Of Criminalisation of bodies....., Queer African Bodies

Busy day.

Okay, havent blogged, because have literally been too under....! I claim it is party time. You know, the round of 'Christmas Parties' that break out at any excuse because of the December hols. Time to meet new people, get to know others, visit relatives and friends, and venture out into the wide world...., far from the comfort zone.

But, of course, our world doesnt stay static. Always moving forwards.

Queer Africans. Please...., stay safe during these hols. I know, nothing like December hols, long or short, for a gay man on the loose......! And of course, there is this thing of the 'internet' and 'social networks'.....!!!

Just be safe...! Yeah, look to yourself because we NEED you around!

Okay..., now,

Something to sober me up from my holiday high spirits. 2 guys in Tunisia are for trial Jan 6th....,, for the crime of being 'Gay on the Street'. 
And, how can one be gay on the street? 

Well, here, I did quote the story of a guy who was killed for being 'Gay by Mistake' in Nigeria.

Apparently, gay on the street in Tunisia means being somehow identified as gay by a policeman. Tunisian policemen have inbuilt gay barometers (part of requirement to qualify as a Tunisian Policeman!!!! LOL)  to screen and arrest these suspicious characters....., and prove that they are gay by using anal tests.

Achref, a 20-year-old student, said he was arrested on Dec. 7 with Sabri, 22, while the two were on a street in downtown Sousse.

A policeman asked him, “You were doing something with your boyfriend, were you not? You bring a curse on the country.”
..... Achref implied that the two young men were arrested on the basis of their perceived sexual orientation, not for their actions.

Just wondering what they 'did' on the street that was such an 'embarassment' or curse to the whole great nation of Tunisia.....

Sighhhhhhh........

And, getting to a post that was stillborn...., Chad now boasts of an anti-gay law. Poor #GayChadians.

It is a 'misdemeanor' which apparently can be dealt with by a 'police court or a correctional hearing'....

Being no expert in law..., even #Chadian law, I only see the criminalisation of my love for another, my partner. Matter of fact, all over Africa, we know that the anti-gay stigma is very strong. Yet, when it is not written into the law, there is something 'light' about it. The likes of Pastor the Homophobe eat-da-poo-poo Martin Ssempa will not be having us arrested. The vigilante committees as is happening in Nigeria will not be taking us down, invading our houses, on suspicion of us being gay.

But when it is written into the law...., that is a whole new deal, as the HRW report on the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act in Nigeria shows. Life is simply no longer the same...., even when politicians are happy that they have not tainted their lily white hands with gay blood by writing the Death Penalty into the law.

That was Uganda.

A very long time ago? It is, and it isnt.

Because the fights that we have are still the same. We are still at risk, wherever we are......!

Now, have to go for my evening 'constitutional'...., lol. Sometimes have to let the angry thoughts disappear into the ether...., forget that the world, our world can be so angry and hating and hateful.

And my lover promised to always walk with me.

I have the real privilege to walk with my man on the streets, today, as always. And the distinct privilege not to be arrested on the streets for 'walking while gay'. I will celebrate that freedom that was earned in the blood that poured for decades and years, and the imprisonment of many.

I go for an evening walk with my man.


gug