Gay Rights Groups Brave Abe, Vlence to Fight HIV Cameroon

Contents:

• INSI THE STGGLE FOR LGBT RIGHTS CAMEROON: 'IT'S NORMAL TO KILL SOMEBODY FOR BEG GAY'
• GAY RIGHTS AND LIFE CAMEROON
• THE CHALLENGE OF FDG FUNDG FOR GAY RIGHTS CAMEROON
• CAMEROON 'GAY SEX' MEN ACQUTED
• GAY RIGHTS GROUPS BRAVE ABE, VLENCE TO FIGHT HIV CAMEROON
• A HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP SAYS IT’S NOT SAFE TO BE GAY IN CAMEROON
• CAMEROON GAY RIGHTS GROUPS GO ON STRIKE
• GAY RIGHTS GROUPS BRAVE ABE, VLENCE TO FIGHT HIV CAMEROON

INSI THE STGGLE FOR LGBT RIGHTS CAMEROON: 'IT'S NORMAL TO KILL SOMEBODY FOR BEG GAY'

Based on Human Rights Watch’s monorg and discsns wh Cameroonian nonernmental anizatns, the recent acunts of abe documented here seem to be part of an overall uptick police actn agast lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) people Cameroon. On Febary 24, police officers raid the office of Colibri, an anizatn that provis HIV preventn and treatment servic, Bafosam, Wt Regn, and arrted 13 people on homosexualy charg, cludg 7 Colibri staff.

Human Rights Watch has prevly documented that prosecutors Cameroon have troduced medil reports based on forced anal exams to urt, ntributg to nvictns of dividuals charged wh nsensual homosexual nduct. In Bertoua, on Febary 14, gendarm arrted 12 youth, cludg at least 1 teenager, on homosexualy charg and subjected them to ill-treatment before releasg them the same day. Prosecutors charged them wh homosexual nduct, lack of inty rds, and public cency.

“It is not illegal to be homosexual or transgenr, ” said Cameroonian lawyer Alice Nkom. In May 2020, police arrted 53 people, most of them LGBT, at a gatherg hosted by an HIV anizatn a hotel Bafosam and charged them wh “homosexualy” related offens.

GAY RIGHTS AND LIFE CAMEROON

They were charged wh “homosexualy, ” pimpg, and plicy pimpg, and were held at the judicial police statn.

On Febary 14, gendarm arrted 12 youth, cludg a 17-year-old boy, a rtrant Bertoua on homosexualy-related charg. They were charged wh homosexualy-related offens, lack of inty rds, and public cency, and taken to a gendarmerie briga Nkoulouloun neighborhood, where they spent the night.

THE CHALLENGE OF FDG FUNDG FOR GAY RIGHTS CAMEROON

Gendarm acced them of beg homosexuals and lled them “dirty faggots. · The jtice mister should make absolutely clear, particular to all law enforcement, prosecutg and judicial thori, that Cameroonian law do not make a crime or offense to be a lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr person, or to drs a way that is perceived as genr nonnformg, and that any official purportg to exercise thory to ta, charge, or prosecute an LGBT person on the basis of their actual or perceived sexual orientatn or genr nonnformy, or threateng to do so, is actg whout a lawful basis and shall be held to acunt for abe of power.

CAMEROON 'GAY SEX' MEN ACQUTED

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.

GAY RIGHTS GROUPS BRAVE ABE, VLENCE TO FIGHT HIV CAMEROON

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.

A HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP SAYS IT’S NOT SAFE TO BE GAY IN CAMEROON

“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. “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.

CAMEROON GAY RIGHTS GROUPS GO ON STRIKE

Homosexualy⚢✖ Illegal (imprisonment as punishment)Censorship✖ State-enforcedNon-bary genr regnn✖ Not legally regnizedDiscrimatn✖ No protectnsEmployment Discrimatn✖ No protectnsHog Discrimatn✖ No protectnsConversn Therapy✖ Not banned.

GAY RIGHTS GROUPS BRAVE ABE, VLENCE TO FIGHT HIV CAMEROON

Homosexual activy Cameroon is illegal (imprisonment as punishment).