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see: 1 Nigerian anti-gay laws about to pass 1/07 2 Nigerian Primate has unexpected Valentines Day gay encounter 2/07 3 IGLHRC'S New report documents LGBT Nigerians' response to the Same-Sex Prohibition Act 2/07 4 Nigeria: World's Worst Anti-Gay Law May Pass Soon 2/07 4a Anti-Same Sex Marriage Bill Before Senate 2/07 5 Nigeria's anti-gay bill causes protests 3/07 6 Nigerian gay group claim new law could create exodus 3/07 7 Archbishop of Canterbury says churches must be 'safe' for gays 3/07 8 Nigerian Lesbian In Hiding After Gay Wedding 4/07 9 Cracking down on Nigeria's 'pleasure island' 7/07 10 Activists try to stop Nigeria's bid for Commonwealth glory 8/07 11 Nigerian men could face death penalty for 'gay marriage' 8/07 12 Gay Nigerians face Sharia death 8/07 13 Concerns Increase for Safety of LGBT in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Uganda 8/07 14 Crises Across Africa: Gays Under Government Attack in Nigeria, Cameroon, Uganda 8/07 15 Mob Tries To Lynch Men Awaiting Sentencing For Homosexuality 8/07 15a Mob in northern Nigeria attacks prison, injures official 8/07 16 18 gay Nigerians remanded 8/07 17 Nigeria loses out on Commonwealth Games 11/07 18 March date for Sharia "gay" trial in Nigeria 2/08 19 African lesbian conference demands equal rights 2/08 20 Gay Nigeria Christian Leader Narrowly Escapes Death in Brutal Attack 3/08 21 Nigeria: Hotbed of Homophobic Violence 4/08 22 Nigerian Archbishop claims there is "no hope" for Anglican communion 6/08 23 Nigerian gay rights campaigner freed from asylum detention centre 7/08 24 Nigerian activist granted asylum in the UK 7/08 25 Gay Nigerian tells of death threats 7/08 18 January 2007 1 by PinkNews.co.uk writer "The Prohibition of Relationships Between Persons of the Same Sex, Celebration of Marriage by Them, and for Other Matters Connected Therewith," is the title of the bill. It has been approved by the Nigerian Federal Executive Council and is now before the National Assembly. It is expected to be passed and become law shortly. Civilian government only returned to the country in 1999. The president, Olusegun Obasanjo, controls the Executive Council and his Nigerian People's Party has a majority in the both the Senate and House of Representatives. Although a centrist party, they derive most of their support from the Christian south of the country, and the Anglican church played an active role in promoting this legislation. Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell contacted PinkNews.co.uk to draw attention to the nature of the new legislation, which has the active backing of other Christian churches in Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa. "The bill is primarily concerned with banning same-sex marriage, but its sub-clauses go much further," Mr Tatchell said. "They will strip lesbian and gay Nigerians of their already limited civil rights. The bill outlaws almost every expression, affirmation and celebration of gay identity and sexuality, and prohibits the provision of sympathetic advice and welfare support to lesbians and gay men." "This draconian measure will outlaw membership of a gay group, attending a gay meeting or protest, advocating gay equality," Mr Tatchell claimed. "Donating money to a gay organisation, hosting or visiting a gay website, the publication or possession of gay safer sex advice, renting or selling a property to a gay couple, expressions of same-sex love in letters or emails, attending a same-sex marriage or blessing ceremony, screening or watching a gay movie, taking or possessing photos of a gay couple, and publishing, selling or loaning a gay book or video." In May 2006, British human rights minister Ian Pearson expressed outrage at the legislations and said, "we plan to raise our concerns with the Nigerian authorities." Despite the protests of governments and human rights activists, the Nigerian government have pressed ahead with the new laws, which are in contravention of various international treaties. Homosexuality is already illegal in the country. Nigeria's criminal code penalises consensual homosexual conduct between adults with 14 years imprisonment. This law was originally introduced by the British colonial administration in the nineteenth century. In addition, Sharia law, which was introduced in northern Nigeria in 1999, outlaws "sodomy," which could be interpreted to mean any sexual contact between men. The Anglican Church, who have a huge powerbase in Nigeria, have been key in promoting this bill. The church has been increasingly vocal about its disapproval of the position of women and gay men in the English and American churches. The Nigerian Church has already deleted all references to Canterbury from its constitution in defiance of Archbishop Rowan Williams. The new law carries an automatic five year jail sentence for those who break it. "The bill currently being debated in the Nigerian parliament, is the most comprehensively homophobic legislation ever proposed in any country in the world," said Mr Tatchell. "We appeal to gay and human rights groups worldwide to take urgent action to press the Nigerian government to uphold international human rights law and to drop this draconian legislation." For more information on the OutRage protest against Nigeria's homophobic law please visit www.outrage.org.uk
February 14, 2007 2 Archbishop Peter Akinola, scourge of lesbian and gay people and their supporters in the worldwide Anglican Communion, had an unexpected Valentines Day encounter today – with the head of an organization that embodies the concerns of a group he has previously suggested do not exist, gay Christians in Nigeria. This afternoon (14 February 2007), following the first press briefing prior to the official start of the Anglican Primates meeting on Thursday 15 February, Mr Davis Mac-Iyalla, director of Changing Attitude Nigeria and Archbishop Peter Akinola, Primate of All Nigeria, met for the first time. As Mr Mac-Iyalla left the hotel lobby with the Rev Caro Denton Hall (from Integrity, USA), he found the Archbishop in the company of Bishop Martyn Minns (head of a breakaway group of US Episcopal parishes now under Nigerian control) and his wife, plus Canon Chris Sugden from the conservative group Anglican Mainstream. Mr Mac-Iyalla went straight to the Archbishop to introduce himself and Denton Hall, from the network of lesbian and gay Episcopalians. The Rev Colin Coward of Changing Attitude England reports: “The Archbishop did not immediately recognize Davis, but asked him what he was doing in Tanzania. Davis explained that he has come to greet him and other Primates. Peter Akinola asked Davis if they had met before and Davis said yes, they had met several times, when Akinola came to inaugurate the Province of Jos. Davis told the Archbishop the story of the late bishop Ugede, when they had met at the bishop’s funeral.” Coward continued: “Davis also told Peter Akinola how he had spent the night at his house following Bishop Ugede’s death in Abuja. Davis went on to describe the formation of Changing Attitude Nigeria. Peter Akinola then remembered who Davis was and thanked him. The Archbishop jokingly asked Davis if he was officially invited to the meeting, and Davis replied that no, he is not a Primate.” Mr Coward, who had met Archbishop Akinola at an Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Nottingham, joined Mac-Iyalla and they exchanged handshakes and greetings with the Archbishop, who Coward described as “friendly and open”. After the meeting, Davis Mac-Iyalla said: “I came to Tanzania hoping I would be given the opportunity to meet my own Primate and I am very happy now to have met him and been warmly greeted by him. My Archbishop is now aware that I am here, representing Nigerian lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Anglicans.” He added: “I care about our Anglican Communion of which we are both members. I would hope for the opportunity of meeting him again so that I can bring before him the issues affecting gays and lesbians in Nigeria as a result of the Government bill [proscribing homosexual activity and organization] and of church attitudes towards LGBT people.” Mr Mac-Iyalla, whose has faced accusations and death threats in his home country, declared: “I am happy now that the truth that I have always told about myself, that I am a gay Nigerian Anglican has been witnessed by my own Primate. I hope Archbishop Peter Akinola will know that I am not a person who has deceived or cheated the church. I have always told the truth about my time with Bishop Ugede in Otukpo and my commitment to the diocese and the whole church.” The global Anglican Primates meeting outside Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s largest city, is surrounded by security, meaning that opportunities for lay people, clergy and others not part of the official retinue to meet them are severely limited.__The gathering is the last of it kind before the Lambeth Conference in 2008, and observers say that it could be determinative in shaping future decisions about the troubled 77-million Communion. Divisions between those who believe that affirming lesbian and gay people is a Gospel imperative and those who argue that it goes against biblical principles, are very deep. But Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, while reserving his own personal position in favour of upholding majority church teaching, has urged people to meet and talk face-to-face. The Windsor Report also encouraged Anglican leaders to listen to the voices of lesbian and gay people in the Church. In practice this has been difficult, and many Global South Primates have refused to do so. Those seeking ways beyond the impasse will hope that the unexpected Valentines Day encounter between Archbishop Akinola and Mr Mac-Iyalla will be a small step toward dialogue rather than confrontation.
February 17, 2007 3 For Immediate Release Nigerian lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgenders speak out against a proposed law in a new report by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC). The report, “Voices from Nigeria” provides personal accounts of homophobic attacks, arbitrary arrests and detentions, and increased levels of homophobia that have already begun as a result of the introduction of the legislation, referred to as the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act. Introduced to the Nigerian National Assembly in January 2006, the Act launches a vigorous attack on freedom of expression, assembly, and association in Africa’s most populous nation. If passed, the law would create criminal penalties for engaging in same- sex marriages or relationships and for advocating for the rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders. Simply taking part in a gay or lesbian club or support group would be illegal. Public hearings on the bill were held on February 14, 2007, by the Women’s Committee of Nigeria’s National Assembly and it could be voted into law as early as next month. “Ultimately, it is the lives of LGBT Nigerians that will be affected by this law,” said Cary Alan Johnson, IGLHRC's Senior Specialist for Africa. “The report is meant to turn up the volume of those voices.” One of those interviewed for the IGLHRC report is an HIV Outreach worker named Chuma who was arrested and detained by the police in Lagos in 2006 while carrying out research for a study on the prevalence and risk factors of HIV/AIDS among men that have sex with men. According to Chuma, “a team of policemen in Lagos came to my apartment and took me away to an unknown place for 2 days. I was beaten beyond recognition, and I am still receiving treatment for the head injury I received. I was dehumanized and paraded naked to the press... My only offense was that I am gay.” Chuma was eventually released without being charged or tried. Sarah, a Nigerian sexual rights activist, believes that many Nigerians are acting like the Bill has already been passed. She cites attacks on gay men in Abuja, the capital city, and the expulsion of cadets from a national military academy. During the hearings, officials in the Nigerian president’s office claimed that passage of the bill would help to fight HIV. Aishat, a gay Nigerian man interviewed for the report argues however that “the Bill will force to people having sex in secret rather than stopping gays having sex. Condoms will be used less and less often because there will be no time to develop relationships because of fear of being caught.” In releasing the report, IGLHRC has called on the Nigerian authorities to remember their commitments to International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) that guarantees freedom from unfair discrimination and the right to privacy. Provisions of the Act are also inconsistent with the principle of non- discrimination found in the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and the Nigerian Constitution. The report is available on line at http://www.iglhrc.org/files/iglhrc/reports/Voices_Nigeria.pdf or by contacting IGLHRC. Those interested in expressing their concern about the pending legislation can send politely worded appeals to: His Excellency Professor George A. Obiozor
February 21, 2007 4 One of the most sweeping anti-gay bills ever introduced in any parliament in the world is in danger of rapid passage in Nigeria in the coming weeks. Although billed as a ban on same-sex marriage, the proposed law includes provisions that would make any expression of homosexuality — not only sexual conduct but any homosexual inclination or reference, including any gay association or socializing — in public or in private, a crime.
22 February 2007 4a by Sufuyan Ojeifo Senate Leader, Senator Dalhatu Sarki Tafida (Kaduna North) led the debate on the Bill's general principles, opening the debate with an explanation of same sex marriage. According to him, "This simply means the coming together of two persons of the same gender or sex in a civil union, marriage, domestic partnership or other form of same sex relationship for the purposes of cohabitation as husband and wife". He said further: "The bill provides essentially that only marriage entered into between a man and a woman under the Marriage Act or under the Islamic and Customary Laws are valid and recognised in Nigeria. When this bill becomes law, it will prohibit the following: "Marriage between persons of the same sex and adoption of children by them in or out of a same sex marriage or relationship is prohibited in the Federal republic of Nigeria; Any marriage entered into by persons of same sex pursuant to a licence issued by another State, country foreign jurisdiction or otherwise shall be void in theFederal Republic of Nigeria. -Marriages between persons of the same sex are invalid and shall not be recognised as entitled to the benefits of a valid marriage. -Any contractual or other rights granted to persons involved in same sex marriage or accruing to such persons by virtue of a licence shall be unenforceable in any Court of law in Nigeria. Noting that there had been a spate of same sex marriages in some countries in recent times, Tafida said: "Nigeria is not exempted from the practice of homosexuality and in fact evidence abounds in this country of its existence". He added: "It is to pro-act in this direction that this Executive Bill has become necessary to enact into law and stop anyone who might attempt to marry some one of the same sex in this country. It is therefore important for senators to support the passage of this Bill without delay, as delay might be dangerous. "It is an offence, going by the provisions of the Bill, to celebrate same sex marriage in any place of worship by any recognised cleric of a Mosque, Church, denomination or body to which such place of worship belongs, and no marriage license shall be issued to parties of the same sex in this country. Similarly, going by the provision of this Bill, there is absolute prohibition of registration of gay clubs and societies and publicity of same sex sexual relationship. The offences and penalties are spelt out in Section 8 of this Bill. A term of five years imprisonment for offenders, which includes witnesses of such marriages, awaits persons of same sex who are found guilty of this offence". He stated further, "As you all know, same sex marriage is an abomination in the cultures of our people and it should also be an abomination for this distinguished assembly of wise Nigerians to fail to act by passing this Bill expeditiously. I trust you will enact this Bill into law with minimum delay". The Deputy Senate President, Senator Ibrahim Nasir Mantu (Plateau State) who spoke after the Senate Leader said that he would have throught that the government would devote more time to "do things more important to the lives of our country than for it to propose this Bill. "What the government is now doing is creating awareness to this thing and for us to create this kind of awareness, people may now want to start exploring it. Mr. President we have more serious things to do than to be working on this bill, I therefore urge that members should help me to kill this bill". Senate Chief Whip, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma supported Mantu and argued that "When you pass a law, it is meant to deal with a problem. My view is that the marriage act that we operate in Nigeria defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. As the deputy Senate President said, I think we should set this aside so that we can concentrate on the more important things we have to do". Senator Daisy Danjuma (Edo South) said: "This is not an issue here right now. It is such countries that issues like this have been discussed in Parliament that it is an issue. The problems we should face now are national issues concerning us; this is not an issue for now. We should not make an issue and give it the relevance it does not deserve". But Senator Sani Kamba (Zamfara State) countered, saying, "You do not say that we have the Marriage Act. Let us enact it now. I disagree that we should throw it away". Senate President, Senator Ken Nnamani, drew attention of Senators to Order 55(2), saying "There is what is called alternative lifestyle. We will be telling ourselves a lie if we say there are no homosexuals in Nigeria" .
1 March 2007 5 by staff writer
19 March 2007 6 by Christopher Hayes "Already we are seeing an increase in homophobic behaviour and attacks, because people feel they can get away with it. The climate is already becoming intolerable", said Mac-Iyalla. "Unless the government tones down its language and cancels the bill, we are going to see a flood of refugees as people flee for their lives," he warned. The proposed legislation was introduced by President Olusegun Obasanjo in February 2006 and according the BBC, parliamentary insiders have said that the bill is likely to be passed by both chambers of the Nigeria National Assembly by the end of this month. The legislation has attracted loud protest from across the world. In March 2006, sixteen international human rights groups signed a letter condemning the bill saying that it "contravenes the basic rights to freedom of expression, conscience, association, and assembly." New York based Human Rights Watch said in a statement: "This draconian measure will only intensify prejudice and discrimination based on sexual orientation." The group also warned that the bill would make it harder to combat Aids in Nigeria since it would make some of the work being carried out by HIV prevention groups illegal. But Emmanuel Onwubiko, a senior commissioner at Nigeria's Human Rights Commission told the BBC: "Supporters of the same-sex marriage in Nigeria don't know what they are saying. As far as we are concerned, gay marriage is not allowed in Africa. If South Africa want to do it, that is their business. It is not Nigerian to by gay, let alone going ahead to legally get married as gay and even live as a family with adopted children. It's completely alien to our culture," he added. Nigeria has a population of roughly 117 million. 6.5% of the population is conservatively estimated to be gay putting at least 760,000 Nigerians at threat from imprisonment. "If only a fraction of those sought sanctuary elsewhere, that would still create a headache for countries that Nigerians would naturally flee to," warns Davis Mac-Iyalla. Nigeria, like many African countries, is notoriously conservative on issues such as homosexuality. It is currently banned in the Nigerian penal code and in Muslim law. Furthermore, in around a dozen northern states which are under Islamic Sharia law, it is punishable by death by stoning. The country also has the world's third-highest population of Aids suffers with around 3.6 million people infected with HIV. Last week the European Parliament adopted a resolution on human rights violations in Nigeria and called on them not to adopt the bill currently being debated. Patricia Prendiville, Executive Director of ILGA-Europe, said: "We welcome the European Parliament’s stance on human rights violations in Nigeria. "We fear that the current outrageous bill outlawing any activities representing and protecting the human rights of LGBT people in Nigeria is not prominently dealt with by the Parliament and this issue might loose its momentum by being shelved together with other ongoing human rights concerns in Nigeria.
28 March 2007 7 by staff writers "The commitments of the Communion are not only to certain theological positions on the question of sexual ethics but also to a manifest and credible respect for the proper liberties of homosexual people, a commitment again set out in successive Lambeth Conference Resolutions over many decades" he said. In what will be seen as a reference to the situation in Nigeria where Anglican Archbishop Akinola is backing legal measures which would oppress gay and lesbian people, Rowan Williams said; "I share the concerns expressed about situations where the Church is seen to be underwriting social or legal attitudes which threaten these proper liberties. It is impossible to read this report without being aware that in many places - including Western countries with supposedly 'liberal' attitudes - hate crimes against homosexual people have increased in recent years and have taken horrifying and disturbing forms. "No-one reading this report can be complacent about such a situation, and the Church is challenged to show that it is truly a safe place for people to be honest and where they may be confident that they will have their human dignity respected, whatever serious disagreements about ethics may remain. It is good to know that the pastoral care of homosexual people is affirmed clearly by so many provinces." In his statement, Archbishop Williams paid tribute to the work of Canon Phil Groves and the team at the Anglican Communion Office involved in coordinating the Listening Process. The interim report, comprising summaries of the Communion's 38 Provinces' progress on the issue, can be found at: http://www.aco.org/listening/reports/
April 26, 2007 8 by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff "As defenders of Sharia law, we shall not allow this unhealthy development to take place," Rabo Abdulkarim, deputy commander of the state Islamic police, told ThisDay newspaper, Reuters said. "We are investigating the matter with a view to find the culprits and punish them." Federal law also bans homosexuality. Anyone convicted could face up to 14 years behind bars. Last year it became a crime for same-sex Nigerian couples to travel abroad to marry. The government also is considering legislation that would strip gays and lesbians of all civil rights. The bill started out as a ban on same-sex marriage and has been revised to make it a crime for more than two gay people to be in the same venue at the same time. It prohibits LGBT social or civil rights groups from forming. It would be illegal to sell or rent property to same-sex couples, watch a gay film or video, visit an LGBT web site, or express same-sex love in a letter to one's partner. The legislation goes so far as to make it a criminal offense to impart information of HIV/AIDS to gays or for non-gays to meet with any group of gays for any purpose. The penalty would be five years in prison with hard labor. The bill has the support of Nigeria's Anglican Church - the major religion in the south - and its leader Archbishop Peter Akinola who has been at the forefront of opposing gay clergy in the denomination. Conservative Anglican churches in the US have aligned themselves with Akinola.
9 by Senan Murray , BBC News, Kano This has resulted in a peaceful co-existence between residents of the area and the rest of the city. Sabon Gari also happens to be one of Kano's biggest ghettos, with blocked sewers, gullied streets and piles of rubbish on almost every street corner. Cannabis is also openly smoked in this part of the city and pipe-born water is even rarer than in the rest of Kano. 'Open secret' Kano is among a dozen states in northern Nigeria practising Sharia law, despite initial strong opposition from the federal government, Christians and human rights groups. More than a dozen Muslims have been sentenced to death by stoning for sexual offences like adultery and homosexuality since the Sharia legal system was introduced in 2000. Many others have been sentenced to flogging for drinking alcohol. Two petty thieves have also had their hands amputated - but no death sentences have so far been carried out. The BBC News website learnt that some Muslims often cross the religious divide - under the cover of darkness - from the Sharia part of Kano to Sabon Gari for dancing, alcohol and sex. "I often bring many of them here at night to drink," says Mohammed, a taxi driver in the city. It's an open secret, my brother. The code is thou shall not be caught," he says with a knowing smile. Mohammed wouldn't say whether he also makes the nocturnal pilgrimage to the city's pleasure island. "As long as no-one sees you, you remain a good Muslim and the Hisbah can't come after you." 'Instruments of sin' Even in the Sharia part of Kano, prostitutes often disguise their trade by covering themselves up in the Islamic veil. But now, the Hisbah are saying enough is enough. "Sharia has been very successful in Kano. So, we cannot allow a tiny spot in the city to ruin our successes so far," Abubakar Rabo Abdulkarim, who is in charge of operations at the Hisbah, told the BBC News website. He says his men will soon launch a raid on Sabon Gari to cleanse it of all "instruments of sin". But Mr Abdulkarim also understands the complex cultural nuances of his environment. Beer smuggling "Sharia is not a one-day affair. We will get there very soon. Knowing the nature of our environment, we have to be really careful," he says. He says he has started by reducing the amount of alcohol that goes into Sabon Gari without actually entering the district. They say Sharia is for the Muslims. As for me, my religion does not stop me from selling or taking alcohol, why should they try to interfere with my business? 'Madam Cash', Bar-owner "We mount checkpoints on the main roads leading into the city and impound all lorries attempting to bring alcohol into our city. So, in fact, all the beer you see in Sabon Gari was smuggled in." But Obinna Amaechi, sitting in a roadside bar with a beer bottle in his hand, is not worried. They are not serious. They come here at night and join us at the bar and now they say they want to come and destroy the beer parlours? I think they are joking," he says nonchalantly. Bar-owner Chidinma Anakwe or "Madam Cash", as her customers call her, further points out that that the Hisbah said non-Muslims would not be affected by Sharia. "They say Sharia is for the Muslims. As for me, my religion does not stop me from selling or taking alcohol, why should they try to interfere with my business?" she asks. Madam Cash runs a roadside bar on a main road in Sabon Gari. Despite her passionate defence of her liquor trade, she wouldn't want her picture taken, afraid that her bar might be singled out by "some people" for cleansing. Massaging the system Her fear is common among the Christian and animist residents of Sabon Gari. Having been through many ethnic and religious clashes, in which hundreds of people were killed, they have learnt to massage the system rather than rock the boat. Many of them reacted almost violently when attempts were made to take their pictures or those of their bars. "As long as they remain this careful, they will keep their businesses and the Hisbah may never come here," Solomon Gapsiso, a Christian who has lived in Kano for more than a decade, said. "The Hisbah are only joking," one sex worker said with what seemed like a genuine carefree attitude. Even for Saudi [Arabia], ashawo dey - there are prostitutes even in Saudi," she said. Mr Abdulkarim says other societies may tolerate sex workers, but his green-uniformed Hisbah will not allow Kano to become the modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah. However, there is yet another district where Mr Abdulkarim and his band of Hisbah volunteers will not go, even if they rid Sabon Gari of its "sinful" night life - the army and police barracks. These also boast small "mammy markets", where alcohol is freely sold and sex-workers operate unhindered. It is unlikely that Mr Abdulkarim's unarmed patrol teams could venture into these enclaves, suggesting Kano will continue to implement Sharia in patches for a long time to come.
6th August 2007 10 by Tony Grew Mike Hooper, chief executive of CGF, agreed to present their report to the President of the Commonwealth Games Federation, Michael Fennell, later this month. The Commonwealth Games was founded under its original name, the British Empire Games, in 1930. They are held every four years, giving around 5,000 athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations the chance to compete. The Commonwealth Games Federation constitution dictates that "there shall be no discrimination against any country or person on any grounds whatsoever including race, colour, gender, religion or politics" in Article 7. The CGF website also claims that "Underlying every decision made by the CGF are three core values - HUMANITY, EQUALITY AND DESTINY." Nigerian law directly contradicts this, stating that anyone who has "carnal knowledge of any person against order of nature or permits a male to have carnal knowledge of him" can be imprisoned for 14 years. "It would not be right for the 2014 Commonwealth Games to be held in Nigeria, given the country's appalling human rights record, including its systematic persecution of lesbian and gay Nigerians," said Mr Mac-Iyalla. "Nigeria's homophobic oppression is a violation of the Commonwealth Games ethos of equality, humanity, peace, unity, cooperation and understanding. Unless Nigeria radically improves its human rights record, it should be ruled out of consideration as a host for the 2014 Games." Peter Tatchell of gay human rights group OutRage!, and the Reverend Stephen Coles, a member of the General Synod of the Church of England and Vicar of St Thomas', Finsbury Park, London, were also in the delegation. Mr Tatchell paid tribute to Mr Mac-Iuyalla's work on gay rights. "Davis has done a magnificent job exposing the victimisation of gay people in Nigeria – a victimisation that is incited and endorsed by the Anglican Church of Nigeria and its leader, Archbishop Peter Akinola. "Earlier this year Mr Mac-Iyalla was forced to flee Nigeria and seek exile in a nearby African country, due to threats to kill him. These threats were prompted by his public condemnation of homophobic discrimination and violence in Nigeria, and by his public witness as an openly gay Christian. Davis is a truly remarkable, courageous man. He is taking a defiant stand in support of gay human rights, despite the serious danger that he could be murdered. We salute him," said Mr Tatchell. The final decision on which city will host the 2014 Games will be taken in early November. Abuja is in direct competition with Glasgow to host the international sporting competition
10th August 2007 11 by PinkNews.co.uk writer 18 men have been arrested at a hotel in northern Nigeria and charged with sodomy. The men, who were detained by police on Sunday, come from different parts of Nigeria and were allegedly dressed in women's clothes. They had come together to celebrate a gay 'marriage,' according to the NAN government news agency. The arrests took place in Bauchi city, the capital of a Muslim state in the centre of Nigeria with a population of 316,000. Sharia law is enforced in the state and if found guilty the men could be executed. Bauchi state has already convicted three people to death by stoning for sexual offences and an agency who oversee the implementation of sharia law is pressing for the sentences to be carried out. In Nigeria, the governor in a Muslim state must give his approval for some of the harsher penalties handed down by sharia courts, such as execution or amputation. Predominantly Muslim states in Nigeria introduced sharia law, a legal system based on Islamic theory and philosophy of justice, in 2000. In reality the re-introduction of harsh punishments has been the main feature of sharia courts. In Bauchi state alone there are 40 people awaiting amuputation of one or both hands for theft. The 18 men have been charged with sodomy and remanded in custody. They will return to court on August 21st.
10 August 2007 12 Eighteen men have been remanded in prison following their arrest for alleged sodomy in northern Nigeria, the state-owned news agency, Nan, reports. The men were arrested in a hotel in north-eastern Bauchi State, which is governed by the Islamic Sharia law. The Sharia punishment for sodomy is death by stoning. The men, reportedly wearing women's clothes, are said to have gone to Bauchi town from neighbouring states to celebrate a "gay wedding". Sharia judge Malam Tanimu ordered that the 18 be remanded in prison after they were arraigned before him on Wednesday. Prosecuting police officer Tadius Boboi said the men's actions had contravened Sharia law, adopted in Bauchi and a dozen other states in Muslim northern Nigeria in 2000. Amputations More than a dozen Nigerian Muslims have been sentenced to death by stoning and for sexual offences ranging from adultery and homosexuality. But none of these death sentences have actually been carried out as they were either thrown out on appeal or commuted to prison terms as a result of pressure from human rights groups. Many others have been sentenced to flogging by horsewhip for drinking. But there have been two amputations in north-western Zamfara State which pioneered the introduction of the Islamic legal system in the country. Taboo Nigeria, like many African countries, is a conservative society where homosexuality is considered a taboo. The Nigerian parliament has been trying to pass a controversial law introduced by former President Olusegun Obasanjo banning gay rights organisations. Gay activists and some human rights groups have condemned the proposed legislation and called for its rejection. But homosexuality and same sex marriage are illegal in Nigeria and are considered very serious offences. In April, a woman reportedly fled Nigeria after being accused of organising a polygamous lesbian wedding. She later denied the reports. Two years ago, a Sharia court sentenced a man to six months in prison and fined him $38 for living as a woman for seven years in Kano. Here is a selection of comments we received about the story: Davies Udokwu in Lagos, Nigeria wrote: Sharia is the Law in Northern Nigeria so the penalty for homosexuality, which is death, should be meted out on them without fear or favour. Sodomy is an act of insanity which even animals cannot do. The West should stop making an issue out of this and try to change their system to support good morals. James in California wrote: This is simply another example of a repressive belief system that uses fear, domination, and hatred to control its believers and to impose horrific repression on others. Why does the UN tolerate such violence against gay people or those who are thought to be gay? Matsiko David wrote: Campaigners of same sex marriage are not different from those cited in Sodom and Gomorrah. Joseph Lengmang in Plateau, Nigeria, wrote: What I really don't understand is whether such a punitive yet barbaric measure is permissible by the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria. And if this is not the case, then i think it would amount to a gross abuse of naked force by the champions of shariah law in Northern Nigeria. John in Rotterdam, Holland, said: It is very sad, to see things like this happen in Nigeria. People getting killed for being a GAY, shame to our so called leaders and also shame to the British. It is all their fault in the first place for making us ONE NIGERIA. Kenny, a Nigerian in Malaysia said: It is a taboo and it should remain a taboo. They should be killed by hanging. A country can have its own law. I am a christian and i support the sharia law in doing it.
21 August 2007 13 Nigeria, Cameroon, and Uganda Increase Arrests and Threats toward their LGBT Citizens The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) is deeply alarmed by increased violence, arrests, and threats of arrest of gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders in three African nations. In recent weeks, 18 men have been detained in Nigeria, purportedly for cross-dressing, 6 gay men have been arrested in Cameroon on the heels of widely publicized detention and trials last year that prompted United Nations intervention, and Ugandan government officials have joined homophobic religious institutions by calling for the arrests of LGBT activists. According to IGLHRC's Research and Policy Associate for West Africa, Joel Nana, who attended the hearing this morning before Alkali (Judge) Malam Kanimi Aboubacar in the Tunda Al Khali Area court, the behavior of the crowd was shocking. "Both the prisoners and their lawyers were dehumanized and attacked by the crowd," said Nana. "It seemed as if these men had already been tried and convicted." Uganda LGBT leaders in Uganda, working under the banner of Sexual Minorities of Uganda (SMUG) last week launched the "Let Us Live in Peace Campaign," asking for greater attention to the HIV/AIDS-related needs of LGBT Ugandans and thanking the Ugandan police for helping to reduce anti-LGBT violence. With today's pronouncements by the government, many LGBT are now in fear of their lives again and have gone into hiding. According to SMUG spokesperson Victor Mukasa, "the goal of the campaign is to reach out to all Ugandans so that people realise we are not something imported from the West. We are the homosexual and transgender children of God. All we ask is that we be allowed to live in peace."
August has proven to be a perilous months for gays in Nigeria and Cameroon, where large-scale arrests have taken place, and in Uganda, where gay activists have gone into hiding after government ministers this week called for their arrest. First, in Nigeria: "Any male person who dresses in the fashion of a woman in a public place will be liable to a prison term of one year or 30 lashes," Muhamad Muhamad Bununu, head of the Hisbah — an Islamic vice squad that works with the police and patrols neighborhoods to enforce the strict observance of conservative Islamic morals and dress codes — told Agence France-Presse. Bauchi is one of a dozen Muslim-dominated states in northern Nigeria that has adopted Islamic sharia law, including criminal law, since 2000, following the end of the military dictatorship in the country of 140 million people. The decision by these states to adopt sharia law "alienated sizable Christian minorities and sparked bouts of sectarian violence that killed thousands," AFP noted in its Tuesday dispatch. The accused youths, 18 to 22, had originally been arrested on August 4 in a police raid on a wedding party at the Benko Hotel in the Yelwa area of Bauchi, at which the police scooped up 45 people, including women and children — but many of them escaped. The official Nigerian News Agency initially reported that "the police First Information Report (FIR) described the 18 youths as ‘dressed in women’s fashion practicing sodomy as their profession,’" as the Nigerian daily This Day reported, claiming the accused had gathered at the hotel to celebrate a "gay marriage." The accused "were addressing each other as women and dressing as women," Bununu told Reuters. Most Nigerian media, which are overwhelmingly homophobic, followed the government news agency’s line, and said the young men had been arrested at a "gay wedding" for "sodomy," a crime punishable by stoning to death under the sharia law in force in the dozen Nigerian states which have adopted it. Some Western news agencies, like the Associated Press, also initially said that the 18 had been arrested for "sodomy." But by the time the case got to court this Tuesday, the charges had been reduced, and the 18 were formally indicted "under the idle persons and vagabonds section of sharia law," which also forbids cross-dressing, the Hisbah’s Bununu told Agence France-Presse. Sharia law requires four witnesses to an act of anal penetration for conviction, so Bununu explained to the French news agency, "For now we can’t charge the men with sodomy because we have to have witnesses to testify." The police brought handbags and suitcases containing women’s high-heel shoes and clothing to this Tuesday’s court hearing as evidence. But Joseph Akoro, director of The Independent Project (TIP), a Nigerian LGBT group, told a representative of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) who was on the scene in Bauchi for the court hearing that the young men were not wearing women’s clothing at the time of their arrest. Moreover, Akoro said, the marriage being celebrated at the hotel was a heterosexual one. "This leads us to believe that the charges have been drummed up to incite hatred against gay people in the highly charged environment of our country," Akoro added, referring to Nigeria’s extraordinarily conservative culture in which both Christians and Muslims revile homosexuality as a taboo, and in which draconian anti-gay legislation had been considered earlier this year by the parliament. That broad-reaching legislation, which was promoted by its supporters as a ban on gay marriage, was denounced in a May 8 New York Times editorial as "in fact an assault on basic rights of association, assembly, and expression" which would have criminalized and provided stiff prison terms for any association or socializing by gays, any speech or writing about homosexuality that did not condemn it, and any advocacy of human rights for LGBT people. The Times editorial called the bill "poisonous." But Nigerian media hysteria around the Bauchi 18, whose trial, the BBC’s correspondent in that state this week said, has become "a celebrity case," may be the signal that the new government of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, who was elected the country’s head of state in April, intends to revive the anti-gay bill and its omnibus repressions. That’s the view of IGLHRC’s senior African specialist, Cary Alan Johnson, who told me: "We’d hoped that the bill was dead, and that the government realized that international opinion was mobilized against it. The proposed anti-gay law had been condemned by the European Union, the Italian parliament, four rapporteurs of the United Nations, and even by the U.S. State Department." "Now," Johnson continued, "My fear is that these arrests and the way they are being framed by the Nigerian media— as ‘sodomy’ that occurred at a ‘gay wedding’ at the hotel when neither happened — is being used to prepare the field for the re-introduction of the bill." Asked by this reporter who he thought had informed the police of the presence of so many young gays at the heterosexual wedding, Johnson said it was "probably the Hisbah, which is similar to the vigilante groups in Iran" that target gay people. At the end of the court hearing this Tuesday, five of the 18 accused were freed after each paying bail of 20,000 Naira (roughly $158). The 13 others who could not make bail were returned to prison. As the five who’d been freed on bail left the courthouse, trying to hide their faces to avoid being recognized or photographed, they were violently attacked by a stone-throwing crowd of mostly young protestors hollering anti-gay epithets. Some of the stones hit not only police but some of the many Nigerian and foreign journalists who’d come to Bauchi for the court hearing. Police had to fire teargas and shots in the air to disperse the angry crowd. Joel Nana, IGLHRC’s research and policy associate for West Africa — who’d been sent to Bauchi to observe the court proceeding — said the behavior of the crowd was "shocking." Nana, 25, who was a co-founder of the Cameroon LGBT rights group Alternatives Cameroon before going to work for IGLHRC, said, "Both the prisoners and their lawyers were dehumanized and attacked by the crowd — it seemed as if these men had already been tried and convicted." The next court appearance in the prosecution of the Bauchi 18 has been postponed until September 13 "to give the new prosecutor time to familiarize himself with the case," several Nigerian media reported. The Bauchi 18 are being represented by two lawyers from Nigeria’s Legal Reform and Assistance Project, a non-gay human rights group which had been contacted by IGLHRC. "It’s one of the positive developments that we’ve been able to develop straight allies in Nigeria who recognize that LGBT rights are an integral part of the human rights fight," IGLHRC’s Johnson told me. But the Nigerian daily This Day reported that one of the defense lawyers, Barrister Ralph Moye, had to ask for an interpreter, as the court proceedings were conducted in Hausa, and he is non-Hausa speaking. English is Nigeria’s official language, but nine major dialects, including Hausa, are widely spoken in different areas of the country. In Cameroon, six teenagers have been jailed without trial since July 30 on charges of homosexuality following police use of torture to make other youths "name names" of their gay friends in Douala, the country’s largest city with a population estimated at more than 2 million. In Cameroon, homosexuality is a crime punishable by up to five years in prison. Three adolescents had been taken to the police commissariat in Douala’s Bonassama district because they had allegedly stolen something from the house of the parents of one of them. But while the young trio was at the commissariat, one of them received a text message on his cell phone that police said indicated he was involved in a homosexual relationship, according to a report prepared by Sebastien Mandeng, human rights coordinator for Alternatives Cameroon, the group IGLHRC’s Nana had founded. "The police, who used a mixture of coercion, torture, and promises of liberty, forced the adolescents to admit their homosexuality and sign a transcript of that admission— but also to reveal the identity of the six other gay teenagers, who were then arrested," said Mandeng’s report. "The police ambushed those who‘d been named — they called the six boys and got them to come to a rendezvous, and when they showed up they were arrested." Activist Mandeng said that the police refused to give him any information when he showed up at the commissariat to inquire about the arrested youths and sought to meet with them, but he managed to speak to them from outside the jail through a window of the cell where they were being held, thus learning their identities and what had happened to them. After being held for 10 days in the Bonassama commissariat — more then the three days of detention allowed by law if no indictment has come down – the six teenagers were transferred to Douala’s New Bell Prison, where they are still being held, without trial and without being afforded legal counsel. Commenting on the imprisoned, teenaged Douala 6, IGLHRC’s Johnson said, "The tactics of the Cameroonian government define the term ‘witch hunt.’ Imagine being forced to denounce your friends. Imagine finding yourself in prison because your name is on a list." In a letter to Cameroon’s minister of Justice, Alternatives Cameroon’s Steave Neamande denounced the continued pattern of arrests of gay men in his country, noting, "Hardly a month goes by without reports of the arrests of people because of their sexuality." (For extensive background on the dire situation facing LGBTs in Cameroon and interviews with leading activists, see this reporter’s November 2-8, 2006 Gay City News article, "U.N. Condemns Cameroon Jailings,") In Uganda, most of that nation’s small group of LGBT activists went into hiding this week following calls for their arrest by Deputy Attorney General Fred Ruhinde and Minister of Ethics and Integrity Nsaba Butoro. Speaking on the Radio One public radio and other private radio stations, the two high government officials, in demanding that the activists be jailed, demonstrated their solidarity with a church-led anti-gay rally Aug. 21, which Butoro attended. Held at a Kampala rugby field, the rally was organized by the Interfaith Coalition Against Homosexuality, an alliance of Christian, Muslim, and Baha’i congregations. At the rally, which drew several hundred people, the anti-gay protesters carried dozens of placards ranging from "Arrest all homos" to "God loves homos, he hates homosexuality," Reuters reported. Other placards called for the firing and deportation of Katherine Roubos, a 22-year-old U.S. intern at the local independent newspaper Daily Monitor, for reporting on the experiences of gays in Uganda. "Aga Khan, fire Katherine Roubos, homo propagandist," one said, while another read: "Government deport Roubos." The Daily Monitor is part of the regional Nation Media Group partly owned by the Aga Khan, spiritual leader of more than 15 million Shia Ismaili Muslims worldwide. He is visiting Uganda, which is a predominately Christian country with a Muslim minority. The anti-gay rally was designed as a response to the launch of a pro-gay media campaign at an August 17 press conference, the first-ever held by Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), a coalition of four LGBT groups headed for the last several years by Victor Juliet Mukasa, a transgendered lesbian and one of the few LGBT activists willing to speak in public. A number of the seven panelists at the SMUG press conference wore elaborate masks to conceal their identities (right, a masked panelist at the SMUG press conference in Kampala) Mukasa was forced to flee into exile in South Africa in fear of her life after police raided her home two years ago, seized SMUG materials, and forced a friend to strip to prove she was really a woman. Mukasa has now returned to Uganda to pursue a civil lawsuit against the nation’s attorney general who authorized the raid on her home. (For background, see this reporter’s September 14-20, 2006 Gay City News article, "Uganda Witch Hunt Escalates.") Roubros’ Daily Monitor article on the SMUG press conference reported that participants said "police have repeatedly demanded sexual favors or personal bribes in exchange for release from custody. ‘This is not protecting Ugandans, said a man wearing a mask and a name card with the alias ‘Douglas.’ ‘This is not protecting Ugandans, it is threatening people for profit. This is certainly not within the law,’ exclaimed Douglas." Roubos, a Stanford University student, denied campaigning for gays, saying she was simply doing her work. "I was assigned a story by the editor and I did it objectively. My job is to report on events, not my personal opinions," she told Reuters. Uganda's laws prescribe prison terms for consensual homosexuality ranging from five years to life imprisonment.
August 26, 2007 15 by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff Sodomy carries a maximum sentence of death. When the prosecutor said he would not seek the death penalty the judge said he would need time to consider an appropriate sentence. (story) The 18 will be back in court September 13. Five of the men were able to make bail. The others remain in custody/ NAN reports that the mob was angry that the charge was reduced. Whether the men are gay or transsexual has not been fully explained by authorities. The government frequently alleges that men arrested for being gay were dressed as women and were attending or preparing to attend gay weddings. More than a dozen men have been sentenced to death in recent years for alleged homosexuality. In most cases their fate is unknown. Officially the government denies there have been any executions. Meanwhile, the government is moving ahead with legislation that would strip gays and lesbians of all civil rights. The bill started out as a ban on same-sex marriage and has been revised to make it a crime for more than two gay people to be in the same venue at the same time. It prohibits LGBT social or civil rights groups from forming. It would be illegal to sell or rent property to same-sex couples, watch a gay film or video, visit an LGBT web site, or express same-sex love in a letter to one's partner. The legislation goes so far as to make it a criminal offense to impart information of HIV/AIDS to gays or for non-gays to meet with any group of gays for any purpose. The penalty would be five years in prison with hard labor. The most recent arrests have sparked outrage in Britain and is likely to scuttle Nigeria's bid to host the Commonwealth Games in 2014. The southern half of Nigeria is predominantly Anglican. The primate of the Nigerian Church is Archbishop Peter Akinola who has been at the forefront of opposing gay clergy in the denomination. Conservative Anglican churches in the US have aligned themselves with Akinola.
Agence France Presse August 25, 2007 15a Angry demonstrators have injured a prison official in northern Nigerian Bauchi state in an attempt to lynch suspected homosexuals being held in custody, official news agency NAN said Saturday. The prison chief, Mohammed Nata'ala, was quoted by NAN as saying the unnamed official was injured while preventing the mob from forcing their way into the prison late Friday. The demonstrators were said to be protesting the substitution of the charge against the suspects from sodomy, which carries the death penalty under the Islamic sharia code, to idleness. The sharia penal code was adopted in Bauchi and other states in Muslim northern Nigeria eight years ago following the end of military rule. The suspects, 18 in all, were arrested on August 4 in a hotel in Bauchi for wearing women's clothing and allegedly attempting to conduct a gay marriage. But a judge granted them bail on August 21 after the prosecution had substituted the charge of sodomy with idleness, which carries one-year imprisonment. Five of the men who satisfied the bail conditions, including payment of 20,000 naira (156 dollars, 114 euros), were released pending the resumption of the case on September 13. The remaining 13, who have not yet satisfied bail conditions, were sent back to the Bauchi prison after appearing in court. As the suspects left court, the crowd hurled insults at them and pelted them with stones, some of which hit police and journalists covering the trial. Police fired into the air and used tear gas to restore order.
10 August 2007 16 by staff writer One Nigerian man was convicted by a Sharia court in Kano to six months in prison after he was found guilty of imitating women’s way of life for years. Efforts to outlaw gay rights organisations in Nigeria had met the rock during the days of Obasanjo. Mounting pressures from human and gay rights groups, criticising the government of not being sensitive to the rights of all its citizens. But the fact of the matter is that same sex affairs or marriages are still kept under the carpet in Nigeria. A woman who was accused of trying to arrange lesbian weddings fled the country. Last year, South Africa became the fifth country in the world to legalise same sex marriages. But lesbians and gays have since been battling with the society to accept them instead of physically attacking or cursing them.
9th November 2007 17 by Tony Grew In August a delegation led by Davis Mac-Iyalla, founder and leader of the gay Christian group, Changing Attitude Nigeria, met with the chief executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) in London to put their case. They presented the CGF with an 11-page report setting out why it should reject the bid by the Nigerian city of Abuja to host the 2014 Games. The Commonwealth Games was founded under its original name, the British Empire Games, in 1930. They are held every four years, giving around 5,000 athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations the chance to compete. The Commonwealth Games Federation constitution dictates that "there shall be no discrimination against any country or person on any grounds whatsoever including race, colour, gender, religion or politics" in Article 7. The CGF website also claims that "Underlying every decision made by the CGF are three core values - humanity, equality and destiny." Nigerian law directly contradicts this, stating that anyone who has "carnal knowledge of any person against order of nature or permits a male to have carnal knowledge of him" can be imprisoned for 14 years. "I would love an African country to host the games, but not Nigeria," said Peter Tatchell, who accompanied Changing Attitude Nigeria when they met with the chief executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation. Awarding Abjua the games would have rewarded bad governance, grave social injustices and the denial of civil rights to millions of Nigerians. Nigeria should be offered the 2018 Games, on the condition that within the next three years it makes serious progress on eradicating corruption, election fraud and human rights violations."
18th February 2008 18 by Tony Grew They instead face charges of criminal conspiracy, membership of an unlawful society, indecent acts, and "vagabondage", which relates to the allegation they were dressed in female attire. They face to up to ten years imprisonment and more than 100 lashes and a charge of sodomy could be instituted at any time, according to IGLHRC. The man are on bail, having spent 19 days in jail, and are due to appear in court again on March 24th. The men deny that they were dressed in female clothing or that they were organising or attending a gay wedding. They argue that the event was a combination birthday/graduation party for a local man (who was not present at the time of the raid and has not been arrested) and the celebration of the marriage of his sister. "These men are being railroaded by the authorities," said Mr Johnson. "Contradicting their own statements, the police first said that the men were all dressed in women's clothing, then that articles of female clothing and cosmetics were found in their belongings, which somehow proves that they were engaging in same sex marriage and homosexuality. The rhetoric of the police and court authorities are confusing, at best, and attempt to incite the public against the young men by conflating the concepts of 'homosexuality,' 'cross-dressing' and 'gay marriage'." The case has received considerable press attention in Nigeria. Bauchi state has already convicted three people to death by stoning for sexual offences and an agency who oversee the implementation of Sharia law is pressing for the sentences to be carried out. In Nigeria, the governor in a Muslim state must give his approval for some of the harsher penalties handed down by Sharia courts, such as execution or amputation. Predominantly Muslim states in Nigeria introduced Sharia law, a legal system based on Islamic theory and philosophy of justice, in 2000. In reality the re-introduction of harsh punishments apart from the death penalty has been the main feature of sharia courts. In Bauchi state alone there are 40 people awaiting amuputation of one or both hands for theft. "The arrests maybe part of the state government's campaign to reintroduce a remarkably dangerous anti-homosexuality bill," IGLHRC said in a statement. "Last year, the Nigerian National Assembly debated the "Bill for an Act to make provisions for the prohibition of sexual relationship between persons of the same-sex, celebration of marriage by them and for other matters connected herewith," commonly referred to as the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act of 2006. The bill criminalises same-sex marriage as well as the "registration of gay clubs, societies and organisations by whatever name they are called" and any "publicity, procession and public show of same-sex amorous relationship through the electronic or print media physically, directly, indirectly or otherwise. After effective advocacy by the consortium of local, national and international partners, the Assembly failed to bring the bill for a final vote and with the dissolution of the legislature it died, pending potential reintroduction. Even though it did not pass, the bill has served as an incitement to violence and discrimination against LGBT individuals, and more generally, toward individuals whose behaviours do not fit within typical sexual or gender norms.
27th February 2008 19 by PinkNews.co.uk staff writer Women from 14 African countries gathered in Namibia's capital Windhoek in August 2004 to develop the Coalition of African Lesbians. Lesbian organisations and a number of individual women from Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique and Namibia are members of the organisation. "Our main goal is that lesbian and homosexuality can no longer be seen as a criminal offence," the group's director and conference spokeswoman Fikile Vilakazi told Reuters. "You should not be arrested and charged for how you use your own body." The coalition lobbies for political, legal social, sexual, cultural and economic rights of African lesbians by engaging strategically with African and international structures and allies and to eradicate stigma and discrimination against lesbians. South Africa, one of the few countries on the continent where gay men and lesbians are allowed to marry and legally protected from discrimination, has been rocked by several murders of prominent lesbian activists. Sizakele Sigasa, 34, an activist for HIV/AIDS and LGBT rights, and Salome Masooa, 24, were discovered dead at field in Soweto, Johannesburg, on July 8th. They had both been shot and, it is suspected, raped. On 22nd July Thokozane Qwabe, 23, was found in a field in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal with multiple head wounds. She was naked and it is thought she was also raped.
March 21, 2008 20 Lagos - A shocking story of mob violence has emerged which almost culminated in the death of one of the leaders of the Changing Attitude Nigeria (CAN) group in Port Harcourt. The violent attack occurred at the funeral ceremony held yesterday for the sister of Davis Mac-Iyalla, attended by six members of the Port Harcourt group on Thursday 20 March 2008. Attacked was the CAN Port Harcourt leader who is not being named. “I am in total shock and living in fear while feeling the pains,” the victim said. “I suffered in the hands of a mob group that attacked me at the Service of Songs for Davis’s late sister. While hymn singing was going on a muscular man walked up to me and asked me for a word outside the compound. The next thing I saw was a mob group who were there to attack me. They started slapping and punching me, kicked me on the ground and spat on me. I have never known fear like I knew when they were brutalizing me. I thought they were going to kill me there and then. While beating me they were shouting: ‘You notorious homosexual, you think can run away from us for your notorious group to cause more abomination in our land?’ Those who attacked me were well informed about us so I suspect an insider or one of the leaders of our Anglican church have hands in this attack,” he added. Davis Mac-Iyalla, Director of Changing Attitude Nigeria, learning of the attack, said: “Please hold the Port-Harcourt group in your prayers as we seek Gods guidance on this ugly and sad period of testing in our life.” Speaking from Devizes in Wiltshire, England, Colin Coward, the director of Changing Attitude called on the Church of Nigeria to denounce the attack. “The attack on one of the CAN leaders in Port Harcourt is a terrifying indictment of the attitude of the Church of Nigeria to LGBT people. Violence against LGBT people has been encouraged by Archbishop Peter Akinola and the leaders of the Church of Nigeria. They have attacked the presence of LGBT in church and society, and supported a bill which would reinforce prejudice against LGBT people. Changing Attitude calls on the Church of Nigeria to denounce violence against LGBT people. We challenge the leaders of the global south coalition to repent of their un-Biblical views which fuel prejudice against LGBT people in our Communion. In a statement, Changing Attitude Nigeria said: “The thugs who attacked the Port Harcourt leader told him: ‘We will not rest until we silence you and any who join you to pollute the land with the abominable act of homosexuality. You are perverts who go around corrupting and inducting young people into our evil society. We will kill you and it will be a favour to the country. Nigeria will not contain you or any other person that practises homosexuality’.
April 17, 2008 21 by Scott Stiffler, EDGE Contributor Authorization by the governor is required for a sentence to be carried out. While this has yet to happen, convicted homosexuals can expect to spend the rest of their lives on Death Row. In the Christian-dominated south, things are not much better. "The real threat of death or serious injury is not from legal actions by the state, but from mob violence and unofficial actions by the police who are a law unto themselves," says Davis Mac-Iyalla, Director of Changing Attitude Nigeria. "In that way, there is very little difference between North and South." Mac-Iyalla, currently living in exile, emphasizes another troublesome similarity between the Christian south and a Muslim north: "One of the few common perspectives between Islam and popular Christianity in Nigeria is a hatred of homosexuality." Rev. Pat Bumgardner, global justice ministry chair of the MCC Church (one of the few U.S. organizations on the ground in Nigeria), observes, "Even if there weren’t a Christian-Muslim split, the situation would still be complicated by the fact that the primary religious voices are fundamentalist." The MCC, a Protestant denomination that was founded to be gay friendly, is fighting, as Bumgardner puts it, "to put a different face on religion and say fundamentalists don’t represent people of all faith. It is possible to be Christian and gay and believe that is good." MCC works mostly in the capital, the sprawling city of Lagos. Its House of Rainbow is a community of very young gay men, for whom MCC offers a spiritual home and a safe space to be themselves "in a country where just to exist is a criminal act and punishable in some very extreme ways." House of Rainbow also serves as a hiding place where LGBT Nigerians receive counseling and support from others who are gay. Those attempting to live openly face hostile society and laws. They’ve become political footballs for various forces, especially Peter Akinola, the Anglican archbishop of Nigeria. Akinola recently served as president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, the umbrella group for most of the churches of Nigeria. Now, Akinola is aligning himself with anti-gay Episcopalians in the U.S. and is starting a breakaway denomination. Mike Hersee of Changing Attitude Nigeria, believes Akinola is using the issue of homosexuality: "It’s power dressed up as morality." Hersee notes that Akinola’s power grab is happening in a place where "religion holds much greater sway than it does in more developed countries. This influences all levels of society, including politics." Christians & Muslims United in Hate Religious doctrine, as practiced in particular by the Anglican Church, seems inexplicably linked to political agenda. For Mac-Iyalla, that eventually led to a quick exit from the country he was trying to unite. In 2003, Mac-Iyalla was serving as headmaster of an Anglican school. After the death of Bishop Ugede, he was fired by church authorities who had learned of his homosexuality. Mac-Iyalla then founded Changing Attitude Nigeria, which, Hersee notes, "existed originally to challenge Anglican Church of Nigeria by initiating a listening process that had been agreed to at the last Anglican Lambeth Conference, and to demonstrate to those who claim that there are no gay people in Africa that there are and always have been, as well as challenging their perceptions of gay people from misreading the Bible." Archbishop Akinola effectively blocked Changing Attitude Nigeria’s goal of fostering understanding and acceptance. On the church’s website, he accused Ma-Iyalla of various criminal activities, |
