LGBT acceptance slowly grows Nigeria, spe anti-gay laws | Rters

Contents:

• LGBTQ+ NIGERIANS ARE CELEBRATG PRI MONTH DEFIANCE OF ANTI-GAY LAW
• GAY NIGERIA: 'EVERYBODY SE ME AS AN ABOMATN'
• OPN: NIGERIA IS A LD-BLOOD UNTRY FOR GAY MEN – I HAVE THE SRS TO PROVE
• LGBT: DPE ANTI-GAY LAW, HOMOSEXUALY RIS NIGERIA FEW DAYS TO BIN’S PRINCY
• LGBT ACCEPTANCE SLOWLY GROWS NIGERIA, SPE ANTI-GAY LAWS

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

In Nigeria – where homosexualy is crimalised and same-sex attractn is wily nsired morally unacceptable – ltle is said about trans inti mostly bee there is a misnceptn that the inti are non-existent. 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.

GAY NIGERIA: 'EVERYBODY SE ME AS AN ABOMATN'

"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.

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

They also claim there’s been a rise stanc of extortn and blackmail of the LGBTQI+ muny by secury a after the law passed, our rrponnt Mayeni Jon vtigat what life is really like for Nigeria’s gay muny. 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.

LGBT: DPE ANTI-GAY LAW, HOMOSEXUALY RIS NIGERIA FEW DAYS TO BIN’S PRINCY

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.

Xeenarh Mohammed, the executive director of the Lagos-based Iniative for Equal Rights (TIERS), said the law had historilly been ed to harass and blackmail gay people but there had not been any nvictns. 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.

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.

LGBT ACCEPTANCE SLOWLY GROWS NIGERIA, SPE ANTI-GAY LAWS

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. Many LGBT dividuals terviewed by Human Rights Watch said that prr to the enactment of the SSMPA January 2014, the general public objected to homosexualy primarily on the basis of relig beliefs and perceptns of what nstut Ain culture and tradn.

For stance, Febary 2014 Gishiri village, Abuja, a group of approximately 50 people armed wh machet, clubs, whips, and metal wir dragged people om their hom and severely beat at least 14 men whom they spected of beg gay.

They told Human Rights Watch that members of the public rmed the police that gay men were gathered together and when police arrived and found a bag of ndoms that belonged to an HIV peer tor, they were all arrted. Punive legal environments, stigma, and discrimatn based on sexual orientatn and genr inty, together wh high levels of physil, psychologil, or sexual vlence agast gay men and other men who have sex wh men (MSM), impes staable natnal rpons to HIV. When acts of vlence are mted or ndoned by officials or natnal thori, cludg law enforcement officials, this leads to a climate of fear that fuels human rights vlatns and ters gay men and other MSM om seekg and adherg to HIV preventn, treatment, re, and support servic.