Uganda's LGBTQ muny is ' shock' over new measure, gay activist says

Contents:

• BLACKMAIL, PREJUDICE AND PERSECUTN: GAY RIGHTS NIGERIA
• LGBTQ+ NIGERIANS ARE CELEBRATG PRI MONTH DEFIANCE OF ANTI-GAY LAW
• GAY IN NIGERIA: LGBT LIFE IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST HOMOPHOBIC NATNS
• NIGERIAN SENATE PASS ANTI-GAY BILL, FYG BRISH AID THREAT
• LGBT RIGHTS AI: WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?
• UGANDA'S LGBTQ MUNY IS ' SHOCK' OVER NEW MEASURE, GAY ACTIVIST SAYS

BLACKMAIL, PREJUDICE AND PERSECUTN: GAY RIGHTS NIGERIA

At a private party, held late at night a small Lagos hotel far om any ma road, men fd solace beg openly gay. ”The Same Sex Marriage Prohibn Act, which banned gay relatnships and entrenched tolerance to sexual mori Nigerian society, was signed by Print Goodluck Jonathan January 2014.

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

Acrdg to Oriye, police regularly arrt people who attend gay meet-ups, or simply for beg gay – even though isn’t illegal. But the tst afford by the closed spac is creasgly over three years, gay iends of Samson Nm* stayed at his home Lagos.

“If you’re gay Nigeria, and you’re rich enough to even afford therapy, n you really tell your therapist and be open? But that has meant that their foc is largely on men, bee HIV awarens is foced on gay men.

”Azeenarh Mohammed, a 32-year old lawyer, worked wh hundreds of gay Nigerian women for the Herich Böll Stiftung Foundatn Abuja. “Firstly, people have ternalised homophobia, so they say to themselv ‘Oh, this is jt a phase for me, I’ll grow out of , get married and have children. Men really experience vlent homophobia here, but I’d say a key difference for women is that, bee of our patriarchal stctur, women are easier to ntrol or domate.

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

“You live life here as a gay person, knowg that there is no future Nigeria if you want to live an open life, but I really wanted to change that. The legislators and senators were expectg a speech on the environment; Mohammed stead spoke on gay rights. Afterwards, some said the bill was already passed so we should move on, others were llg for me to be arrted for beg gay.

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. 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.

NIGERIAN SENATE PASS ANTI-GAY BILL, FYG BRISH AID THREAT

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.

Unr the Crimal Co of 1990, Nigeria provis for a 14-year prison sentence for homosexual acts volvg eher men or women. In addn, the misleadgly named Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibn) Act, passed 2013 and enacted 2014, provis for prison sentenc of 10 years for Nigerians belongg to a gay anizatn, supportg same-sex marriag, or displayg same-sex affectn public. For homosexual activy, that law provis for pal punishment for men, lashg or imprisonment for women.

This is the language of Chapter 77 of the Crimal Co Act of 1990, as reported by ILGA (the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn):.

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

Two gay Lagos women head home after dg at a popular rtrant on the cy’s upsle Victoria Island. 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. Still, they, like everyone else terviewed for this story, asked to be assigned psdonyms bee of the harsh penalti that n rult om beg intified as gay the prs. ”Fatima is not gay per se -- she scrib her sexualy as “fluid” and said she is open to relatnships wh men or women -- but she mostly dat women.

UGANDA'S LGBTQ MUNY IS ' SHOCK' OVER NEW MEASURE, GAY ACTIVIST SAYS

I’ve had iends whose parents kicked them out or disowned them bee they told them they were gay.

”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.