Richard Akon found a magaze for gay men Nigeria, left him vulnerable a place where homophobia is rife. Akon wr for CNN, talkg for the first time about beg btally attacked and havg to flee the untry.
Contents:
- OPN: NIGERIA IS A LD-BLOOD UNTRY FOR GAY MEN – I HAVE THE SRS TO PROVE
- GAY IN NIGERIA: LGBT LIFE IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST HOMOPHOBIC NATNS
- ONE MAN'S EXPERIENCE OF BEG GAY NIGERIA
- GAY NIGERIA: 'EVERYBODY SE ME AS AN ABOMATN'
- BLACKMAIL, PREJUDICE AND PERSECUTN: GAY RIGHTS NIGERIA
- WHY 'S A CRIME TO BE GAY NIGERIA
- WHAT ’S LIKE BEG GAY NIGERIA | WATCH
- LGBTQ+ NIGERIANS ARE CELEBRATG PRI MONTH DEFIANCE OF ANTI-GAY LAW
- 'SEX EDUTN'S' ERIC EFFNG IS SPIRATN TO NIGERIA'S GAYS, SAYS ACTIVIST
OPN: NIGERIA IS A LD-BLOOD UNTRY FOR GAY MEN – I HAVE THE SRS TO PROVE
* being gay in nigeria *
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.
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. Although Fatima nsirs Abuja to be “like gay central of Nigeria, ” the place she said she would go to “hook up wh a girl, several girls, one weekend, ” that si of gay life isn’t accsible to many homosexual rints of the pal who aren’t as well-heeled as said that due to the discrimatn he fac Abuja, he unrground channels and word-of-mouth to fd other gay people to teract wh or date.
GAY IN NIGERIA: LGBT LIFE IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST HOMOPHOBIC NATNS
Gay life Nigeria is evolvg, even as the untry nsirs a measure to make homosexualy a crime punishable by 14 years prison. * being gay in nigeria *
“They don’t stay groups, they’d rather rema not mixg wh other gay people, bee they don’t want other people to be able to say, ‘Those guys are gay, ’” he Of The UnknownKgsley is rare among straight Nigerians that he has a well-veloped sense of the nuanc of human sexualy, and he has chosen to unrstand and accept the gay muny rather than ri for s otherns. And Augt, an Ogun State man was btally beaten for allegedly beg gay, as reported by the same the laws aimed at crimalizg gayns and same-sex marriage threaten to dify a new paradigm of heightened timidatn and margalizatn for the natn’s gay for urban Nigerians wh enough money, there are some hopeful signs the face of so much discrimatn and misunrstandg. ”And a small but growg number of openly gay activists speak out regularly support of gay rights Nigeria whout beg slammed wh lengthy prison terms, although they are still often harassed and attacked by dividuals for their said that spe all the challeng, life as a homosexual Nigerian n approach normalcy for members of her enomic class.
ONE MAN'S EXPERIENCE OF BEG GAY NIGERIA
Stigmatised by the public and badgered by the police, gay people Nigeria have been driven ever eper unrground * being gay in nigeria *
Girls uld go to school stead of beg married off; women uld ll the police to seek protectn om domtic vlence stead of beg mistreated; transsexual people uld have accs to medil support stead of hidg who they are; and gay and lbian people uld fall love and lead liv worth livg, stead of beg strangled by society. New Nigerian law crimaliz same-sex marriage and gay anizatnsPenalti of up to 14 years jail for a gay marriageUp to 10 years%27 imprisonment for membership or enuragement of gay club%2C societi and anizatnsLAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — First the police targeted the gay men, then tortured them to namg dozens of others who now are beg hunted down, human rights activists said Tuday, warng that such persecutn will rise unr a new Nigerian men's alleged crime? Up to 10 years jail unr the Same Sex Marriage Prohibn Act that is gettg ternatnal the "Jail the Gays" bill, further crimaliz homosexualy and will endanger programs fightg HIV-AIDS the gay muny, Dorothy Aken'Ova, executive director of Nigeria's Internatnal Center for Reproductive Health and Sexual Rights, told the Associated Prs on Monday, Print Goodluck Jonathan's office nfirmed that the Nigerian lear signed the Same Sex Marriage Prohibn Act that crimaliz gay marriage, gay anizatns and anyone workg wh or promotg wch hunt Bchi state all began wh a wild mor that the Uned Stat had paid gay activists $20 ln to promote same-sex marriage this highly relig and nservative natn, acrdg to an AIDS said he helped get bail for some 38 men arrted sce Christmas.
Shariah is Islamic law, which is implemented to different gre ne of Nigeria's 36 said all 11 arrted — 10 Mlims and a non-Mlim — signed nfsns that they belonged to a gay anizatn, but that some of them retracted the statements nied there was any force volved: "They have never been tortured, they have never been beaten, they have never been timidated. 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. 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 the most populo untry Ai wh over 200 ln people. Many ethnic enclav exist throughout the untry as well as two ma petg religns- Islam the north and Christiany the south. Sadly, the two relig sis (which are fundamentalist) agree on a few thgs-- one of them beg extreme anti-gay… * being gay in nigeria *
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. In January 2007, a bill banng same-sex marriage was beg bated the parliament, the sub-cls of which would ban membership of a gay or lbian group, and advotg gay and lbian equaly, hostg or visg a gay webse, rentg or sellg a property to a same-sex uple, takg or posssg photos of a gay or lbian uple, and even exprsns of same-sex love letters or emails.
2 The stakeholr summary also reported:‘ JS8[footnote 13] stated that expansive provisns of the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibn) Act had served to dify homophobia and transphobia… JS12[footnote 14] stated that the Act, which generally crimalized same sex relatnships, had created addnal crimal offenc that targeted persons based on their sexual orientatn…’[footnote 15]. 2 The Internatnal Lbian and Gay Associatn (ILGA) noted an updated 2020 report that ‘Death by stong is the prcribed punishment for nsensual same-sex sexual acts [unr Sharia Penal Cos] between adults 12 [Northern] stat Nigeria: Bchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsa, Kebbi, Niger, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara. 3 The UN Human Rights Commtee reported a document summarisg stakeholrs’ views as part of the Universal Perdic Review of Nigeria unrtaken November 2018 that ‘The Vlence agast Persons (Prohibn) Act of 2015, had done ltle to protect gay men, female sex workers and traveno dg ers as vulnerable populatns… AFA [Alliance for Ai] stated that the Act was yet to be rporated to domtic legislatn all stat…’[footnote 26].
BLACKMAIL, PREJUDICE AND PERSECUTN: GAY RIGHTS NIGERIA
Vice UK me over to Nigeria to hear actual gay people tell their experience as gay men livg Nigeria. * being gay in nigeria *
‘An ternatnal anisatn active health and velopment rearch nfirmed to the legatn that there was a certa gree of operatn wh specific state actors… A scientific source reported that the Nigerian Mistry of Health had already tablished guil 1996 which homosexualy was scribed whout prejudiced terms and which the rpectful treatment of sexual mori was remend as a basic prciple…. In 2014, the State of Bchi, a lol Sharia urt found a 20-year-old man guilty of sodomy… The judge cid agast ath by stong (the prcribed punishment) bee the cint had occurred seven years prr to the trial and the fendant showed great remorse; he was whipped public and orred to pay a fe… This man was one of 12 arrted for belongg to a “gay anisatn”: the arrt volved the police lurg and later torturg the men to providg a list of 168 gay men belongg to the gay anisatn [2014] … There is much enthiasm amongst the police for enforcg the laws agast homosexualy: as recently as September 2020, two men aged 32 and 20 were arrted for homosexual acts at a hotel the State of Jigawa, after rints of the area overheard them argug over money…’[footnote 58]. A report on the human rights suatn for LGBTI people Nigeria between 2016 and 2019 stated that arrts often took place at parti of groups of men private hom or hotels… A review by the Human Digny Tst of arrts that had taken place sce the SSMPA me to force 2014 dited that the arrts were ma on the basis of both the SSMPA and other natnal and lol relig laws (cludg sharia) prohibg homosexualy…’[footnote 63].
One mon practice durg arrts was the filmg and broadstg of vios of tae, who were prented to the public by the police as homosexuals… In some s, arrts and tentn were associated wh ser human rights vlatns such as abe and torture… Some LGBTI people who were taed experienced humane treatment such as abe, sleep privatn and unsanary practic that rried the risk of HIV fectn…’ [footnote 64].
WHY 'S A CRIME TO BE GAY NIGERIA
‘In most s, tae were released on ndn that they paid large ransoms to the officers who had arrted them… Almost all sourc nsulted for this report stated that extortn agast LGBTI dividuals by police officers is a very mon phenomenon Nigeria… A nfintial source dited that if tae uld not afford this ransom themselv, Nigerian LGBTI tert groups often paid on their behalf… The anisatns have set up legal help sks that try to monor when dividuals are arrted so that they n assist them if necsary… Dpe the efforts to get LGBTI people released return for payment, media and advocy groups reported on var s where LGBTI dividuals spent several weeks tentn, … sometim very poor ndns…There was one report May 2018 of a gay man who at that time had spent ne months prison on charg of homosexual activy…. 2 The Genr and COVID-19 report on Nigeria published by the non-for-profs anisatns TIERS and Edutn as Vacce and fund by the Open Society Iniative for Wt Ai and the Ford Foundatn stated wh regard the prevalence of sexual vlence agast women and girls durg the COVID-19 panmic: ‘Police officers have… engaged “ntact tracg” of lbian, gay and bisexual people through qutng and searchg people allegedly vlatg ernment rtrictns.
LGBTI people whose rights had been vlated rarely reported the perpetrators and rarely sought protectn om the thori… LGBTI victims feared further stigmatisatn or blackmail and arrt… The fears were fuelled by public disapproval of homosexualy by those posns of thory… However, a nfintial source was aware of s which LGBTI dividuals had succsfully turned to the police for ad-hoc protectn when attacked by angry mobs Lagos.
WHAT ’S LIKE BEG GAY NIGERIA | WATCH
‘In rrponnce wh the Rearch Directorate, the Executive Director of the WHER Iniative dited that both bisexualy and homosexualy are viewed negatively as all same-sex practic and relatnships and that neher bisexuals nor homosexuals are accepted Nigerian society… Acrdg to the IYHI [Improved Youth Health Iniative] reprentative, people “often perceive bisexual dividuals as perverts and evil people who do evil thgs”… In rrponnce wh the Rearch Directorate, the Director of Equaly Triangle Iniative explaed that.
‘The stigma attached to sexual mori Nigeria also leads to vlence… The society is hostile towards MSM and WSW… A reprentative of a lol NGO put this way to the 2019 FFM [Fact fdg missn] “Generally, society is hostile to gay persons”… Consequently, homophobic cints occur… Generally, persecutn emanat maly om society… The followg typ of human rights vlatns were mentned by the sourc to the legatns of the 2015 and 2019 FFMs: Threats; tnts; blackmail; ercn; physil asslt (sometim rultg ath); gradg treatment; dismissal…. Regardg vlence agast LGBTI people by strangers, a nfintial source dited that LGBTI advocy groups nsir fellow cizens, pecially aggrsive mobs, to be one of the greatt threats to the safety of LGBTI dividuals, bee the vlence n easily get out of hand… Acrdg to wns reports, gay men were victims of attacks and rap by unknown assailants… Durg the reportg perd, LGBTI people were also lured to fake dat through datg apps such as Tr, and then subjected to asslt or rape….
They have threatened to break away om the worldwi Anglin Communn over what they nsir the promise of the Church of England regardg regnn of gay clergy… Rev Rumo Jam, a Baptist pastor based Jos, Nigeria told a reporter that “homosexualism (sic) is a vis that gras the fay and s valu, rpts human habatn and offends God”… A Mlim cleric, Sheik Sani Yahaya who is the natnal chairman of the Ulama Council of the Jama’atu Izaltil Bid’ah Wa’Ikamatis Sunnah (JIBWIS) on his part has nmned homosexualy g the followg words: “It is an abomatn, is a crime”…’[footnote 116].
LGBTQ+ NIGERIANS ARE CELEBRATG PRI MONTH DEFIANCE OF ANTI-GAY LAW
‘Acrdg to sourc, there are no gay districts any urban… or ral areas Nigeria… Acrdg to the attorney, there is limed tolerance towards sexual mori Abuja and Lagos, where there are a “few” gay bars… The OutRight board member explaed that while there are no exclively-gay bars anywhere Nigeria, there are gay-iendly bars, namely Abuja and Lagos… John Campbell stated, however, that there are “no clubs that ter openly to sexual mori”… Acrdg to sourc, homosexuals Nigeria mostly socialize private hom and wh iends…’[footnote 128].
4 ‘… there are some lotns large ci Nigeria where LGBTI people uld exprs their sexualy provid certa preutns were taken… In addn, at least one gay club Lagos that had cid to close after the troductn of the SSMPA reopened durg the reportg perd… There were also a number of gay-iendly bars Abuja, Lagos and Owerri… Acrdg to an LGBTI activist, was possible for LGBTI people to exprs themselv eely to some extent such bars ( his own words: “seventy percent eely”)… However, social events mostly took place secret and were ually anised via social media rented lotns such as AirBnBs or hotels… Due to the risk of police raids, anisers often ed strict protols for admtg guts…’[footnote 130]. ‘Sourc dite that homosexual men are the most visible among sexual mori Nigeria… Acrdg to a report published by Swen’s Migratn Agency, Lifos, followg a fact-fdg missn that was rried out May 2014 Nigeria, “[o]ther persons ncerned wh the LGBT signatn, such as transgenr and tersexual persons, are overwhelmgly unseen society”… Acrdg to the same report, “[t]here are no statistics regardg [transgenr persons]… Men drsed as women [do] not [unrgo] sex change operatns. ‘…the anisatns provid legal support and health re servic to LGBTI people… They also vtigated human rights vlatns, provid rmatn about homosexualy to non-LGBTI muni, provid (onle) safety trag to LGBTI people, managed LGBTI media platforms, provid psychosocial support to LGBTI people and mediated between LGBTI people and their fai…’[footnote 145].
'SEX EDUTN'S' ERIC EFFNG IS SPIRATN TO NIGERIA'S GAYS, SAYS ACTIVIST
‘In a telephone terview wh the Rearch Directorate, John Campbell… stated that “[h]omophobia ns very ep Nigerian society - is pervasive at all levels and all areas of life”… Sourc dite that sexual mori face challeng accsg employment and hog… cludg discrimatn… and stigma… In a telenference terview wh the Rearch Directorate, a board member of OutRight Actn Internatnal (OutRight)… explaed, while speakg on his own behalf, that a real or perceived sexual mory n be nied hog or lose their job on the basis of their inty as a sexual mory… In rrponnce wh the Rearch Directorate, the founr and CEO of the Hoe of Rabow (HOR)… stated that a person n be evicted om their home “whout any jtifitn or refund” if be known that the person is homosexual… In rrponnce wh the Rearch Directorate, a reprentative of Amnty Internatnal siarly noted that “[l]andlords do not rent property to sexual mori” … Acrdg to the amic rearcher, large multatnal rporatns, such as oil pani, are not allowed to refe employment or fire someone based on their sexual orientatn and/or genr inty and exprsn, although -workers n still be “hostile towards them”… The same source further explaed that small-to-medium-sized enterpris (SMEs) are reported to “nsistently” fire male sexual mori … The HOR founr and CEO stated that many employers Nigeria do not abi by the non-discrimatn laws… The same source explaed that there are s of gay men and lbian women who were fired om their jobs bee their sexualy beme known….
‘Acrdg to the journalist, sexual mori are “mostly safe” major ci, although they are still attacked and discrimated agast… The IRCC [Immigratn, Refuge and Cizenship Canada] reprentative stated that there is “some openns” towards homosexualy, “pecially Lagos”… In the same jot terview wh the Rearch Directorate, a Lagos-based Migratn Program Manager of IRCC siarly dited that is possible to have an openly homosexual relatnship Lagos given that is “like any big cy” and that “most people” would not believe is a “‘big al at all’“… Acrdg to John Campbell, is not possible to live openly as a sexual mory any area of Nigeria - not even big urban areas like Lagos, Port Harurt or Abuja.
‘… LGBTI people Nigeria are at risk of persecutn both the public space and their own hom… Sourc dited that LGBTI people are more likely to suffer vlence, discrimatn and excln ral areas, where the climate is generally more nservative… Sourc also stated that LGBTI people northern Nigeria experience addnal barriers, as both Islamist and feral law crimalise homosexual behavur… A nfintial source om northern Nigeria dited that the activi of the hisbah, which among other thgs oversee efforts to bat homosexualy the public space and arrt alleged LGBTI people, posed a major threat to LGBTI people this regn… In the south, however, LGBTI people are also threatened by the police, angry mobs and vigilante groups… In the south there are more large ci, where LGBTI people enjoy a ltle more eedom to exercise their sexual orientatn… A source stated that Victoria Island, an affluent neighbourhood Lagos, is possible for two men to walk hand hand, but that this is not the se most other plac Nigeria… However, several sourc dited that LGBTI people were also discrimated agast ci if they openly displayed their sexual orientatn.