If you say beg gay is not Ain, you don’t know your history | Bisi Alimi | The Guardian

Contents:

• GAY NIGERIA: 'EVERYBODY SE ME AS AN ABOMATN'
• OPN: NIGERIA IS A LD-BLOOD UNTRY FOR GAY MEN – I HAVE THE SRS TO PROVE
• INSI NIGERIA'S SECRET GAY CLUB
• GAY NIGERIA, BLACK MALE AMERI
• THE NIGERIANS LURED TO A TRAP AND BLACKMAILED FOR BEG GAY
• GAY IN NIGERIA: LGBT LIFE IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST HOMOPHOBIC NATNS
• ABISI ALIMI: GAY NIGERIAN ACTOR PUTS HIS SEXUALY IN THE SPOTLIGHT
• IF YOU SAY BEG GAY IS NOT AIN, YOU DON’T KNOW YOUR HISTORY
• A GAY NIGERIAN MAN'S JOURNEY TO ASYLUM THE USA
• ONE MAN'S EXPERIENCE OF BEG GAY NIGERIA
• MEET THE FIRST MAN TO E OUT AS GAY ON NIGERIAN TELEVISN
• NIGERIA ANTI-GAY LAWS: FEARS OVER NEW LEGISLATN
• TOM HOLLAND’S GAY SEX SCENE 'THE CROWD ROOM' DEFEND BY FANS
• LGBT RIGHTS AI: WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?
• NAMIBIAN PARLIAMENT APPROV ANTI-GAY LAW SPE URT LG
• 'SEX EDUTN'S' ERIC EFFNG IS SPIRATN TO NIGERIA'S GAYS, SAYS ACTIVIST
• ON GAY RIGHTS, YOUNG AINS SHARE THE TOLERANCE OF THEIR ELRS
• WHERE IS IT ILLEGAL TO BE GAY AI?
• GAY HISTORY IS BLACK HISTORY: THE 10 INS PROVE IT
• A POLICE RAID, VIRAL VIOS AND THE BROKEN LIV OF NIGERIAN GAY LAW SPECTS
• A GAY NIGERIAN MAN’S JOURNEY TO ASYLUM THE USA
• THE GAY MARRIAGE THAT BROKE THE NIGERIAN INTER
• AUTHOR ARZE IFEAKANDU SH A LIGHT ON GAY NIGERIAN LIV
• HISTORIC PHOTOS OF AIN-AMERIN GAY MEN UNEARTHED
• DIARY OF A GAY NIGERIAN IN THE UK
• HORRIFIC: 2 ALLEGED GAY NIGERIAN MEN BEATEN TO DEATH AS POLICEMEN & PASSERSBY WATCH

GAY NIGERIA: 'EVERYBODY SE ME AS AN ABOMATN'

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. "I love this place bee mak me feel at home" gatherg of members of the gay and lbian muny Lagos is held regularly, albe discreetly, but uld soon be vast majory of gay Nigerians may not be terted this kd of event but they still have to hi their sexualy this nservative already illegal, homosexualy is wily owned upon across Nigeria and has been the subject of several bills the Natnal Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibn) Bill specifilly outlaws same-sex also bans gathergs of homosexuals or any other support for gay clubs, anisatns, unns or amoro exprsns, whether secret or public. 'Repulsive'The bill has been passed by Nigeria's Senate - the hight chamber - and is now beg reviewed by the lower chamber, the Hoe of ptn, Rashidi Williams is one of Nigeria's few openly gay human rights activistsIf approved, will be sent to the print to sign to law, after which same-sex upl uld face up to 14 years Nigerian homosexuals pla that the stigma they face is already enough punishment for their way of (not his real name), a gay man livg Lagos, is outraged by the proposed law: "How do a ernment thk that sendg someone to prison would change his or her sexual orientatn?

However, some of the doctors say they hardly ever know the sexual orientatn of those they attend to bee is not a requirement for treatment and unsellg, and even if the patients were to reveal that they were homosexuals, would not affect the qualy of healthre lawmakers have nmned vlence agast homosexuals but this has done ltle to prevent the growg anxiety among those the bill would target as s likely adoptn, whatever form, ptn, If the bill is passed, same-sex upl uld face 14 years prisonMr Williams says some gay Nigerians may seek asylum untri where homosexual people are accepted, while others will have to go the gay club, spe the jovial atmosphere, there is heightened utn, and no-one is allowed to take any thought of beg intified as beg gay, lbian, bisexual or transgenr a untry where the public still turns to mob jtice hnts some that is a huge ncern for Richard (not his real name): "If you don't bee discreet and try to hi yourself, even the man on the street will want to also act on the bill bee has been passed.

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

Although this artifice, pecially the boots, beme a signature part of my wardrobe, didn’t do much to protect me om the rampant and vlent homophobia problem wh -swchg, wh drsg-to-f, is not that jt do not work (the eveng I was abducted Nigeria I was wearg Caterpillar steel toe boots), shovels the moral rponsibily onto the shoulrs of victims of thoughtls bigotry.

INSI NIGERIA'S SECRET GAY CLUB

Everythg after that would be the past tense, cludg your same week the vio of the shootg ath of Ahmd Arbery as he jogged near his home Geia — which amounted to a lynchg — was posted onle, a different vio tailg yet another horrific killg of a gay man a few om my hometown Nigeria was sent to my box.

In 2014, media reports of vlence, mob jtice and extortn agast LGBT people were mon and activists say there has sce been an explosn ko s sce ptn, Uyai Ikpe-Etim says some people celebrate the targetg of LGBT peopleFilmmaker Uyai Ikpe-Etim, who liv openly as a gay woman Nigeria, said blackmail agast LGBT people is "rampant". 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.

GAY NIGERIA, BLACK MALE AMERI

”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. 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.

“They don’t stay groups, they’d rather rema not mixg wh other gay people, bee they don’t want other people to be able to say, ‘Those guys are gay, ’” he Of The UnknownKgsley is rare among straight Nigerians that he has a well-veloped sense of the nuanc of human sexualy, and he has chosen to unrstand and accept the gay muny rather than ri for s otherns.

And Augt, an Ogun State man was btally beaten for allegedly beg gay, as reported by the same the laws aimed at crimalizg gayns and same-sex marriage threaten to dify a new paradigm of heightened timidatn and margalizatn for the natn’s gay for urban Nigerians wh enough money, there are some hopeful signs the face of so much discrimatn and misunrstandg. ”And a small but growg number of openly gay activists speak out regularly support of gay rights Nigeria whout beg slammed wh lengthy prison terms, although they are still often harassed and attacked by dividuals for their said that spe all the challeng, life as a homosexual Nigerian n approach normalcy for members of her enomic class.

THE NIGERIANS LURED TO A TRAP AND BLACKMAILED FOR BEG GAY

The acced say they were attendg a birthday Same Sex Marriage Prohibn Act, which banned gay relatnships and entrenched tolerance of sexual mori Nigerian society, was signed by Goodluck Jonathan, then print, January law ed an ternatnal outcry, wh nmnatn om global human rights anisatn and wtern ernments.

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

Surveys have historilly shown high levels of homophobia Nigeria, but some have poted to what mpaigners say is a tentative, growg acceptance of gay men and June, high urt judg Botswana led that laws crimalisg same-sex relatns were unnstutnal and should be stck down, a major victory for gay rights mpaigners Ai.

Botswana is regard as one of Ai’s most stable and mocratic natns, but homosexualy was outlawed unr the untry’s penal of, Mozambique and the Seychell have scrapped anti-gay laws recent judg rejected the precent set by India, which last year legalised gay sex between nsentg adults, as well as by a seri of other judgments across the Commonwealth and elsewhere, and said Kenya should make s own laws to reflect s own Tanzania, thori Dar Salaam, the biggt cy, have lnched a seri of crackdowns on gay people recent years. ”This is the same argument that Robert Mugabe ed to supprs the human rights of LGBT people Zimbabwe; that the former print of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, ed when he signed the most dangero law agast LGBT people the morn world; and that Print Yoweri Meveni ed a ceremonial signg of the anti-gay bill Uganda. I had to teach stunts about a history that is mostly diggg up facts I found that, while many Ains say that homosexualy is un-Ain, Ain culture is no stranger to homosexual behavurs and example, my lol language (Yoba), the word for “homosexual” is adofuro, a lloquialism for someone who has anal sex.

It is the reason I receive ath threats, which ultimately drove me to exile om my home long as the notn that homosexualy is un-Ain persists, Kenyatta will receive applse, Mugabe will w electns, and parliaments across the ntent will retroduce harmful stop all this, we need to start by re-tellg our history and rememberg our te Ain culture, one that celebrat diversy, promot equaly and acceptance, and regnis the ntributn of everyone, whatever their sexualy. Girls uld go to school stead of beg married off; women uld ll the police to seek protectn om domtic vlence stead of beg mistreated; transsexual people uld have accs to medil support stead of hidg who they are; and gay and lbian people uld fall love and lead liv worth livg, stead of beg strangled by society.

ABISI ALIMI: GAY NIGERIAN ACTOR PUTS HIS SEXUALY IN THE SPOTLIGHT

In January, when Nigeria signed a law that not only banned gay marriage but imposed a 14-year jail term for same-sex relatns, the untry's new policy placed at the heart of a global schism over gay while Nigeria's new legislatn may have ptured worldwi attentn, the hostily toward homosexuals Nigeria wasn't example, take the se of Bisi Alimi, a gay rights activist who is believed to have been one of the first Nigerian gay men to e out on natnal televisn back 2004. Image ptn, Those who go to gay clubs Nigeria now face 10 years jailGay rights activists have exprsed fears about Nigeria's tighteng of laws agast legislatn, signed to law by the print whout announcement, bans same-sex marriag, gay groups and shows of same-sex public is already illegal to have gay sex Nigeria - now same-sex upl uld face up to 14 years prison.

"When you say that servic will not be provid, what you're sayg is that HIV servic that are terg for men who have sex wh men will have to stop, " he told the BBC's Newsday new law remends prison sentenc of up to 10 years for anyone who participat gay clubs or anisatns and for same-sex upl who publicly show affectn. Acrdg to AP, the few Nigerian gay and human rights activists who tried to give evince last year durg the parliamentary bate were heckled and booed until one broke to tears and another uld not be US has also exprsed s ncern about the new dangeroly rtricted "eedom of assembly, associatn and exprsn for all Nigerians", US Secretary of State John Kerry said the act was "nsistent wh Nigeria's ternatnal legal obligatns and unrm the mocratic reforms and human rights protectns enshred s 1999 nstutn" human rights chief Navi Pillay scribed the law as "dranian". A number of other Ain natns have already ma homosexualy punishable by jail December, Ugandan MPs passed a bill creasg sentenc for homosexual acts to life jail and makg punishable by a prison term not to report gay ntroversial legislatn has yet to be signed to law by the Ugandan on this storyAround the BBCRelated Inter LksThe BBC is not rponsible for the ntent of external s.

IF YOU SAY BEG GAY IS NOT AIN, YOU DON’T KNOW YOUR HISTORY

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. 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". In 2014, the photographer received his first major mm retrospective on the ntent, at the Iziko Mm South Ai, the same year the natn’s then-print, Goodluck Jonathan signed to law the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibn) Act, which threatens a 10-year prison sentence on anyone who even wns a gay marriage.

Such provisns build on existg legislatn Nigeria, but go much further: while the lonial-era crimal and penal s outlawed sexual acts between members of the same sex, the SSMPA effectively crimaliz lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) persons based on sexual orientatn and genr inty. [18] In 2015, NOIPolls, partnership wh The Iniative for Equal Rights (TIERs), [19] a Nigeria-based non-ernmental anizatn workg to protect and promote the human rights of sexual mori, and Bisi Alimi Foundatn, [20] an enty that works to enurage the acceptance of LGBT people Nigeria, nducted a send poll followg plats that the SSMPA enabl law enforcement agenci to vlate the human rights of lbian, gay, and bisexual dividuals. LGBT dividuals and reprentativ of LGBT anizatns told Human Rights Watch that the one mon misnceptn sce the passage of the SSMPA is that homosexual inty is now a crimal offence, that members of the public have a duty to report any person they know or spect to be homosexual, and that failure to do so is also a crime.

[105] Michael and many other terviewe said people who tend to perpetrate homophobic vlence seem to have been lyg low, but now that the wily publicized SSMPA was passed, they believe they n unleash terror, and the victims will be terrified of reportg to the police due to the “threat of 14 years prison. When the law was passed January 2014, the rate of human rights vlatns creased, accs to health re servic rced; people uld not go to hospals for treatment for STIs [sexually transmted fectns] or HIV bee they feared doctors would ask how they got fected—that doctors would ask directly if they were havg gay sex.

A GAY NIGERIAN MAN'S JOURNEY TO ASYLUM THE USA

Samuel, an activist who was arrted while dog muny outreach Kaduna, told Human Rights Watch that the anizatn is operatg unr severe ndns due to fear of arrt and prosecutn: “Many people are aaid to seek servic bee of the SSMPA and some of our gay muny members prent a feme way and we nnot meet them public to do this work. The enactment of a law crimalizg homosexualy has the potential to engenr vlence agast persons on grounds of their actual or imputed sexual orientatn, and also to drive this group of persons vulnerable to HIV/AIDS unrground, thereby creatg an environment which mak impossible to effectively addrs the HIV panmic the State. Remarkably, Rt was out his entire life, yet still faced discrimatn wh the black muny and the larger movement for his sexualy, cludg a particularly paful episo where Congrsman Adam Clayton Powell of Harlem wield Rt’s homosexualy agast him and threatened MLK, who dropped him for polil expediency.

Wrer and playwright Lorrae Hansberry pos for a portra her apartment 1959 New York David Attie (Getty Imag)Lorrae Hansberry (1930-1965) Young, Gifted & GayLorrae Hansberry was a prolific wrer, playwright, activist, and the wrer of the first play by a black woman to be produced on Broadway, who died far too young. But crimals sometim e the secret renzvo to rry out attacks known lolly as “ko, ” which a gay person arriv to meet a person for the first time only to be kidnapped, beaten and sometim raped, said rights mpaigners and two people who told Rters they had been victims of such MAN WHO BROUGHT SHAMEWhen he was a child, Chris Agiriga said, his nt gave him a home after his mother left Lagos to pursue a new life.

Oscillatg between the eply textured Lagos, Nigeria and New York Cy, Nneka Onuorah and Giselle Bailey’s stylish documentary “The Legend of the Unrground” steadfastly chronicl the trans-Atlantic effort led by several Nigerian LGBTQIA activists to stem the wave of discrimatg homophobic lawmakg the Ain untry. The asylum seeker reported the followg history the affidav and while beg terviewed the facily:The asylum seeker is a 35-year-old cis gay man born Nigeria who is seekg asylum the USA on the basis of persecutn based on “membership a particular social group”, one of five tegori which allow dividuals to seek asylum the Nigeria, he me out to his fay, and they supported him. He also donated money to help wh hog for members who had been st out by their Nigeria, he reported beg repeatedly harassed, threatened and tortured by the Oodua People’s Congrs (OPC), a private ia that has been known to attack lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer (LGBTQ) dividuals.

ONE MAN'S EXPERIENCE OF BEG GAY NIGERIA

Later that month, he received a letter om his church, where he served as assistant pastor, statg that he was no longer wele due to his known sexual Augt 2016, the asylum seeker and his partner were nonted by a group of approximately 30 men om the OPC and were acced of beg a gay uple. Refugee and asylum seekers are afford certa rights and protectns the US asylum applitn landspe, though there are variatns the implementatn of polici erng the asylum-seekg seekg asylum stat on the basis of their lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer (LGTBQ) inty face unique challeng when seekg asylum the USA, cludg abe tentn social and legal stat of LGBTQ people Nigeria ntribut to a signifint psychosocial burn of genr and sexual orientatn and vlence directed towards LGBTQ dividuals on the basis of their genr and sexual inty has a leter impact on health seekg behavurs.

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.

However, experiencg femmephobia, ternalized homophobia, toxic masculy, MGM drama and all that on Grdr a untry where homosexualy is legal and there are laws agast discrimatn have given me a h perspective on how the need for societal approval, even more veloped clim, affects exprsn of one’s sexualy.

MEET THE FIRST MAN TO E OUT AS GAY ON NIGERIAN TELEVISN

On January 7 2014, Nigerian Print Goodluck Jonathan signed the ‘Same Sex Marriage Prohibn Act‘ – a law banng same sex marriage Nigeria, makg gay marriag registered outsi of Nigeria void, allowg imprisonment of club members, dividuals or anisatns that “support the registratn, operatn of gay clubs, societi and anizatns, procsns or meetgs Nigeria”, at a sentence of up to 14 years jail.

NIGERIA ANTI-GAY LAWS: FEARS OVER NEW LEGISLATN

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

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

NAMIBIAN PARLIAMENT APPROV ANTI-GAY LAW SPE URT LG

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

ON GAY RIGHTS, YOUNG AINS SHARE THE TOLERANCE OF THEIR ELRS

WHERE IS IT ILLEGAL TO BE GAY AI?

GAY HISTORY IS BLACK HISTORY: THE 10 INS PROVE IT

A POLICE RAID, VIRAL VIOS AND THE BROKEN LIV OF NIGERIAN GAY LAW SPECTS

A GAY NIGERIAN MAN’S JOURNEY TO ASYLUM THE USA

THE GAY MARRIAGE THAT BROKE THE NIGERIAN INTER

AUTHOR ARZE IFEAKANDU SH A LIGHT ON GAY NIGERIAN LIV

HISTORIC PHOTOS OF AIN-AMERIN GAY MEN UNEARTHED

DIARY OF A GAY NIGERIAN IN THE UK

HORRIFIC: 2 ALLEGED GAY NIGERIAN MEN BEATEN TO DEATH AS POLICEMEN & PASSERSBY WATCH