LGBTQ+ Nigerians Are Celebratg Pri Month Defiance of Anti-Gay Law

Contents:

• NIGERIA ANTI-GAY LAWS: FEARS OVER NEW LEGISLATN
• NIGERIA'S PRINT SIGNS LAW IMPOSG UP TO 14 YEARS' JAIL FOR GAY RELATNSHIPS
• HAPPENING NOW: LGBT NIGERIANS JAILED AFTER PASSAGE OF NEW ANTI-GAY LAW
• LGBTQ+ NIGERIANS ARE CELEBRATG PRI MONTH DEFIANCE OF ANTI-GAY LAW
• ANTI-GAY PROTTS HELD AGAST BOTSWANA LGBTQ BILL
• LGBT RIGHTS AI: WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?

NIGERIA ANTI-GAY LAWS: FEARS OVER NEW LEGISLATN

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.

NIGERIA'S PRINT SIGNS LAW IMPOSG UP TO 14 YEARS' JAIL FOR GAY RELATNSHIPS

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.

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. 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.

HAPPENING NOW: LGBT NIGERIANS JAILED AFTER PASSAGE OF NEW 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. "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. Nigeria's Print Goodluck Jonathan signed a bill on Monday that crimalis same-sex relatnships, fyg wtern prsure over gay rights and provokg US bill, which ntas penalti of up to 14 years prison and bans gay marriage, same-sex "amoro relatnships" and membership of gay rights groups, was passed by the natnal assembly last May but Jonathan had layed signg to law.

As much of sub-Saharan Ai, anti-gay sentiment and persecutn of homosexuals is rife Nigeria, so the new legislatn is likely to be popular. Jonathan is expected to seek re-electn 2015 but is unr prsure after several dozen lawmakers and a handful of regnal ernors fected to the opposn the past two existg Nigerian feral law, sodomy is punishable by jail, but this bill legislat for a much broar crackdown on homosexual people, who live a largely unrground US secretary of state, John Kerry, said Washgton was eply ncerned by the new measur. "It is nsistent wh Nigeria's ternatnal legal obligatns and unrm … mocratic reforms and human rights protectns, " he European untri, most recently France, have moved to offer same-sex upl the legal rights enjoyed by heterosexuals, many Ain untri are seekg to tighten laws agast homosexualy.

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

Bra and some other wtern untri have threatened to cut aid to ernments that pass laws persecutg homosexuals, a threat that has helped hold back or scupper such legislatn aid-pennt natns such as Uganda and Malawi. "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. 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.

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.

ANTI-GAY PROTTS HELD AGAST BOTSWANA LGBTQ BILL

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. "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. Pri month is a time to reflect on progrs but also ongog challeng  advancg the rights of lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) people.

Last July, five men acced of homosexual nduct were arrted Kano State, Nigeria by a relig police un that enforc Sharia, or Islamic law.

And Augt, lawmakers proposed a bill (still unr review) so extreme that simply sayg you are gay or lbian uld land you mandatory nversn therapy or prison for up to 10 years. Same-sex nduct is not illegal  Rwanda, but thori there round up and arbrarily taed people regard as socially unsirable, cludg over a dozen gay and transgenr people, sex workers, street children, and others the months before a planned June 2021 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetg. "Now, followg the lg that the two sectns the penal s mt be leted, we know very well and we felt that is gog to legalise homosexualy.

LGBT RIGHTS AI: WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?

A judge also tossed a lawsu agast Florida’s Parental Rights Edutn law — dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law by crics, which prohibs “classroom stctn by school personnel or third parti on sexual orientatn or genr inty” krgarten through eighth gra, “or a manner that is not age-appropriate or velopmentally appropriate for stunts acrdance wh state standards. Image source, Getty ImagIn the latt sign of risg homophobia different Ain untri, a Kenyan opposn MP is leadg a mpaign for parliament to further crimalise the untry's small LGBTQ muny.

Gee Peter Kaluma's move after neighbourg Uganda adopted a tough new anti-gay law, rejectg threats by US Print Joe Bin to impose sanctns and travel rtrictns on "anyone volved ser human rights ab". "We want to prohib everythg to do wh homosexualy, " Mr Kaluma tells me, addg that his bill will be much broar than the legislatn passed by Uganda's parliament and approved by Print Yoweri Meveni May. The Ugandan law is regard as one of the harsht anti-LGBTQ laws the propos life imprisonment for anyone nvicted of homosexualy, and the ath penalty for so-lled aggravated s, which clu havg gay sex wh someone below the age of 18 or where someone be fected wh a life-long illns such as the other si of the ntent, MPs Ghana earlier this month unanimoly voted favour of amendments to the untry's anti-gay legislatn, phg closer to beg enacted to law.