'Sex Edutn's' Eric Effng is spiratn to Nigeria's gays, says activist : Goats and Soda : NPR

Contents:

• GAY IN NIGERIA: LGBT LIFE IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST HOMOPHOBIC NATNS
• DCUBRA O SIGNIFIDO DAS PRCIPAIS GíRIAS GAYS
• GAY NIGERIA: 'EVERYBODY SE ME AS AN ABOMATN'
• 'SEX EDUTN'S' ERIC EFFNG IS SPIRATN TO NIGERIA'S GAYS, SAYS ACTIVIST
• GAY NIGERIA, BLACK MALE AMERI
• THE NEW ANTI-GAY BILL PROPOSED GHANA WILL DTROY LIV
• 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

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. ”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.

DCUBRA O SIGNIFIDO DAS PRCIPAIS GíRIAS GAYS

” But now, she said, there is a wily held, albe premature, belief that “’s illegal and rri a sentence” of more than a dozen years behd bars, which further timidat Nigeria’s gay populatn. 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.

Someone you’re sure is gay troduc you to someone else who is, who troduc you to someone else who is, and so on, ” he, Aola has been threatened and sulted on numero ocsns.

Kgsley, a straight iend of Aola’s who has wnsed anti-gay discrimatn of others firsthand Abuja and surroundg areas, said that such sentiments are sadly que mon Nigeria. “There are people like me who accept them, but then there are lots of people who once they fd out someone is gay, they refe to have any kd of ntact wh them, ” Kgsley explaed as we sat his sedan, wag out one of Abuja’s notor “go-slow” traffic jams. ’”And Kgsley said the fear of beg tormented for their sexualy filtrat the social liv of his gay iends.

GAY NIGERIA: 'EVERYBODY SE ME AS AN ABOMATN'

“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. A large proportn of Nigerians draw their tolerance of homosexualy om relig and cultural tradns rangg om fundamental Christian and Islamic teachgs to centuri-old tribal norms. But even some highly ted, fairly secular and otherwise progrsive Nigerians simply nsir homosexualy to be transgrsive or agast nature, and therefore refe to accept .

'SEX EDUTN'S' ERIC EFFNG IS SPIRATN TO NIGERIA'S GAYS, SAYS ACTIVIST

Typil is Azu, a well-traveled, affluent Lagos bswoman who simply don’t believe that a person n be born gay. “Every woman or man is born to be attracted to the oppose sex, but I don’t know, if maybe there’s a change [gay people’s] bras somehow, there has to be a reason, ” she posed over drks. “Beg gay is somethg that velops a later stage of your life, but whether we believe or not, all girls are attracted to men growg up.

”Azu said she has had several gay iends over the urse of her life and that she do to this day, but she still scrib gay dividuals nscendg terms that illtrate her views on their sexual orientatn. “I haven’t met that many gay people, but I fd the guys a b stranger than the girls bee ’s hard to prehend a guy actg like a woman....

”Aisha said people often qutn her “cisn” to be gay, and that she believ their attus reprent a cril misunrstandg of the nature of homosexualy.

GAY NIGERIA, BLACK MALE AMERI

She said she was eply disturbed when a lleague at the ernmental office where she works who is not aware of her sexualy said a discsn once, “Gays should all be killed, ” but that such vlent remarks are rare her world, where sual ignorance is much more mon. “A lot of people feel like ’s a personal offense if you don’t accept a man’s advance, no matter if you’re gay or straight, bee the penis is God’s gift to humankd. ”Hope Amid The DpairPersecutn of gay Nigerians still leads to vlence fairly often, particularly the untry’s more ral stat.

THE NEW ANTI-GAY BILL PROPOSED GHANA WILL DTROY LIV

In January, four men were arrted, stripped naked and parad along a public street Imo State on spicn that they were homosexual, as noted by OnleNigeria News. 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. Kgsley said that Abuja “thgs are gettg better” as people the urban center appear to be ls ncerned wh persecutg gays.

”Aisha poted to another promisg trend, which Abuja and certa parts of Lagos n be much safer for moneyed gays than elsewhere the untry, although limatns exist and endure.

OPN: NIGERIA IS A LD-BLOOD UNTRY FOR GAY MEN – I HAVE THE SRS TO PROVE

”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. Campaigners say the se is an important tt of a law banng gay marriage and same-sex “amoro relatnships”, which me to force five years ago.

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.