Blackmail, prejudice and persecutn: gay rights Nigeria | Global velopment | The Guardian

Contents:

• HAPPENING NOW: LGBT NIGERIANS JAILED AFTER PASSAGE OF NEW ANTI-GAY LAW
• NIGERIA ANTI-GAY LAWS: FEARS OVER NEW LEGISLATN
• LGBTQ+ NIGERIANS ARE CELEBRATG PRI MONTH DEFIANCE OF ANTI-GAY LAW
• OPN: NIGERIA IS A LD-BLOOD UNTRY FOR GAY MEN – I HAVE THE SRS TO PROVE
• JUDGE DISMISS CASE AGAST 47 MEN CHARGED UNR NIGERIA’S ANTI-GAY LAW
• THE NEW ANTI-GAY BILL PROPOSED GHANA WILL DTROY LIV
• BLACKMAIL, PREJUDICE AND PERSECUTN: GAY RIGHTS NIGERIA

HAPPENING NOW: LGBT NIGERIANS JAILED AFTER PASSAGE OF NEW ANTI-GAY LAW

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.

NIGERIA ANTI-GAY LAWS: FEARS OVER NEW LEGISLATN

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. In the most recent, the cy’s ernor lled on cizens to intify gay people so they uld be arrted, forcg hundreds of people to hidg.

Anyone who speaks out support of, meets wh, or participat a group advotg for the rights of lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and tersex (LGBTI) people also risks 10 years prison. Image ptn, Those who go to gay clubs Nigeria now face 10 years jailGay rights activists have exprsed fears about Nigeria's tighteng of laws agast legislatn, signed to law by the print whout announcement, bans same-sex marriag, gay groups and shows of same-sex public is already illegal to have gay sex Nigeria - now same-sex upl uld face up to 14 years prison.

"You're not allowed to provi servic to anyone who is perceived to be homosexual, " said Mr Alimi, who heads the UK-based gay rights group Kaleidospe Internatnal Diversy Tst.

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

"When you say that servic will not be provid, what you're sayg is that HIV servic that are terg for men who have sex wh men will have to stop, " he told the BBC's Newsday new law remends prison sentenc of up to 10 years for anyone who participat gay clubs or anisatns and for same-sex upl who publicly show affectn.

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

"Any person who registers, operat or participat gay clubs, societi and anisatns or directly or directly mak public show of same-sex amoro relatnship Nigeria ms an offence and shall each be liable on nvictn to a term of 10 years prison, " the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibn Act says. Acrdg to AP, the few Nigerian gay and human rights activists who tried to give evince last year durg the parliamentary bate were heckled and booed until one broke to tears and another uld not be US has also exprsed s ncern about the new dangeroly rtricted "eedom of assembly, associatn and exprsn for all Nigerians", US Secretary of State John Kerry said the act was "nsistent wh Nigeria's ternatnal legal obligatns and unrm the mocratic reforms and human rights protectns enshred s 1999 nstutn" human rights chief Navi Pillay scribed the law as "dranian".

A number of other Ain natns have already ma homosexualy punishable by jail December, Ugandan MPs passed a bill creasg sentenc for homosexual acts to life jail and makg punishable by a prison term not to report gay ntroversial legislatn has yet to be signed to law by the Ugandan on this storyAround the BBCRelated Inter LksThe BBC is not rponsible for the ntent of external s. 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. 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.

JUDGE DISMISS CASE AGAST 47 MEN CHARGED UNR NIGERIA’S ANTI-GAY LAW

"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. The Bill also prohibs the registratn of Gay Clubs, Societi and Organisatns, their stenance, procsn and meetg as well as public show of Same sex amoro relatnship directly or directly [R2. In April 2006, proposed legislatn to crimalize same-sex unns and GLBTI anisatns, was expand to clu people who celebrate or support same-sex unns, imposg five years imprisonment for “those who vlate the proposed law, cludg those who wns, celebrate wh or support upl volved [a] homosexual relatnship” [R1.

In April 2006, proposed legislatn to crimalize same-sex unns and GLBTI anisatns, was expand to clu people who celebrate or support same-sex unns and rultg far-reachg nsequenc not only for gays and lbians, but anyone who eely associat wh them [R1.

Sce 2000, over a dozen Nigerians have been sentenced to ath for sexual offenc cludg homosexualy and adultery sce Sharia law was troduced northern Nigeria, though most sentenc were muted to prison terms [R1. 999 Ikorodu Road/Toy Close, Weigh Bridge, Owo Onir, Lagos, the Lagos Magisterial District, did engage gay activi by permtg male persons to have nal knowledge of themselv agast the orr of nature and thereby mted an offence punishable unr Sectn 261 of the Crimal Law of Lagos State, 2015”. On 28 December 2016, Chief Magistrat Mrs MC Ojobo the Oredo Magistrat’ Court the Edo State pal Ben reportedly orred the remand of two men, Pl Frank, 31, and Ejimofor Christian, 22, for allegedly engagg homosexual rnal knowledge of each other [R3.

THE NEW ANTI-GAY BILL PROPOSED GHANA WILL DTROY LIV

On 24 November 2016, a magistrat urt Damatu reportedly sentenced four persons, Ali Sherif, 30, Yuf Maila, 45, Sule Hassan, 32 and Mtapha Usman, 23, to seven years prison followg their nvictn on charg of homosexualy [R3.

On 17 September 2012, Senr Magistrate, Nafisatu Buba, sentenced Btwood Chwuemeka, a 28 year-old actor, rint of Gidan Mangoro, to a three-month term of imprisonment whout an optn of fe, for havg nsexual gay sex wh another man [R3. On 28 July 2013, Mistry of Foreign Affairs spokperson Ogbole Am O nied a 22 July 2013 report that Mister of Foreign Affairs Olugbenga Ashi had said that Nigeria would accept gay diplomats and their “spo” posted to the untry [R1.

BLACKMAIL, PREJUDICE AND PERSECUTN: GAY RIGHTS NIGERIA

On 22 July 2013, Nigerian Mister of Foreign Affairs Olugbenga Ashi said London that Nigeria will allow foreign diplomats married to people of the same sex to the untry spe s ban on same-sex marriage and homosexualy [R1. It also crimaliz wnsg of such marriag, affectn exprsed publicly between members of the same sex, and a ban on the existence of lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr anizatns.

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.

The law crimaliz public displays of affectn between same-sex upl and rtricts the work of anizatns fendg gay people and their rights. ” It impos a 10-year prison sentence on those who “directly or directly make [a] public show of [a] same-sex amoro relatnship” and anyone who “registers, operat, or participat gay clubs, societi, and anizatns, ” cludg supporters of those groups.