Eric Bach is an openly gay broadster for the Frericksburg Natnals. He has major league aspiratns, but his path has been much lonelier than he would prefer.
Contents:
- THE NIGERIANS LURED TO A TRAP AND BLACKMAILED FOR BEG GAY
- GAY IN NIGERIA: LGBT LIFE IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST HOMOPHOBIC NATNS
- HAPPENING NOW: LGBT NIGERIANS JAILED AFTER PASSAGE OF NEW ANTI-GAY LAW
- 'PASSAG' DIRECTOR NOUNC 'DANGERO' NC-17 RATG ON A FILM PICTG A GAY LOVE STORY
- JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
- GAY NIGERIA, BLACK MALE AMERI
THE NIGERIANS LURED TO A TRAP AND BLACKMAILED FOR BEG GAY
* gay stories in nigeria *
Image ptn, Mohammed agreed to speak to the BBC on ndn of anonymyWhen Nigeria passed some of the tought anti-homosexualy laws Ai, the ter beme a place for the LGBT muny to nnect wh others more safely - until crimal gangs went digal too. Warng: This article ntas a reference to suiciLivg life secret as a gay man Nigeria was dangero for Mohammed. Acrdg to a group of activists who work wh the LGBT muny Nigeria, around 15 to 20 people ntact them each week wh siar stori to type of blackmail, where an LGBT person is entrapped, is known Nigeria's gay muny as "ko" - the exact orig of the term is unclear.
Image ptn, There is an unrground gay scene Lagos, but those who take part have to be very refulEmmanuel, not his real name, scribed how he started chattg to a iend onle, but had not realised his iend's acunt had been hijacked. It banned gay clubs, troducg a 10-year prison sentence for anyone who registers, operat, or participat gay clubs, societi, and anisatns, cludg supporters of those groups.
The passg of the law had wispread support, acrdg to surveys, and meant Nigeria had some of the strictt laws agast homosexualy Ai. The 12 northern stat uld already sentence people to ath unr Sharia, or Islamic law, for engagg homosexual acts. In 2014, media reports of vlence, mob jtice and extortn agast LGBT people were mon and activists say there has sce been an explosn ko s sce ptn, Uyai Ikpe-Etim says some people celebrate the targetg of LGBT peopleFilmmaker Uyai Ikpe-Etim, who liv openly as a gay woman Nigeria, said blackmail agast LGBT people is "rampant".
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 stories in nigeria *
" She said the gay muny, which is forced to live onle, has to be reful there too.
"If anybody brgs a se to my table ncerng any se of blackmailg of a gay person, I will hunt for them. In a untry where beg gay may send you to jail, few people would stand up and be hont about their sexualy. Gay Erotic Stori.
It is important to note that the same-sex soc-sexual behavr observed the study is distct om homosexual behavr bee s motivatn and purpose are social, said Jean-Baptiste Le, who studi primate behavr at the Universy of Lethbridge Canada and was not volved the new rearch. To be classified as te homosexual behavr, the form, motivatn and functn would all have to be sexual nature, he said. McCoy for The New York TimHis Sexualy Don’t Defe Him, but It Can Set Him ApartEric Bach is an openly gay broadster for the Frericksburg Natnals.
HAPPENING NOW: LGBT NIGERIANS JAILED AFTER PASSAGE OF NEW ANTI-GAY LAW
Three years earlier, while he was studyg journalism at Michigan State Universy, he had publicly e out as gay an say he wrote for the time of the say, he braced for a backlash, but nothg materialized. He worked his way up om ternships to full-time broadstg jobs, and while anyone wh an ter nnectn uld learn he was gay, nobody asked, and he did not say so aga publicly.
It was bil and ugly, filled wh “every gay slur you uld thk of, ” Bach said. It was paful at the time — the worst thg that had happened to him as a gay man, he said — but has reced far enough to his memory that did not e to md an hourlong terview about his experienc as a gay broadster.
As far as Bach knows — and as far as many of his unterparts wh other teams are aware — there are no other openly gay broadsters the sport.
'PASSAG' DIRECTOR NOUNC 'DANGERO' NC-17 RATG ON A FILM PICTG A GAY LOVE STORY
McCoy for The New York TimBorn to BroadstLong before he knew he was gay, Bach knew he wanted to be a sports father was a ach, and a love of sports ran through the fay. ”)He began to accept that he was gay durg his sophomore year of high school, but wh that acceptance me worry. As a multisport athlete, Bach was often locker rooms filled wh chos of homophobic slurs and gay jok.
JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
’”By the start of his sophomore year at Michigan State, Bach was ready to tell his parents that he was gay, tchg his father off guard but nfirmg what his mother had prevly assumed. He did each job to the bt of his abily, and his sexualy never me, he has found that there’s a difference between beg a gay man baseball and beg pletely fortable as one.
“I was sually like, ‘You know I’m gay, right? That uncertaty mak him feel self-nsc a way he believ is mon for gay people mostly straight spac.
GAY NIGERIA, BLACK MALE AMERI
“I feel like that’s the burn a lot of gay people live wh — tryg to be perfect for straight people, ” he job requir equent teractn wh the players and the achg staff — addn to his duti as play-by-play announcer, Bach also is the ma public relatns ntact for the team — and he said he hadn’t fully relaxed any of them. The environment is not hostile, but Bach never fets that he is the only openly gay person the room. Mrer/Frericksburg NatnalsThat feelg is somewhat “self-flicted, ” Bach said, but he believ the solutn is to brg more openly gay people to sports and create a safe environment for those who are already there but have felt necsary to hi their League Baseball has touted self as a place of clivy.
Billy Bean, an openly gay former player, was named the league’s first ambassador for cln 2014 and has sce been promoted to senr vice print and special assistant to Commissner Rob Maned. In Febary, Anrson Comás, a mor leaguer the Chigo Whe Sox anizatn, me out as gay wh a post on Instagram, and the announcement was met wh public support om his club and some people around the cints suggt there is more work to be done.
The Boston Red Sox lled up a mor leaguer, Matt Dermody, who had posted an anti-gay msage on Twter 2021, and Anthony Bass, a reliever for the Toronto Blue Jays, reposted a vio on social media that lled for boytts of L. “Those of that are this very small mory sports have to keep on havg the nversatns, keep on workg really ick’ hard to earn your spot this space, ” he aspir to be a gay person at home a big-league booth. McCoy for The New York TimA versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn A, Page 27 of the New York edn wh the headle: A Gay Broadster Climbs the Ladr, But It’s Been Lonely.