Cameroon rally targets suspected gay bars
DIVINE NTARYIKE, AP
DOUALA,
Cameroon (AP) — More than 100 young men and women in Cameroon's capital
posted anti-gay signs on bars suspected of being gay-friendly during a
rally organized amid mounting threats
and acts of violence targeting the country's sexual minorities.
The rally organized Wednesday
by the Association of Cameroonian Youth called for stricter enforcement
of anti-gay laws, even though rights groups say the country already
prosecutes more
gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender residents than any other in
sub-Saharan Africa.
Demonstrators also placed signs saying "Homosexuals Forbidden" and "No Gays in Cameroon" on various school buildings.
(and if only they could learn whatever Iran’s secret is they’d have no gay population.)
Moving
in four groups of about 40 people each, the demonstrators paraded
Cameroon's greed, red and yellow flag through the streets of Yaounde
while distributing pamphlets and T-shirts
with anti-gay slogans. They occasionally paused to speak to onlookers
about what they described as the dangers of homosexuality.
"A
society without morals and ethics is a lost society. What's accepted in
the West is not necessarily good for everyone," read one pamphlet.
"Homosexuality is a crime against humanity
and a serious violation of human rights."
(
a crime against humanity? Really? like Stalin? Was Stalin secretly part
of some gay agenda? Is that why Putin is against talking about
homosexuality? Is that perhaps why he speands
so much time shirtless? A serious violation of human rights?! I don’t
even know where to start on that one)
An
organizer of the event, dubbed the "Day Against Homosexuality," said it
was intended to honor the memory of a 31-year-old student who was
"sodomized and killed by homosexuals" in August
2006 at a Yaounde hotel.
(an antipride parade?)
"It
is a struggle to push the authorities to clearly assert our rejection
of homosexuality as a nation, and to increase the punishment," said the
organizer, Sismondi Barley Bidjocka.
Homosexual
acts are punishable by up to five years in prison in Cameroon. In a
March report, Human Rights Watch said charges had been brought against
at least 28 people under the law
in the last three years.
Bidjocka
said the Association of Cameroonian Youth was calling for authorities
to increase the maximum sentence to 20 years in jail.
( 20 years in jail? For being gay, murderers don’t get penalties like that!)
Last
month, prominent Cameroonian gay rights activist Eric Ohena Lembembe
was tortured and killed in Yaounde in an attack his friends suspect was
related to his activism. He was the most
high-profile African LGBT rights activists to be killed in two years.
No arrests have been made in the case.
In
the weeks since Lembembe's killing, a number of gay rights activists
have received threatening text messages, said Michel Togue, one of the
few lawyers in the country who will defend
people charged under the country's anti-gay law.
Last
week, two transgender women who have previously been prosecuted for
homosexuality in Cameroon were attacked by a mob in Yaounde before being
rescued by local police, Togue said.
Togue
said the government appeared to be in favor of Wednesday's rally
because large-scale gatherings must have government approval or risk
being broken up. A government spokesman could
not be reached Wednesday.
"I
have the impression that the persecution of homosexuals is sharply on
the rise since Lembembe was murdered. A demonstration like the one today
is clear proof," Togue said. "If I tell
you I'm not scared, then I'm joking. I'm scared for my security."
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