LGBTQ+ Nigerians Are Celebratg Pri Month Defiance of Anti-Gay Law

Contents:

• LGBTQ+ NIGERIANS ARE CELEBRATG PRI MONTH DEFIANCE OF ANTI-GAY LAW
• NIGERIA ANTI-GAY LAWS: FEARS OVER NEW LEGISLATN
• HAPPENING NOW: LGBT NIGERIANS JAILED AFTER PASSAGE OF NEW ANTI-GAY LAW

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

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.

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.

NIGERIA ANTI-GAY LAWS: FEARS OVER NEW LEGISLATN

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.

Interviewe, cludg reprentativ of mastream human rights anizatns, said the SSMPA has created opportuni for people to act out their homophobia wh btaly and whout fear of legal nsequenc. 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.

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

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. A June 2013 poll nducted by NOIPolls, prr to the enactment of the SSMPA, found that for moral and relig reasons, approximately 92 percent of Nigerians supported the proposed law, and did not see as gg on the human rights of the lbian, gay, and bisexual muny.

[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. [22] Further, 15 percent believed homosexuals should have equal rights and 30 percent believed lbian, gay, and bisexual people should have the same accs to public servic such as health re, hog, and tn. [23] While the general public ntu to support the prohibn and crimalizatn of same-sex marriage and civil unns Nigeria, is signifint that nearly a third of Nigerians do not agree wh discrimatn accs to socenomic rights for lbian, gay, and bisexual persons.

The law forbids any habatn between same-sex sexual partners; bans any “public show of same sex amoro relatnship;” and prohibs anyone om formg, operatg, or supportg “gay clubs, societi and anizatns. The report fds that while the SSMPA was troduced to a legal ntext that already crimalized nsensual same-sex nduct and an already pervasive homophobic climate, has had profoundly negative human rights impact on LGBT people Nigeria. 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.