POLITICS AND THE LGBTIQ+ SITUATION IN CAMEROON

Should society be protected against homosexuality?

To an overwhelming number of Cameroonians, the answer is too obvious for the question of its criminalization, for a little more than four decades, to be revisited. Far beyond questioning the law, it invokes the Spirit of Evil and this is even what creates the abomination. This reasoning would have permitted us to look the other way while the repression of gay people in the country completes its course if at all the practice could ever be stamped out. But there is a perceptible hardening of resolve within the Cameroonian gay community not to cringe further, the advance of democracy and the heroism of their kind elsewhere in the world being encouraging factors. They boldly demand social rehabilitation and more interestingly are taking their fight into the legal arena where they were thought for decades to be shut out from, even arguing that their non-conforming sexual orientation is a constitutional right. The Cameroonian leadership is exhibiting hints of fatigue as regards repression that seems to be backfiring. It is apparently weighing its options and biding its time.

No justice

Those accused of homosexuality are often convicted on evidence that is flimsy or non-existent, and investigations rely on forced confessions, often elicited through torture. A simple rumor raised against you by a neighbor suspecting that you are gay can put you in serious problems in Cameroon.

"There is the absolute impunity around violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, In Kenya and Uganda, despite the homophobic environment, gays and lesbians have been able to go to the police when they are victims of violence, and in some cases, they have succeeded in getting justice

Widespread hostility

The Cameroonian government denies that homosexuals are targeted. "There is no conspiracy of the state or any social plot in Cameroon which is directed toward homosexuals," according to the then government spokesman Issa Tchiroma Bakary.

Demonstrations

Protesting about the existence of gay persons is not new in Cameroon. Sometimes, around 200 youths staged a public protest against gays in Yaoundé, brandishing placards denouncing homosexuality. The protesters threatened to kill anyone suspected of being gay and distributed T-shirts with anti-gay slogans and flyers to the public.

"We cannot hold any meetings about homosexuality, but the authorities can instead allow violent people to hold anti-gay demonstrations. They are using the law [against homosexuality] to perpetuate homophobia and violence," Alice Nkom.