Gay life Nigeria is evolvg, even as the untry nsirs a measure to make homosexualy a crime punishable by 14 years prison.
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
- 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
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. * gay nigeria facebook *
In 2017, I started A Nasty Boy magaze to validate and affirm the liv and experienc of gay men Nigeria. 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. 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.
They acced me of beg gay and “spreadg a gay agenda, ” as they pummeled me; each punch was an asslt on who I was. They took my phone, forced me to unlock , and found further proof of my homosexualy.
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.
GAY IN NIGERIA: LGBT LIFE IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST HOMOPHOBIC NATNS
* gay nigeria facebook *
In Nigeria, gay men are portrayed as ncers eatg eply to the fabric of society—tumors that mt be oblerated. The feral Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibn) Act of 2014 says anyone found guilty of homosexualy fac up to 14 years prison. A 2013 PewGlobal rearch suggts 98% of Nigerians believe homosexualy should not be accepted by society.
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. Growg up Nigeria, I wnsed first-hand a eply graed culture of sid hyper-masculy and vilent homophobia.
As a child, I was characterized as a “boy-girl” even before I knew the tglg, plex bety of beg gay. In universy, I beme a social pariah and the poster child for “faggots” after beg outed by my bt iend on a mp that waged a ‘War on Homosexualy. Today, however, I wre this wh urgency my voice as a survivor of btal homophobia.
LGBTQ+ NIGERIANS ARE CELEBRATG PRI MONTH DEFIANCE OF ANTI-GAY LAW
I wre this knowg how suffotgly fearful the days followg a homophobic attack n be, and how the trma f a person’s life. Two gay Lagos women head home after dg at a popular rtrant on the cy’s upsle Victoria Island.
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. I’ve had iends whose parents kicked them out or disowned them bee they told them they were gay.