Police raid 'gay weddg' Nigeria, arrt 19 | Ainews

Contents:

• 5 SAFT PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2019 (AND THE MOST DANGERO)
• OPN: NIGERIA IS A LD-BLOOD UNTRY FOR GAY MEN – I HAVE THE SRS TO PROVE
• GAY NIGERIA: 'EVERYBODY SE ME AS AN ABOMATN'
• POLICE RAID 'GAY WEDDG' NIGERIA, ARRT 19
• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• ISLAMIC POLICE RAID 'GAY WEDDG' NIGERIA'S KANO CY
• A GAY UPLE RAN A RAL RTRANT PEACE. THEN NEW NEIGHBORS ARRIVED.
• 'SEX EDUTN'S' ERIC EFFNG IS SPIRATN TO NIGERIA'S GAYS, SAYS ACTIVIST
• MEET THE FIRST MAN TO E OUT AS GAY ON NIGERIAN TELEVISN
• TEXAS JUDGE WHO DON’T WANT TO PERFORM GAY MARRIAGE CEREMONI HOP WEB SIGNER’S SUPREME COURT SE HELPS HER FIGHT

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

“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. 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. 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.

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.

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. Per Outsports, Maxen is the “first publicly out male ach a major Amerin men’s pro sports league, ” wh WNBA ach Curt Miller, who publicly me out to the media as gay 2015, also a publicly out male ach an Amerin profsnal sports league. The bsman and his wife, Melissa, first plaed to the Front Porch proprietors about pre-dawn vendor liveri 2019, not long after the nservative Christian uple moved their fancial firm right next door to the rtrant, which fli a gay Pri flag.

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

(Front Porch Market and Grill)What’s more, the Washers say, the ad rat was jt one more sult that the uple, who once planted an “all liv matter” sign their ont yard, have endured sce movg next door to a rtrant owned by a gay uple.

“I have que a few gay iends, clients and a fay member, and I have patronized a gay-owned rtrant for years, ” he whether the Washers are tryg to remake The Plas to their image of Ameri — Whe, nservative, Christian — Melissa said, “I n see where you’re g om. REUTERS/Sebastian Castaneda/File PhotoLIMA, July 21 (Rters) - A Pevian high urt has orred same-sex unns to be legally registered public rerds, markg a victory for the LGBTQ muny a untry that has been reluctant to regnize gay lg, published on Friday, followed a se brought by a gay Pevian cizen who sued the registratn office for refg to rerd her 2019 marriage overseas, sayg her nstutnal rights were vlated.

GAY NIGERIA: 'EVERYBODY SE ME AS AN ABOMATN'

However, 61% disapproved of gay people public Lima urt orred the rerds office to "proceed wh the registratn" of the woman's marriage, the Superr Court of Jtice of Lima said on urt clared "applible" an article of the Pevian Civil Co of 1984 on the fay, which refers to marriage as the voluntary unn between man and is likely that an appeal agast the lg will be 2020, a gay uple took Pe to the Inter-Amerin Court of Human Rights after they lost a bid for regnn of their Mexin marriage the time, the nstutnal urt led that the civil registry of Pe only regniz the marriage between a man and a untri South Ameri, cludg Argenta, Uguay, Brazil and Colombia, have legalized gay marriage recent years. In January, when Nigeria signed a law that not only banned gay marriage but imposed a 14-year jail term for same-sex relatns, the untry's new policy placed at the heart of a global schism over gay while Nigeria's new legislatn may have ptured worldwi attentn, the hostily toward homosexuals Nigeria wasn't example, take the se of Bisi Alimi, a gay rights activist who is believed to have been one of the first Nigerian gay men to e out on natnal televisn back 2004.

Thgs that wouldn't happen before are happeng There was one statistic I saw, around the time of the gay marriage ban, om Pew Global Rearch, that said that 98 percent of Nigerians polled felt society should not accept homosexualy. Or is that 's good for news, 's good for journalists, 's good for people to wre somethg Back to somethg you said earlier: It sometim seems like Nigeria is overshadowed by Rsia and Uganda the global bate over gay rights.

POLICE RAID 'GAY WEDDG' NIGERIA, ARRT 19

(2) A 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. (3) A person or group of persons who admisters, wns, abets or ais the solemnizatn of same sex marriage or civil unn, or supports the registratn, operatn and stenance of gay clubs, societi, anisatns, procsns or meetgs Nigeria ms an offence and is liable on nvictn to a term of 10 years of imprisonment.

2 The stakeholr summary also reported:‘ JS8[footnote 13] stated that expansive provisns of the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibn) Act had served to dify homophobia and transphobia… JS12[footnote 14] stated that the Act, which generally crimalized same sex relatnships, had created addnal crimal offenc that targeted persons based on their sexual orientatn…’[footnote 15].

5 The US State Department 2020 Human Rights Practic Report (USSD Human Rights report 2020) stated: ‘A 2014 law effectively renrs illegal all forms of activy supportg or promotg lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and tersex (LGBTI) rights.

KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

2 The Internatnal Lbian and Gay Associatn (ILGA) noted an updated 2020 report that ‘Death by stong is the prcribed punishment for nsensual same-sex sexual acts [unr Sharia Penal Cos] between adults 12 [Northern] stat Nigeria: Bchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsa, Kebbi, Niger, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara.

3 The UN Human Rights Commtee reported a document summarisg stakeholrs’ views as part of the Universal Perdic Review of Nigeria unrtaken November 2018 that ‘The Vlence agast Persons (Prohibn) Act of 2015, had done ltle to protect gay men, female sex workers and traveno dg ers as vulnerable populatns… AFA [Alliance for Ai] stated that the Act was yet to be rporated to domtic legislatn all stat…’[footnote 26]. ‘An ternatnal anisatn active health and velopment rearch nfirmed to the legatn that there was a certa gree of operatn wh specific state actors… A scientific source reported that the Nigerian Mistry of Health had already tablished guil 1996 which homosexualy was scribed whout prejudiced terms and which the rpectful treatment of sexual mori was remend as a basic prciple…. There is no ordated database that would make this possible… Several sourc nfirmed to the 2015 and 2019 FFMs that there are no warrants for arrt on the grounds of homosexualy -whether unr the Crimal Co, Sharia or the SSMPA….

ISLAMIC POLICE RAID 'GAY WEDDG' NIGERIA'S KANO CY

The trial, which began on December 2019, is the first to be brought unr the SSMPA, which crimaliz same-sex nduct as well as public displays of same-sex amoro relatnships, same-sex marriag, and the registratn of gay clubs, societi, and anizatns. In 2014, the State of Bchi, a lol Sharia urt found a 20-year-old man guilty of sodomy… The judge cid agast ath by stong (the prcribed punishment) bee the cint had occurred seven years prr to the trial and the fendant showed great remorse; he was whipped public and orred to pay a fe… This man was one of 12 arrted for belongg to a “gay anisatn”: the arrt volved the police lurg and later torturg the men to providg a list of 168 gay men belongg to the gay anisatn [2014] … There is much enthiasm amongst the police for enforcg the laws agast homosexualy: as recently as September 2020, two men aged 32 and 20 were arrted for homosexual acts at a hotel the State of Jigawa, after rints of the area overheard them argug over money…’[footnote 58]. 13 nbsp; Amnty Internatnal their report The State of the World’s Human Rights; Nigeria 2020 – stated: ‘Gay men, lbians and bisexual people ntued to be arrted by secury agents on the basis of their sexualy…’[footnote 61].

A report on the human rights suatn for LGBTI people Nigeria between 2016 and 2019 stated that arrts often took place at parti of groups of men private hom or hotels… A review by the Human Digny Tst of arrts that had taken place sce the SSMPA me to force 2014 dited that the arrts were ma on the basis of both the SSMPA and other natnal and lol relig laws (cludg sharia) prohibg homosexualy…’[footnote 63].

One mon practice durg arrts was the filmg and broadstg of vios of tae, who were prented to the public by the police as homosexuals… In some s, arrts and tentn were associated wh ser human rights vlatns such as abe and torture… Some LGBTI people who were taed experienced humane treatment such as abe, sleep privatn and unsanary practic that rried the risk of HIV fectn…’ [footnote 64]. ‘In most s, tae were released on ndn that they paid large ransoms to the officers who had arrted them… Almost all sourc nsulted for this report stated that extortn agast LGBTI dividuals by police officers is a very mon phenomenon Nigeria… A nfintial source dited that if tae uld not afford this ransom themselv, Nigerian LGBTI tert groups often paid on their behalf… The anisatns have set up legal help sks that try to monor when dividuals are arrted so that they n assist them if necsary… Dpe the efforts to get LGBTI people released return for payment, media and advocy groups reported on var s where LGBTI dividuals spent several weeks tentn, … sometim very poor ndns…There was one report May 2018 of a gay man who at that time had spent ne months prison on charg of homosexual activy…. 19 In rpect of prosecutns unr Islamic law the Netherlands MofFA report stated: ‘… The sourc nsulted for this report also ma no mentn of the imposn of the ath penalty by sharia urts for homosexual acts durg the reportg perd.

A GAY UPLE RAN A RAL RTRANT PEACE. THEN NEW NEIGHBORS ARRIVED.

‘A more posive attu om the thory’s si was reported March 2018, when the police missner and a tradnal chief (obi) of Iba town, Delta State, pledged their support to efforts by a human rights NGO (Lev Iniative for Freedom and Enlightenment - LIFFE) agast blackmailg and extortn of gay people.

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

2 The Genr and COVID-19 report on Nigeria published by the non-for-profs anisatns TIERS and Edutn as Vacce and fund by the Open Society Iniative for Wt Ai and the Ford Foundatn stated wh regard the prevalence of sexual vlence agast women and girls durg the COVID-19 panmic: ‘Police officers have… engaged “ntact tracg” of lbian, gay and bisexual people through qutng and searchg people allegedly vlatg ernment rtrictns. LGBTI people whose rights had been vlated rarely reported the perpetrators and rarely sought protectn om the thori… LGBTI victims feared further stigmatisatn or blackmail and arrt… The fears were fuelled by public disapproval of homosexualy by those posns of thory… However, a nfintial source was aware of s which LGBTI dividuals had succsfully turned to the police for ad-hoc protectn when attacked by angry mobs Lagos.

MEET THE FIRST MAN TO E OUT AS GAY ON NIGERIAN TELEVISN

‘In rrponnce wh the Rearch Directorate, the Executive Director of the WHER Iniative dited that both bisexualy and homosexualy are viewed negatively as all same-sex practic and relatnships and that neher bisexuals nor homosexuals are accepted Nigerian society… Acrdg to the IYHI [Improved Youth Health Iniative] reprentative, people “often perceive bisexual dividuals as perverts and evil people who do evil thgs”… In rrponnce wh the Rearch Directorate, the Director of Equaly Triangle Iniative explaed that.

‘To the 2019 FFM, a lol NGO scribed Nigerian society as hostile to sexual mori but add that this attu is slowly changg… In general, social tolerance towards homosexualy is creasg acrdg to a human rights lawyer terviewed by the 2019 FFM:. ‘The Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibn) Act 2013, which took effect Nigeria January 2014, has allegedly led to an crease extortn and vlence agast lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and tersex persons and imposed rtrictns on non-ernmental anizatns that provi sential servic for those persons….

‘The stigma attached to sexual mori Nigeria also leads to vlence… The society is hostile towards MSM and WSW… A reprentative of a lol NGO put this way to the 2019 FFM [Fact fdg missn] “Generally, society is hostile to gay persons”… Consequently, homophobic cints occur… Generally, persecutn emanat maly om society… The followg typ of human rights vlatns were mentned by the sourc to the legatns of the 2015 and 2019 FFMs: Threats; tnts; blackmail; ercn; physil asslt (sometim rultg ath); gradg treatment; dismissal….

TEXAS JUDGE WHO DON’T WANT TO PERFORM GAY MARRIAGE CEREMONI HOP WEB SIGNER’S SUPREME COURT SE HELPS HER FIGHT

Regardg vlence agast LGBTI people by strangers, a nfintial source dited that LGBTI advocy groups nsir fellow cizens, pecially aggrsive mobs, to be one of the greatt threats to the safety of LGBTI dividuals, bee the vlence n easily get out of hand… Acrdg to wns reports, gay men were victims of attacks and rap by unknown assailants… Durg the reportg perd, LGBTI people were also lured to fake dat through datg apps such as Tr, and then subjected to asslt or rape…. They have threatened to break away om the worldwi Anglin Communn over what they nsir the promise of the Church of England regardg regnn of gay clergy… Rev Rumo Jam, a Baptist pastor based Jos, Nigeria told a reporter that “homosexualism (sic) is a vis that gras the fay and s valu, rpts human habatn and offends God”… A Mlim cleric, Sheik Sani Yahaya who is the natnal chairman of the Ulama Council of the Jama’atu Izaltil Bid’ah Wa’Ikamatis Sunnah (JIBWIS) on his part has nmned homosexualy g the followg words: “It is an abomatn, is a crime”…’[footnote 116]. ‘Acrdg to sourc, there are no gay districts any urban… or ral areas Nigeria… Acrdg to the attorney, there is limed tolerance towards sexual mori Abuja and Lagos, where there are a “few” gay bars… The OutRight board member explaed that while there are no exclively-gay bars anywhere Nigeria, there are gay-iendly bars, namely Abuja and Lagos… John Campbell stated, however, that there are “no clubs that ter openly to sexual mori”… Acrdg to sourc, homosexuals Nigeria mostly socialize private hom and wh iends…’[footnote 128].

4 ‘… there are some lotns large ci Nigeria where LGBTI people uld exprs their sexualy provid certa preutns were taken… In addn, at least one gay club Lagos that had cid to close after the troductn of the SSMPA reopened durg the reportg perd… There were also a number of gay-iendly bars Abuja, Lagos and Owerri… Acrdg to an LGBTI activist, was possible for LGBTI people to exprs themselv eely to some extent such bars ( his own words: “seventy percent eely”)… However, social events mostly took place secret and were ually anised via social media rented lotns such as AirBnBs or hotels… Due to the risk of police raids, anisers often ed strict protols for admtg guts…’[footnote 130]. ‘Sourc dite that homosexual men are the most visible among sexual mori Nigeria… Acrdg to a report published by Swen’s Migratn Agency, Lifos, followg a fact-fdg missn that was rried out May 2014 Nigeria, “[o]ther persons ncerned wh the LGBT signatn, such as transgenr and tersexual persons, are overwhelmgly unseen society”… Acrdg to the same report, “[t]here are no statistics regardg [transgenr persons]… Men drsed as women [do] not [unrgo] sex change operatns. ‘…the anisatns provid legal support and health re servic to LGBTI people… They also vtigated human rights vlatns, provid rmatn about homosexualy to non-LGBTI muni, provid (onle) safety trag to LGBTI people, managed LGBTI media platforms, provid psychosocial support to LGBTI people and mediated between LGBTI people and their fai…’[footnote 145].

‘In a telephone terview wh the Rearch Directorate, John Campbell… stated that “[h]omophobia ns very ep Nigerian society - is pervasive at all levels and all areas of life”… Sourc dite that sexual mori face challeng accsg employment and hog… cludg discrimatn… and stigma… In a telenference terview wh the Rearch Directorate, a board member of OutRight Actn Internatnal (OutRight)… explaed, while speakg on his own behalf, that a real or perceived sexual mory n be nied hog or lose their job on the basis of their inty as a sexual mory… In rrponnce wh the Rearch Directorate, the founr and CEO of the Hoe of Rabow (HOR)… stated that a person n be evicted om their home “whout any jtifitn or refund” if be known that the person is homosexual… In rrponnce wh the Rearch Directorate, a reprentative of Amnty Internatnal siarly noted that “[l]andlords do not rent property to sexual mori” … Acrdg to the amic rearcher, large multatnal rporatns, such as oil pani, are not allowed to refe employment or fire someone based on their sexual orientatn and/or genr inty and exprsn, although -workers n still be “hostile towards them”… The same source further explaed that small-to-medium-sized enterpris (SMEs) are reported to “nsistently” fire male sexual mori … The HOR founr and CEO stated that many employers Nigeria do not abi by the non-discrimatn laws… The same source explaed that there are s of gay men and lbian women who were fired om their jobs bee their sexualy beme known….