Forced To Pay Bribes At Every Step: How Trans And Intersex People Say They Survive In Kenya - Minority Africa
Toluwani Omotesho
April 19, 2024
But first, in Nigeria, Bobrisky, a popular transgender woman, has been sentenced to six months in jail without the option of a fine for “spraying” the naira — a common practice in Nigerian parties and celebrations. To fully understand the circumstances behind Bobrisky’s unusual prosecution and sentence, we must look back three weeks ago.
On March 24, 2024, Bobrisky received the Best Dressed Female award at a movie premiere, which caused nationwide controversy, heated debates, and anger, especially with Nigeria being a conservative country. At the premiere’s afterparty, videos of Bobrisky and other celebrities spraying money at a performer surfaced online. However, days later, Bobrisky was the only one charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for naira abuse.
In a surprisingly fast-paced prosecution, only lasting one week, Bobrisky was convicted and sentenced to six months in prison without the option of a fine despite being a first-time offender. It’s difficult not to see this sentence as being not targeted because there are numerous videos of senators and ministers spraying naira notes without repercussions.
However, what’s even more disturbing is that the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS) announced that Bobrisky will serve her sentence in the male section of the prison facility, exposing her to the risk of harassment and assault. This situation not only sets a dangerous precedent, but it’s yet another example of how dangerous Nigeria is for queer people regardless of their wealth or social status.
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In island communities on the southwest coast of Cameroon, the majority of the inhabitants are Nigerians. Stifled by administrative bottlenecks and despite their wish to, these Nigerians, most of whom were born in these communities, have failed to obtain Cameroonian citizenship.
Stella Ogunsemore, 31, was born in the small island community of Mbomo, 20 minutes away from Kangue Island. 50 years ago, Ogunsemore’s parents migrated from Nigeria and settled in Mbomo. While the mother of three sees herself as a Cameroonian — given that she was born and raised there — Cameroon doesn’t recognize her as such.
“I was born and bred in Cameroon but I don’t have a Cameroonian nationality,” Ogunsemore, who is also a seamstress, tells Minority Africa.
She has made several attempts to obtain Cameroonian nationality but has failed.
“I have compiled my documents several times and dropped them in Buea to get a nationality as a Cameroonian but I have never succeeded.”
Because of this, Ogunsemore has to reserve 150,000frs (about $250) of her small income to acquire a residence permit every two years.
“From time to time, Cameroon’s forces of law and order visit our community and if you are caught without a residence permit, you will be arrested and you will pay a lot of money to gain your freedom,” she says.
The colonial construction of transphobia and the continued enforcement of gender hegemony, have created an environment in which transgender people have to conform to idealised depictions of femininity and masculinity to find a sense of community and safety.
As a non-binary trans woman, my usual gender presentation does not match with the typical ideas regarding femininity. I realized this a while ago while living in Tamboerskloof, an area in the center of Cape Town, South Africa. I was having a bad day and wanted to get some snacks from my local grocery store. I was wearing no make-up, a baggy band shirt, and a comfy pair of sweatpants.
I made the five-minute walk down the road to get myself some ice cream and a bottle of wine. As I walked back to my apartment, two men followed me home, yelling transphobic slurs at me. Eventually, the two men cornered me outside my apartment and threatened to “fix me” with sexual violence. I made the same walk two weeks later in a dress and make-up with zero harassment. I learned a lesson that day. I was putting my life on the line if I ventured into the city center without appearing vaguely feminine.
This forced me to start to think about African societal perceptions of womanhood and femininity and how much of what we tout to be African ideas of gender were set up and continue to be propped by colonialism and its many instruments.
On a rainy night last June, police officers in Mombasa arrested a young trans woman and allegedly refused to let her go until she’d paid them a $50 bribe.
Brian, in her late 20s, told CNN that the police held her in their custody for “being drunk and disorderly” when she was leaving a queer-friendly club in Kenya’s second most populous city.
But “I wasn’t drunk at all; neither was I disorderly,” Brian told CNN, saying the arrest was a ruse. Her real name, and those of all the other trans and intersex people in this story, have been withheld to protect their identities either because they are not publicly out or because they fear reprisal from the people and institutions they accuse of demanding bribes. She chose a traditionally male name as a pseudonym, telling CNN that it’s safer to navigate Kenyan society with one.
Brian said that on the night of June 14, as she and five other trans friends were leaving the club, they saw a police van parked just a few meters away. Brian said she heard a police officer say, “These are gays” as he moved toward them, so she and her friends ran. “My friends managed to escape, but since I was wearing a tight black dress and high heels, I slid and fell,” Brian said. Three of the five friends who were with her that night gave the same account. CNN couldn’t reach the other two.
The three police officers on duty at the time of her arrest confirmed that they had arrested Brian, but denied commenting on her sexual orientation. “She was drunk and disorderly,” one of them told CNN.
The German parliament has voted for legislation smoothing the process for transgender, intersex and nonbinary people to change their name and gender identity.
Lawmakers in Germany on Friday approved a law to make it easier for transgender, intersex, and nonbinary people to change their name and gender in official records.
Under Germany’s current so-called “transsexual law,” expert evaluations and a court decision are necessary if someone wants to change their gender. Opponents say this is invasive, forcing people seeking a change to undergo a psychological assessment and often intimate questioning.
The law, supported by Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition and the socialist Left Party, eventually passed on a vote of 374 to 251.
The Bundestag debate was both contentious and sometimes emotional.
“As trans people, we experience time and again that our dignity is made a matter of negotiation,” Green lawmaker Nyke Slawik, herself a transgender woman who changed her legal gender, told parliament.
Activist Isaac Smith is now leading the charge to help queer folks in the Kakuma Refugee Camp flee yet again.
Isaac Smith has been on the run for years. He’s tired but still determined. Right now, he’s hoping an online fundraising campaign can help him and 19 other queer people make it safely from Kenya to South Sudan. There, they hope to find acceptance, and most importantly, they hope it will be the final leg of their journey.
Ten LGBTQ+ folks Smith knows have already made it across the border after leaving the Kakuma Refugee Camp, but he and the rest remain trapped in a nightmare.
Smith’s life on the run began in Uganda in 2021, when his world was shattered before his eyes with the murder of his partner of two years, Johny Wasswa, by a mob that broke into their home.
“It is one of those memories I never wish to remember again,” Smith told LGBTQ Nation. “His only crime was being queer.”
A queer parenting group at Chicago’s Northwestern University has created a vital support system that is helping its members better support their family members.
The faculty-only group meets monthly at the University Women’s Center and is comprised of LGBTQ+ parents, parents of LGBTQ+ kids, and parents who want to raise their kids in affirming environments, according to a report from the Daily Northwestern.
“It’s a very generous community of people,” Sarah Brown, one of the group’s organizers and the director of the Women’s Center, told the publication. “If somebody’s like, ‘My kid just came out to me,’ and there’s also queer folks in the room, they can be like, ‘This is what this was like for me.’”
Determined to raise her first child as free from gender roles as possible, Cassie Ptoskey, the university’s director of alumni engagement, joined the group for support on gender-creative parenting.
“I’m really glad that I did take that first step to go to meetings because otherwise, I don’t really have a group to talk about these types of questions,” Petoskey said. “And how cool is it that it’s at the place where I work?”
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