homophobia

Constitutional court petitioned to scrap the tough anti-gay law currently effective in Uganda. Signed in February this year by Uganda's veteran president, Yoweri Museveni, the law calls for homosexuals to be jailed for life, outlaws the promotion of homosexuality and obliges Ugandans to denounce gay people to the authorities.

On 7th January 2014, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan signed an anti-gay bill into law, with punishments including 14 years imprisonment for anyone that enters into same-sex marriage, 10 years for any organization or people that support gay rights as well as any individual who displays same-sex affection in public. This invasive law made Nigeria the 36th country in Africa to prosecute gays.

Days after Uganda's president signed into law an anti-gay bill that punishes sex between homosexual couples with a maximum sentence of life in prison, Richard Lusimbo was outed in the most public of manners. He was alerted by a friend that his picture was splashed across a tabloid newspaper under the headline 'How I Became Homo'. "I just went silent, I didn't know what to do," Lusimbo recalled of that day.

"As a gay man living in Nigeria, my biggest challenge was choosing between my sexuality and my job. Whispers were making the rounds about my private life, and I decided it was time to come out. So I agreed to go on Nigeria’s most-watched television talk show to discuss my sexuality. Almost immediately, my character was eliminated. And when my job disappeared, so did my financial security. Like many gay men and lesbians in Africa, my choice was between economic freedom and mental imprisonment.

With internationally acclaimed Kenyan author Binyavanga Wainaina coming out, Africa's embattled gay rights movement finally has a public face around which to rally support for equality. "What he has done is brilliant. He is admired and respected, and the only high-profile African to come out," said Nairobi-based gay rights activist Anthony Oluoch.