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:
- 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
- MY GAY LIFE NIGERIA – ISOLATN, DANGER & FEAR
- LAGOS, WHERE ’S STILL A THRILL TO BE GAY
OPN: NIGERIA IS A LD-BLOOD UNTRY FOR GAY MEN – I HAVE THE SRS TO PROVE
* gay life nigeria *
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. This cultural and legal environment creas the chanc that gay and bisexual dividuals will be discrimated agast. Gay and bisexual people are aware of this, and often anticipate discrimatory acts even when they are not immediately prent.
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. Few Ain studi have vtigated how gay and bisexual men manage mory strs.
Based on this, my lleagu and I cid to look to what the suatn was among Nigerian gay and bisexual men. 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.
GAY IN NIGERIA: LGBT LIFE IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST HOMOPHOBIC NATNS
Gay life Nigeria is evolvg, even as the untry nsirs a measure to make homosexualy a crime punishable by 14 years prison. * gay life nigeria *
This means that one way of helpg gay and bisexual men – Nigeria as well as other Ain untri – is to teach them posive strategi. The clu acceptg themselv for who they are and seeg the posive aspects of beg gay or bisexual.
This lls for a posive change the attu towards gay and bisexual dividuals. It also lls for a change punive legislatn, and posive addns such as laws to protect gay and bisexual dividuals om beg discrimated agast. In 2017, I started A Nasty Boy magaze to validate and affirm the liv and experienc of gay men Nigeria.
MY GAY LIFE NIGERIA – ISOLATN, DANGER & FEAR
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.
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.
LAGOS, WHERE ’S STILL A THRILL TO BE GAY
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.