Cameroon secury forc have arrted, threatened or asslted at least 24 people sce Febary a ramped-up crackdown on lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT+) people, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Wednday.
Contents:
- INSI THE STGGLE FOR LGBT RIGHTS CAMEROON: 'IT'S NORMAL TO KILL SOMEBODY FOR BEG GAY'
- SECRET VIO CLUB GIV RPE TO GAY MEN CAMEROON
INSI THE STGGLE FOR LGBT RIGHTS CAMEROON: 'IT'S NORMAL TO KILL SOMEBODY FOR BEG GAY'
Secret vio club giv rpe to gay men Cameroon * gay cameroon *
Tchante had been workg as a peer unselor tor and HIV preventn tn ordator at Cameroon’s first center for lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr people – a dangero job a untry where homosexualy is punishable by up to five years prison. “It’s normal to kill somebody for beg gay or lbian Cameroon and you will have no problem wh the police of the urts, ” Tchante, now 30, tells PEOPLE.
Acrdg to Amnty Internatnal, Cameroon is one of 38 Ain natns where homosexualy is illegal. In the Central Ain natn, homosexualy is wily stigmatized and cizens are often arrted, charged and sentenced whout a sgle piece of evince. Born This Way is a documentary that tells the story of Tchante and three other young, gay Cameroonians forced to hi a untry that ref to accept them.
“It’s one of the only spac Cameroon where gay and lbian people n e together and feel safe, ” filmmaker Shn Kadlec, 37, tells PEOPLE. “To see a ln people the streets and a mix of gay, lbian, trans, queer and heterosexual together and happy and havg fun – I don’t have a word to scribe that feelg.
SECRET VIO CLUB GIV RPE TO GAY MEN CAMEROON
“Now, they’re tryg to make the law more [strict] wh 15 or 13 years as punishment [for beg homosexual], ” he says. Still, he holds out for a future wh more openly gay and lbian Cameroonians who n change the hearts and mds of the people around them.
“The small hope is for the new generatn, ” he says, “that the youngt boy or girl Cameroon n have a new ia if they have iends who are gay or lbian – they’ll be ls homophobic and more open. The flickerg light of a vio screen illumat fac of young men stg on bench -- members of a vio club terg exclively for gay men, a haven a society where is perilo to be same-sex attracted. "In the afternoon, we show documentari about the gay muny, wh edy seri the eveng and later the night, films of a sexual nature, " he, 30, and his pann e several tim a week.