Nigeria is a ld-blood untry for gay men -- I have the srs to prove | CNN

Contents:

• OPN: NIGERIA IS A LD-BLOOD UNTRY FOR GAY MEN – I HAVE THE SRS TO PROVE
• LGBTQ+ NIGERIANS ARE CELEBRATG PRI MONTH DEFIANCE OF ANTI-GAY LAW
• 'SEX EDUTN'S' ERIC EFFNG IS SPIRATN TO NIGERIA'S GAYS, SAYS ACTIVIST

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

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.

By Pelumi SalakoILORIN, Nigeria, June 23 (Thomson Rters Foundatn) — YouTuber Victor Emmanuel knows first-hand how tough life is for people who are openly gay Nigeria, where LGBTQ+ relatnships and even same-sex displays of affectn are year, he was kidnapped by seven men who blackmailed, extorted, and tortured him for two days an attack that has sce left him nstantly lookg over his shoulr. "Nigeria is a eply relig untry, where many reject homosexualy as a rptg Wtern 2014, the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibn) Act was signed to law, which bars not only gay relatnships but also any public sign of same-sex affectn or membership of LGBTQ+ groups, wh punishments of up to 14 years prison. Gay sex is illegal more than half of Ain untri, acrdg to global LGBTQ+ rights tracker Equalx, although Gabon, Kenya, and Botswana have all crimalised same-sex relatns recent spe the risks, activists are phg to exprs themselv and mand change this June, a month which is marked around the world wh LGBTQ+ Pri ralli and parti.

The legislatn amounts to "refully nstcted state vlence" which "exacerbat queerphobia and prevents om havg a muny, " said Kayo Ani Somtochwu, founr of the Queer Unn for Enomic and Social Transformatn (QUEST) Mistry of Jtice and the police force did not immediately rpond to requts for 2018, a group of 47 men were arrted and later charged for allegedly jog a gay club, a se that drew ternatnal outcry and was wily seen as a tt of the men said they were at a birthday party and the se was thrown out by a judge due to the "lack of diligent prosecutn. "But LGBTQ+ people are growg creasgly vol and visible, wh the ter providg a space for gay-iendly films, talk shows, and rights groups barred om formally registerg as an anisatn unr the same-sex marriage law, most anisg and support groups take place onle.

LGBTQ+ NIGERIANS ARE CELEBRATG PRI MONTH DEFIANCE OF ANTI-GAY LAW

The muny is equently targeted on social media like Twter and Facebook—and even on the gay hook-up app Grdr, where homophob have been known to pose as potential dat or sexual partners, lurg unspectg ers to meetgs that turn to asslts or robberi. Homosexual acts are punishable by up to 14 years jail Nigeria, while gay marriage and displays of same-sex affectn are also event that was raid was to raise awarens about HIV ttg the gay muny Lagos, activist for gay rights Nigeria Bisi Alimi told the BBC.

Livg fearChris Ewokor, BBC Ai, AbujaNigeria has an fluential Christian evangelil movement the south and strong support for Islamic law the north, both of which oppose Nigeria passed a law crimalisg same sex marriage and gay anisatns 2013, law enforcement agents have cracked down on people spected of homosexualy. Northern stat unr Sharia - Islamic relig law - have the ath penalty for people nvicted of same-sex offenc which other stat rry a 14-year jail is not the first arrt for engagg acts of homosexualy but so far prosecutns have never end relatns are explicly banned 72 untri, acrdg to the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn (ILGA) number of stat that crimalise same-sex relatns is creasg annually, though, wh Belize and the Seychell repealg such laws last year. (3) A person or group of persons who admisters, wns, abets or ais the solemnizatn of same sex marriage or civil unn, or supports the registratn, operatn and stenance of gay clubs, societi, anisatns, procsns or meetgs Nigeria ms an offence and is liable on nvictn to a term of 10 years of imprisonment.

2 The stakeholr summary also reported:‘ JS8[footnote 13] stated that expansive provisns of the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibn) Act had served to dify homophobia and transphobia… JS12[footnote 14] stated that the Act, which generally crimalized same sex relatnships, had created addnal crimal offenc that targeted persons based on their sexual orientatn…’[footnote 15].

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

2 The Internatnal Lbian and Gay Associatn (ILGA) noted an updated 2020 report that ‘Death by stong is the prcribed punishment for nsensual same-sex sexual acts [unr Sharia Penal Cos] between adults 12 [Northern] stat Nigeria: Bchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsa, Kebbi, Niger, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara.

3 The UN Human Rights Commtee reported a document summarisg stakeholrs’ views as part of the Universal Perdic Review of Nigeria unrtaken November 2018 that ‘The Vlence agast Persons (Prohibn) Act of 2015, had done ltle to protect gay men, female sex workers and traveno dg ers as vulnerable populatns… AFA [Alliance for Ai] stated that the Act was yet to be rporated to domtic legislatn all stat…’[footnote 26]. ‘An ternatnal anisatn active health and velopment rearch nfirmed to the legatn that there was a certa gree of operatn wh specific state actors… A scientific source reported that the Nigerian Mistry of Health had already tablished guil 1996 which homosexualy was scribed whout prejudiced terms and which the rpectful treatment of sexual mori was remend as a basic prciple…. The trial, which began on December 2019, is the first to be brought unr the SSMPA, which crimaliz same-sex nduct as well as public displays of same-sex amoro relatnships, same-sex marriag, and the registratn of gay clubs, societi, and anizatns.

In 2014, the State of Bchi, a lol Sharia urt found a 20-year-old man guilty of sodomy… The judge cid agast ath by stong (the prcribed punishment) bee the cint had occurred seven years prr to the trial and the fendant showed great remorse; he was whipped public and orred to pay a fe… This man was one of 12 arrted for belongg to a “gay anisatn”: the arrt volved the police lurg and later torturg the men to providg a list of 168 gay men belongg to the gay anisatn [2014] … There is much enthiasm amongst the police for enforcg the laws agast homosexualy: as recently as September 2020, two men aged 32 and 20 were arrted for homosexual acts at a hotel the State of Jigawa, after rints of the area overheard them argug over money…’[footnote 58]. A report on the human rights suatn for LGBTI people Nigeria between 2016 and 2019 stated that arrts often took place at parti of groups of men private hom or hotels… A review by the Human Digny Tst of arrts that had taken place sce the SSMPA me to force 2014 dited that the arrts were ma on the basis of both the SSMPA and other natnal and lol relig laws (cludg sharia) prohibg homosexualy…’[footnote 63]. One mon practice durg arrts was the filmg and broadstg of vios of tae, who were prented to the public by the police as homosexuals… In some s, arrts and tentn were associated wh ser human rights vlatns such as abe and torture… Some LGBTI people who were taed experienced humane treatment such as abe, sleep privatn and unsanary practic that rried the risk of HIV fectn…’ [footnote 64].

‘In most s, tae were released on ndn that they paid large ransoms to the officers who had arrted them… Almost all sourc nsulted for this report stated that extortn agast LGBTI dividuals by police officers is a very mon phenomenon Nigeria… A nfintial source dited that if tae uld not afford this ransom themselv, Nigerian LGBTI tert groups often paid on their behalf… The anisatns have set up legal help sks that try to monor when dividuals are arrted so that they n assist them if necsary… Dpe the efforts to get LGBTI people released return for payment, media and advocy groups reported on var s where LGBTI dividuals spent several weeks tentn, … sometim very poor ndns…There was one report May 2018 of a gay man who at that time had spent ne months prison on charg of homosexual activy….

‘A more posive attu om the thory’s si was reported March 2018, when the police missner and a tradnal chief (obi) of Iba town, Delta State, pledged their support to efforts by a human rights NGO (Lev Iniative for Freedom and Enlightenment - LIFFE) agast blackmailg and extortn of gay people. 2 The Genr and COVID-19 report on Nigeria published by the non-for-profs anisatns TIERS and Edutn as Vacce and fund by the Open Society Iniative for Wt Ai and the Ford Foundatn stated wh regard the prevalence of sexual vlence agast women and girls durg the COVID-19 panmic: ‘Police officers have… engaged “ntact tracg” of lbian, gay and bisexual people through qutng and searchg people allegedly vlatg ernment rtrictns. LGBTI people whose rights had been vlated rarely reported the perpetrators and rarely sought protectn om the thori… LGBTI victims feared further stigmatisatn or blackmail and arrt… The fears were fuelled by public disapproval of homosexualy by those posns of thory… However, a nfintial source was aware of s which LGBTI dividuals had succsfully turned to the police for ad-hoc protectn when attacked by angry mobs Lagos.

‘In rrponnce wh the Rearch Directorate, the Executive Director of the WHER Iniative dited that both bisexualy and homosexualy are viewed negatively as all same-sex practic and relatnships and that neher bisexuals nor homosexuals are accepted Nigerian society… Acrdg to the IYHI [Improved Youth Health Iniative] reprentative, people “often perceive bisexual dividuals as perverts and evil people who do evil thgs”… In rrponnce wh the Rearch Directorate, the Director of Equaly Triangle Iniative explaed that. ‘The Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibn) Act 2013, which took effect Nigeria January 2014, has allegedly led to an crease extortn and vlence agast lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and tersex persons and imposed rtrictns on non-ernmental anizatns that provi sential servic for those persons….

‘The stigma attached to sexual mori Nigeria also leads to vlence… The society is hostile towards MSM and WSW… A reprentative of a lol NGO put this way to the 2019 FFM [Fact fdg missn] “Generally, society is hostile to gay persons”… Consequently, homophobic cints occur… Generally, persecutn emanat maly om society… The followg typ of human rights vlatns were mentned by the sourc to the legatns of the 2015 and 2019 FFMs: Threats; tnts; blackmail; ercn; physil asslt (sometim rultg ath); gradg treatment; dismissal…. Regardg vlence agast LGBTI people by strangers, a nfintial source dited that LGBTI advocy groups nsir fellow cizens, pecially aggrsive mobs, to be one of the greatt threats to the safety of LGBTI dividuals, bee the vlence n easily get out of hand… Acrdg to wns reports, gay men were victims of attacks and rap by unknown assailants… Durg the reportg perd, LGBTI people were also lured to fake dat through datg apps such as Tr, and then subjected to asslt or rape….

They have threatened to break away om the worldwi Anglin Communn over what they nsir the promise of the Church of England regardg regnn of gay clergy… Rev Rumo Jam, a Baptist pastor based Jos, Nigeria told a reporter that “homosexualism (sic) is a vis that gras the fay and s valu, rpts human habatn and offends God”… A Mlim cleric, Sheik Sani Yahaya who is the natnal chairman of the Ulama Council of the Jama’atu Izaltil Bid’ah Wa’Ikamatis Sunnah (JIBWIS) on his part has nmned homosexualy g the followg words: “It is an abomatn, is a crime”…’[footnote 116].