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:
- GAY NIGERIA: 'EVERYBODY SE ME AS AN ABOMATN'
- INSI NIGERIA'S SECRET GAY CLUB
- '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
- GAY IN NIGERIA: LGBT LIFE IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST HOMOPHOBIC NATNS
- GAY NIGERIA, BLACK MALE AMERI
- MEET THE FIRST MAN TO E OUT AS GAY ON NIGERIAN TELEVISN
- A POLICE RAID, VIRAL VIOS AND THE BROKEN LIV OF NIGERIAN GAY LAW SPECTS
GAY NIGERIA: 'EVERYBODY SE ME AS AN ABOMATN'
The BBC's Tomi Oladipo viss a secret club for gay Nigerians, who are livg fear as lawmakers nsir a bill which would ban such gathergs, along wh same-sex weddgs. * nigerian gay guys *
Many Ains who are not gay or bisexual – sexually attracted only to people of the same sex or of both sex – claim that beg gay or bisexual is not acceptable for relig and cultural reasons.
Taken to the extreme, gay and bisexual people n imbibe the negative attus and direct them towards themselv – what’s known as ternalised stigma or self-hatred.
Collectively, the strsful factors crease the likelihood of mental health problems and low life-satisfactn among gay and bisexual relative to heterosexual dividuals.
INSI NIGERIA'S SECRET GAY CLUB
* nigerian gay guys *
We asked 89 gay and bisexual Nigerian men to fill qutnnair that asked them about self-stigma due to beg gay and bisexual, qualy of life and the pg strategi they ed. The fdgs tell that gay and bisexual men Nigeria who have low levels of self-stigma and have adopted posive pg strategi n mata a good qualy of life. This means that one way of helpg gay and bisexual men – Nigeria as well as other Ain untri – is to teach them posive strategi.
It also lls for a change punive legislatn, and posive addns such as laws to protect gay and bisexual dividuals om beg discrimated agast. Wele to queer nightlife Nigeria where, on weekends, apartments turn to gay clubs, barred wh pass-guardg doors to protect agast hoe parti, discrete rav, and clubs are now beg creasgly popular amongst young queer Nigerians.
While there isn’t an extensive rerd of people beg found guilty for the crim Nigeria, the laws embolned many homophobic mobs who took the laws to their hands and would beat dividuals who they intified as queer and stroy spac and parti that they spected were hosted by or for queer people. For the anizers, the secury measur are put place, not agast potential miscreants or robbers but stead to keep off the police force and homophob. They also claim there’s been a rise stanc of extortn and blackmail of the LGBTQI+ muny by secury a after the law passed, our rrponnt Mayeni Jon vtigat what life is really like for Nigeria’s gay muny.
'SEX EDUTN'S' ERIC EFFNG IS SPIRATN TO NIGERIA'S GAYS, SAYS ACTIVIST
Gay life Nigeria is evolvg, even as the untry nsirs a measure to make homosexualy a crime punishable by 14 years prison. * nigerian gay guys *
"I love this place bee mak me feel at home" gatherg of members of the gay and lbian muny Lagos is held regularly, albe discreetly, but uld soon be vast majory of gay Nigerians may not be terted this kd of event but they still have to hi their sexualy this nservative already illegal, homosexualy is wily owned upon across Nigeria and has been the subject of several bills the Natnal Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibn) Bill specifilly outlaws same-sex also bans gathergs of homosexuals or any other support for gay clubs, anisatns, unns or amoro exprsns, whether secret or public.
'Repulsive'The bill has been passed by Nigeria's Senate - the hight chamber - and is now beg reviewed by the lower chamber, the Hoe of ptn, Rashidi Williams is one of Nigeria's few openly gay human rights activistsIf approved, will be sent to the print to sign to law, after which same-sex upl uld face up to 14 years Nigerian homosexuals pla that the stigma they face is already enough punishment for their way of (not his real name), a gay man livg Lagos, is outraged by the proposed law: "How do a ernment thk that sendg someone to prison would change his or her sexual orientatn? One of Nigeria's few openly gay human rights activists, Rashidi Williams, not that the bill seeks to ban somethg which is already illegal and which no-one is publicly advotg. Friends and fay members of gay people uld get implited if they do not report s of same-sex unns bee they uld be seen as beg support of them.
OPN: NIGERIA IS A LD-BLOOD UNTRY FOR GAY MEN – I HAVE THE SRS TO PROVE
Crics of the bill also worry that health workers who provi HIV unsellg and treatment to homosexuals uld be mtg an offence as well.
However, some of the doctors say they hardly ever know the sexual orientatn of those they attend to bee is not a requirement for treatment and unsellg, and even if the patients were to reveal that they were homosexuals, would not affect the qualy of healthre lawmakers have nmned vlence agast homosexuals but this has done ltle to prevent the growg anxiety among those the bill would target as s likely adoptn, whatever form, ptn, If the bill is passed, same-sex upl uld face 14 years prisonMr Williams says some gay Nigerians may seek asylum untri where homosexual people are accepted, while others will have to go the gay club, spe the jovial atmosphere, there is heightened utn, and no-one is allowed to take any thought of beg intified as beg gay, lbian, bisexual or transgenr a untry where the public still turns to mob jtice hnts some that is a huge ncern for Richard (not his real name): "If you don't bee discreet and try to hi yourself, even the man on the street will want to also act on the bill bee has been passed. A lot of the boys I went to school wh rejected anythg they nsired feme or homosexual or outsi of what means to be a black man their imagatn.
GAY IN NIGERIA: LGBT LIFE IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST HOMOPHOBIC NATNS
I thk that scenar of the mother who is acceptg of her child and unrstandg the homophobia Nigeria, the expectatn of homophobia, is very, very accurate. In the new season, Eric's mom warns her son to be discreet when they vis Nigeria, but he ends up gog to an unrground LGBTQ party wh a new gay iend. A typil Nigerian driver will have somethg to say, good or bad, will possibly preach at them, exprs his opn why beg gay is bad and God is agast — or exprs some form of support.
This issue is very plited, but to jt answer the qutn, most of the perpetrators are eher openly gay men or closeted gay men — and there is also volvement of homophobic straight people.
GAY NIGERIA, BLACK MALE AMERI
Bisi Alimi, a gay activist livg London, not that their match veers om typil TV trop: "The person stgglg wh his sexualy is the whe character, and the person who is acceptg of his sexualy...
MEET THE FIRST MAN TO E OUT AS GAY ON NIGERIAN TELEVISN
I wanted to start meangful nversatns around genr norms and masculy that speak specifilly to our reali as gay men wh a culture that is poisonoly patriarchal and eply homophobic.
A POLICE RAID, VIRAL VIOS AND THE BROKEN LIV OF NIGERIAN GAY LAW SPECTS
Agast a backdrop of adly anti-gay vlence, A Nasty Boy dared to be a haven for gay men Nigeria and, no time, received ternatnal attentn through CNN, BBC, The Guardian, The Enomist, Vogue, and others. And yet, even this gome attack pal parison to the fatal btaly many Nigerian gay men have too often experienced the form of lynchgs or pillory wh tir before they’re set on fire and burnt alive—not for terrorism or worse, but for beg gay, for beg human, a sperately homophobic untry.
A 2017 survey by The Iniative for Equal Rights (TIERS), a Nigerian-based human rights anizatn, showed 90% of Nigerians support the ntued enforcement of Nigeria’s anti-gay laws. Homophobia is the tie that bds a divid untry; the one thg a natn of chronic ethnic loyalti, of relig tensn, of failed ernment, n agree upon.