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
• GAY IN NIGERIA: LGBT LIFE IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST HOMOPHOBIC NATNS
• MEET 15 NIGERIAN CELEBRI WHO ARE PRACTICG GAY AND LBIANISM – NO 3 WILL SHOCK YOU
• 5 SAFT PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2019 (AND THE MOST DANGERO)
• '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

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. They acced me of beg gay and “spreadg a gay agenda, ” as they pummeled me; each punch was an asslt on who I was.

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. In Nigeria, gay men are portrayed as ncers eatg eply to the fabric of society—tumors that mt be oblerated.

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

The feral Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibn) Act of 2014 says anyone found guilty of homosexualy fac up to 14 years prison. 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. Homophobia is the tie that bds a divid untry; the one thg a natn of chronic ethnic loyalti, of relig tensn, of failed ernment, n agree upon.

In universy, I beme a social pariah and the poster child for “faggots” after beg outed by my bt iend on a mp that waged a ‘War on Homosexualy. I wre this knowg how suffotgly fearful the days followg a homophobic attack n be, and how the trma f a person’s life. In Nigeria, homosexualy is nsired a taboo subject, and so, not very many people are fortable wh talkg posively about .

However, que a few fluential Nigerians such as celebri have spoken out the past support of LGBTIQ+ equaly and urgg the general public to reject the negative stereotyp and myths about homosexualy. At one pot, she stood support of gay Amerin actor Jsie Smollet, after he was allegedly attacked bee of his sexual orientatn.

MEET 15 NIGERIAN CELEBRI WHO ARE PRACTICG GAY AND LBIANISM – NO 3 WILL SHOCK YOU

He ma clear that there is nothg absolutely wrong wh beg gay or lbian and so, therefore, LGBT persons have the right to be themselv and live eely. Que recently Nollywood actor Alex Ekubo wrote an open letter to his fans, the latter, he asked Nigerians to let gay people exist peace and advised them to ‘stop the name-llg’.

A few days ago, Nollywood actrs Ashnye Michelle, has e all out to let people know that homosexualy is not unnatural as many people thk. But when he went home to Nigeria for the holidays as a teenager, a prits performed several forced exorcisms to "wash the 'gay vil' out, " he reunts now the preface for his new book, Limls Ains.

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

Her fay accepts her sexualy, which Owunna says challeng the assumptn that all Ain fai are homophobic or would reject their children for beg LGBTQ. 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.

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

Still, they, like everyone else terviewed for this story, asked to be assigned psdonyms bee of the harsh penalti that n rult om beg intified as gay the prs. ”Fatima is not gay per se -- she scrib her sexualy as “fluid” and said she is open to relatnships wh men or women -- but she mostly dat women.

”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.