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

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
• HAPPENING NOW: LGBT NIGERIANS JAILED AFTER PASSAGE OF NEW ANTI-GAY LAW
• NIGERIANS REACT TO BIN'S THREAT OF SANCTNS AGAST NIGERIA, OTHERS OVER ANTI-GAY LAWS
• GAY IN NIGERIA: LGBT LIFE IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST HOMOPHOBIC NATNS

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

Passg the Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Fay Valu bill would further rce eedoms a untry where gay sex is already punishable wh up to three years jail, crics and activists Odoi, an amic rearcher, filed a lawsu on July 7 challengg the bill's nstutnaly, sayg would impact donor aid and other forms of fancial support. Ghana's Supreme Court on Wednday led her arguments were not sufficiently nvcg to grant an lg cleared the way for the bill, one of the harsht towards the LGBTQ muny Ai, to go through a fal stage of parliamentary approval before beg signed to May, Uganda's Print Yoweri Meveni signed one of the world's tought anti-LGBTQ laws, which spelled out the ath penalty for "aggravated homosexualy"'s bill, backed by relig and tradnal lears, clus jail sentenc of up to 10 years for advotg for LGBTQ rights. 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. 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.

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

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.

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

"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. ILORIN, Nigeria, July 18 (Thomson Rters Foundatn) — A Nigerian sharia urt's cisn to sentence three men to ath by stong for homosexual acts uld trigger siar s the untry's stat that apply Islamic law and unleash a wave of homophobic vlence, LGBTQ+ rights groups same-sex relatnships are punishable by up to 14 years prison unr Nigerian natnal law, but 12 stat the maly Mlim north also e parallel sharia urts to punish rints for crim rangg om adultery to month's lg  the northern state of Bchi has raised fears of an crease homophobia Ai's most populo natn, where many are already hostile towards LGBTQ+ people. "A culturally nservative untry, some Nigerians believe that homosexualy is a s wh many argug that same-sex relatns are anthetil to the untry's culture and three men sentenced to ath Bchi, one of whom was aged 70, were not reprented by lawyers, which uld be grounds for their nvictn to be thrown out, rights advot men have 30 days to appeal the judgment.

NIGERIANS REACT TO BIN'S THREAT OF SANCTNS AGAST NIGERIA, OTHERS OVER ANTI-GAY LAWS

Any ath penalty passed by sharia urts also needs the approval of the state ernor, whose office did not immediately rpond to a requt for whatever the oute, the se is likely to whip up hostily and possibly vlence agast LGBTQ+ people a untry where homosexualy is wily seen as unacceptable, mpaigners said.

"Legal FirstThe se is thought to be the first which a Nigerian sharia urt has imposed a ath sentence for homosexualy, said Ayomi Abayo-Oyetoro, a lawyer at Lilywood Legal, a law firm that foc on tech and human rights 2014, a gay man was lashed 20 tim after beg nvicted for sodomy rights groups said they were workg to support the men, who, acrdg to lol media, are aged 20, 30, and 70, and to rcd the ath absence of lawyers to reprent the men breach their nstutnal rights, add Abayo-Oyetoro. "More than half of Nigerians said they would not accept a fay member who is LGBTQ+ a 2019 poll, while rights mpaigners say the anti-gay marriage law effectively sanctns both police and members of the public to rry out attacks.

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

Dpe such hurdl, LGBTQ+ visibily has been slowly creasg, wh public acceptance gradually on the rise as anisg tak place onle due to safety ncerns, though gay and transgenr people gathered to hold LGBTQ+ Pri celebratns  the mercial pal of Lagos last activists are workg to raise an outcry over the sharia urt's ath sentence, many are fear for the future. Homosexualy⚢✖ Illegal (other penalty)Censorship✖ Imprisonment as punishmentNon-bary genr regnnUnknownDiscrimatn✖ No protectnsEmployment Discrimatn✖ No protectnsHog Discrimatn✖ No protectnsConversn Therapy✖ Not banned.

Her tentn wh Ìfẹ́, which means “love” Yoba (the predomant language of Wt Ai), was to reimage the meang of queerns Nigeria and eradite the homophobic portrayal of queer people Nollywood (Nigeria’s film dtry). Still, the ernment is crackg down on LGBTQ+ people the ci; for example, trans social media star Shakiro Njkam and her iend Patricia were recently released om jail after five months for ‘attempted homosexualy. ”Alex Kofi DonkorAlex Kofi DonkorPhotographed by Em Robby AbbeyquayeDonkor, 29, is the founr of nonprof LGBT+ Rights Ghana, which champns eedom for lbians, gays, bisexuals, trans, tersex, queers, and alli his home untry of foundg LGBT+ Rights Ghana“I ially started LGBT+ Rights Ghana as an activism blog to create awarens and share rmatn.

We ran a seri for Pri Month where we engaged wh LGBTQ+ dividuals to create awarens, and even though we face homophobia on this platform, what matters is that we have created a space that brgs people together.