsi Douala and Yaoundé divi is rerced by the fact that sexual mori ral areas n feel alienated by their urban unterparts’ e of wtern mpaign tactics and termology, such as the term of the Sassandra nvictn only reached activists Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s largt cy and mercial centre, after a lol prs agency ran a story about November.

JAILG OF GAY IVORIAN MEN STOK FEARS LGBT SAFE HAVEN

But while the cy is often viewed by gay wt Ains as a relative haven, wh an imprsive work of gay bars and drag shows, secury is hardly is no legal protectn for sexual mori, and cints of discrimatn cludg physil asslts are mon, activists year, several gay men were beaten and forced to leave their hom after the US embassy Abidjan posted a photo of them signg a ndolence book for victims of the nightclub shootg Orlando, Jr, print of Lbian Life Associatn, a lol group closely followg the se, said the Sassandra cint had also receivedsensatnalist verage Ivorian newspapers, potentially endangerg Yann and article, the Soir Info, ntaed fabrited quot purportedly om the two men that they had sex public. ABIDJAN (Thomson Rters Foundatn) - Relaxg on the terrace of a gay bar Ivory Coast’s mercial pal Abidjan, a group of men embraced and lghed as people walked past whout even glancg their the bar, a young man rsed his pann’s ch the rner, while a transgenr woman greeted everyone before stttg and shakg to the mic unr the strobe lights. “Others are jt fe beg themselv their neighborhoods, ” he add, his voice barely eclipsg the bar is one of many gay venu Abidjan, a relatively tolerant cy for lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and tersex (LGBTI) people a regn where homosexualy is mostly illegal, and sexual mori face persecutn, discrimatn and Coast is one of a mory of Ain untri - around 20 of the 54 natns on the ntent - which do not explicly crimalize homosexualy or same-sex the recent jailg of two gay men for three months - unr a public cency law that rri a harsher prison sentence for “an cent or unnatural act wh a person of the same sex” - has sent shivers through the LGBTI, 31, and Abdoul, 19, were arrted the southwtern cy of San Pedro October after mors spread about the nature of their relatnship, leadg Abdoul’s uncle to file a police plat as he believed Yann was abg his activists say Mistry of Jtice officials are nsirg changg the public cency law so that no longer sgl out homosexual acts or relatns.

Home to gay bars, gay rights groups, and even an annual cross-drsg bety pageant, Abidjan is nsired a refuge for LGBTI people, both wh the untry and across the Yann and Abdoul, who plan to move there soon, the cy offers their bt hope of havg a normal life as a gay uple. “They don’t nsir [beg gay] a big al there. ”Dpe s tolerant reputatn, sexual mori and even LGBTI anizatns Abidjan are prey to abe, harassment and vlence, wh ltle legal protectn, several activists 2014, a mob of nearly 200 people ransacked and looted the headquarters of Alternative Cote d’Ivoire (ACI) - a proment gay rights group Abidjan - after days of anti-gay year, several gay men were abed, beaten, and forced to flee their hom after the U.

“Most people are reluctant to publicly display their sexualy exactly bee of the difficulti associated wh the daily liv of [LGBTI] persons, ” said Alexis Ouattara, print of the civil society group Lbian Life abe and vlence may be stoked by sensatnalist and meang media verage, an ACI official said, cg the example of a newspaper misreprentg a gay rights group as promotg homosexualy, and g photos of LGBTI unter this, the ACI ns a program to raise awarens among Ivorian journalists about the liv of LGBTI goal is to ensure journalists unrstand that the LGBTI muny suffers wispread discrimatn, said the ACI activist, who fearg for his safety, did not wish to be named.