Gay In Nigeria: LGBT Life In One Of The World’s Most Homophobic Natns

Contents:

• LAGOS, WHERE ’S STILL A THRILL TO BE GAY
• EXPLORE GAY ROOMS & RENTALS LAGOS
• THE GAY TRAVEL GUI TO THE ALGARVE
• LAGOS: A HAVEN A GAY-FRIENDLY ALGARVE
• 5 SAFT PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2019 (AND THE MOST DANGERO)
• INSI NIGERIA'S SECRET GAY CLUB
• GAY IN NIGERIA: LGBT LIFE IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST HOMOPHOBIC NATNS
• PORTUGAL GAY
• TOP 7 BT GAY BARS & CLUBS PORTUGAL
• 'SEX EDUTN'S' ERIC EFFNG IS SPIRATN TO NIGERIA'S GAYS, SAYS ACTIVIST

LAGOS, WHERE ’S STILL A THRILL TO BE GAY

The SSMPA also impos a 10-year prison sentence on anyone who registers or participat gay clubs or anisatns, as well anyone who shows support for the activi of such anisatns. He also knows that if any vlence breaks out, then n’t be reported – the ey of the Nigerian law, homosexualy is a much worse the future holds for Jordan – and for the rt of Nigeria’s LGBTQ muny – is unclear.

Sce I’m so magic and get to pick and choose om the people who flock to me (or I go through them all if I’m feelg slutty) I need to do some diggg on what tak to hook up gay Lagos. Tanya showed me pictur of gay marriage ceremoni, legal or not, the parti looked dope as fuck and I n’t wa to be ved to one… not held Nigeria. Some practic have to rema unrground but all tak is a ltle ncentratn to fd proof that gay people are termed to nurture their own subculture, spe mastream opposn.

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.

EXPLORE GAY ROOMS & RENTALS LAGOS

From private rooms and apartments to LGBTQ-iendly hotels, you have the optn to stay the heart of gay districts as well as other neighborhoods the plac you vis.

A loft Soho, a shared room Barcelona or the Castro, a gay-iendly hotel Le Marais or Chelsea, experience misterb&b all gay travel statns! However, if you’d like to stay at a gay-owned hotel or guthoe, or somewhere that has specifilly listed themselv as gay-iendly, this list should help you out.

Historilly, Portugal has all of the gredients of a untry that is unlikely to be tolerant towards homosexualy: ’s que nservative, ’s relig, and lived unr dictatorship le for many years.

THE GAY TRAVEL GUI TO THE ALGARVE

Espelho bar, Albufeira – Although not technilly a gay bar, Espelho bar on The Strip Albufeira is extremely gay-iendly and one of Albufeira’s most popular hangouts. From gay-iendly beach to a thrivg gay nightlife, Lagos is an ial statn for holidaymakers, whether travellg alone, wh fay or wh iends, to unwd and enjoy the sun. For those wh their ears to the ground, mblgs and mours about gays and their damned activi are beg ramparts the cy of Lagos so much so that discerng members of the public n now ppot some of the lotns where they e as renzvo for pick-up or meet-up.

A Sunday Exprs vtigatns me up wh credible fdgs that dite that a clter of hangouts at Maza-maza, a nsely populated area at Mile Two along the Badagry exprs way is currently the beehive of gay activi. In the urse of the vtigatn, Sunday Exprs enuntered a gang of four young men who uld be referred to as “gay bters” based on their nontatnal enunters wh the “men of sodomy. For Peter, the most madng part of the episo was the noisome hab of one of the gays who lik sendg him pictur of his erect manhood and other exposed parts of his body and also promptg him to do same, after his promise of sh and other enticg material thgs failed.

LAGOS: A HAVEN A GAY-FRIENDLY ALGARVE

Girly voic, girlish ga, dandy drsg and over-the-moon reactn to well-built guys – the are the tell-tal signs of a gay, but the four young men are of the opn that fdg a gay now is as simple as abc.

5 SAFT PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2019 (AND THE MOST DANGERO)

Homosexualy remas illegal Nigeria and is generally not accepted as the untry’s Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibn) Act rtricts both same-sex relatnships and public affectn, wh punishments of up to 14 years prison.

In an attempt to help terme the worst plac for gay travelers, the duo created the 2019 LGBTQ+ Danger Inx, rankg the world’s most dangero—and saft—untri for gay travelers.

The journalists looked at the top 150 most-vised untri the world by the number of g tourists, then ranked them g eight factors, cludg laws agast gay relatnships, legal protectn agast discrimatn and more. “In 2018, India managed to annul Sectn 377, a Brish lonial-era law prohibg ‘unnatural acts, ’ orr to legalize nsensual gay sex, ” says Fergson, who pots out that ancient Indian lerature such as the Mahabharata and Ramayana have many referenc to LGBTQ+ hero cludg transgenr warrrs and two queens who ma love orr for one queen to get pregnant wh an heir for their kgdom. “Long story short, this pots to the fact that was likely the Brish fluence that largely led to Indian homophobia the first place, ” she says.

INSI NIGERIA'S SECRET GAY CLUB

“We found this to be a b ironic as the reason for many of the harsh homophobic laws untri throughout the world is largely leftover om laws created durg Brish le, ” says Fergson. Ci like Lisbon and Porto have the bt gay scen the untry and Portugal is hopg to host the 2022 Europri, the world's biggt event celebratg gay pri Europe. Wh an overall natnal attu that is relaxed and acceptg towards homosexualy, Belgium is known for havg a vibrant gay and lbian scene, particularly Bssels, ” says Fergson.

It was ranked so highly largely due to the extreme penalti for simply beg gay, which clu up to 14 years prison and the ath penalty stat unr Sharia law, ” says Fergson. “Sdi Arabia is another of the untri on our list which implements the ath penalty for nsensual homosexualy unr their terpretatn of Sharia law, ” says Fergson. “Iran ma #6 on the x, due part to s extreme punishments for homosexualy, which clu 100 lash for homosexual terurse or the ath penalty, and 31 lash for same-sex acts other than terurse, ” says Fergson.

GAY IN NIGERIA: LGBT LIFE IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST HOMOPHOBIC NATNS

“Publicly, homosexualy is a taboo topic, so LGBTQ+ travelers choosg to vis Sudan should proceed wh utn and rema discreet wh regards to their sexualy.

“Historilly, Barbados and some other Caribbean islands have had poor anti-LGBTQ+ legislatn and practic, largely left over om the Brish occupatn which put the laws place and rerced anti-gay attus.

PORTUGAL GAY

Unfortunately, imposed punishment for homosexualy is severe and the existence of gay people Malaysia was nied by their tourism mister as recently as March 2019, ” says Fergson. That said, the LGBTQ+ muny is margalized this untry and there are heavy nsequenc for beg homosexual, which clu seven years to life prison for any same-sex act, ” says Fergson. Unfortunately, thgs may soon be gettg even worse for the LGBTQ+ muny, as the Ugandan ernment has recently lled to retroduce an anti-homosexualy bill, which would clu the ath penalty for same-sex acts, the midst of the recent murr of a gay Ugandan activist.

“In the Paltian terrori of Gaza and the Wt Bank, the anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment is taken very serly, wh homosexual acts rultg up to 10 years prison, ” says Fergson. “Groups advotg for LGBTQ+ rights are threatened by the erng thori Palte, who nsir homosexualy to be ‘a blow to, and vlatn of, the ials and valu of Paltian society.

Currently, Kenyan law stat that same-sex terurse between mal rults 14 years prison, while all other homosexual acts between mal are punished wh five years imprisonment, ” says Fergson. In fact, Jamai was lled ‘the most homophobic place on Earth’ by Time magaze 2006 and LGBTQ+ people are sadly still the victims of homophobic vlence today.

TOP 7 BT GAY BARS & CLUBS PORTUGAL

"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.

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. 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.

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

”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.

” 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.