WE EXIST Mapping LGBTQ Organizing in West Africa Final report by Mariam Armisen TABLE OF CONTENTS 5 1. INTRODUCTION 5 1.1. THE NEED FOR LGBTQ-LED FUNDING IN WEST AFRICA 6 1.2. THE RESEARCH PROCESS 6 1.3. LIMITATIONS 8 2. SETTING THE CONTEXT 8 2.1 LEGAL ENVIRONMENT 9 2.2. A BRIEF HISTORY OF QUEER ORGANIZING 9 2.2.1 From Social Gathering to Activism 10 2.2.2 Identity-Based Organizing and the Prioritization of Issues 10 2.2.3. Current Types of Activism and Organizing 11 2.2.4. Collaboration and Networking 12 3. THE STATE OF THE MOVEMENT – MAPPING LGBTQ AND MSM ORGANIZING IN WEST AFRICA 12 3.1. LOCATION 12 3.2. ISSUES, PRIORITIES AND RESPONSES 13 3.2.1. Issues Facing LGBTQ Communities and Individuals 14 3.2.2. Strategies and Responses 16 3.3. GAPS 17 3.3.1. Understanding Transgender Identity and Supporting the Rights and Leadership of Trans* People 17 3.3.2. Youth Leadership and Inclusion of Youth Issues 17 3.3.3. Sexual and Reproductive Health of Queer Women 18 3.3.4. Same-sex Partner Violence 18 3.3.5. Reconciling Faith, Religion, and Homosexuality 18 3.3.6. Economic Empowerment 19 3.4. WORKING CONDITIONS OF LGBTQ AND MSM GROUPS AND ORGANIZATIONS 19 3.4.1 External Challenges 19 3.4.2 Internal Challenges 21 3.5. ACHIEVEMENTS 23 4. SOURCE OF SUPPORT – MAPPING TECHNICAL SUPPORT PROVIDERS AND FUNDERS 25 5. SOURCES OF MONEY – FUNDING CHALLENGES 27 6. EXPECTATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR AN LGBTQ-LED FUND 27 TECHNICAL SUPPORT PROVIDERS, LOCAL FUNDERS AND ALLY ORGANIZATIONS MADE RECOMMENDATIONS IN THREE CATEGORIES: 28 INTERNATIONAL FUNDERS RECOMMENDED THAT THE FUND: 29 7. APPENDIX WE EXIST Mapping LGBTQ Organizing in West Africa | 1 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The following consultants contributed data to this report: Awa Fall Diop, Caroline Bowah, Françoise Mukuku, Ngozi Nwosu Juba, and Simon Kaboré. Félix Zerbo, James Unegbu, and Mme Mariam Sanogo transcribed fieldwork interviews. Mariam Armisen wrote the final report with extensive input from Andrea Lynch. Drafts were reviewed by Caroline Kouassiaman, Sarah Gunther, and Wanja Muguongo, and edited by John McAllister. Mariam Armisen provided all photos and this document was designed by Makewell. We are grateful to all who participated. Our deepest gratitude goes to all the LGBTQ activists and community members, local partners, and other key allies who took time from their important work to meet with the consultants during the country visits. Thank you to all the international funders who took the time to respond to the online survey. This work has been made possible with the support and involvement of the following funders: Anonymous; American Jewish World Service; Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice; Foundation for a Just Society; Ford Foundation; and, the East African Sexual Health and Rights Initiative (UHAI-EASHRI) and, Open Society Foundation. 2 | WE EXIST Mapping LGBTQ Organizing in West Africa ACRONYMS AFRICASO African Council of AIDS Service Organizations AMSHeR African Men for Sexual Health and Rights AWID Association for Women’s Rights in Development CAL Coalition of African Lesbians CBOs Community-based organizations CCM Country Coordinating Mechanism CHR Centre for the Right to Health CSDR Coalition for the Defense of Sexual Rights FHI 360 Family Health International FLAI Francophone LGBTQ Advocates Initiatives GALAG Ghana Gay and Lesbian Association HAI Heartland Alliance International ICARH International Centre for Advocacy and Rights to Health INCRESE International Centre for Reproductive Health and Sexual Rights LEDAP Nigerian Legal Defence and Assistance Project LGBTQ Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer LIPRIDE Liberian Initiative for the Promotion of Rights, Identity, Diversity and Equality LLACI Lesbian Life Association of Côte d’Ivoire MSM Men who have sex with men OSIWA Open Society Initiative for West Africa PSI Population Services International QAYN Queer African Youth Network SSMPA Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act UNAIDS United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS UNDP United Nations Development Programme TIERs Initiative for Equal Rights WHER Women’s Health and Equal Rights TERMINOLOGY Throughout this report, the reader will encounter the terms “MSM,” “LGBTQ,” and “gay men.” This variety of terminology is based on the history of organizing in West Africa, the diversity of how people identify, and the complexity of differentiating the personal politics of a respondent from how organizations describe their work. Some organizations will situate their work within the HIV/AIDS sector targeting MSM populations but further along in the discussion will share their aspiration to be an LGBTQ organization, and sometimes a respondent will identify as a gay man who works for an MSM organization. This MSM/LGBTQ ambivalence clearly needs further unpacking, but doing so is beyond the scope of this report. WE EXIST Mapping LGBTQ Organizing in West Africa | 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Across West Africa, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and • The State of the Movement – Mapping LGBTQ and MSM queer (LGBTQ) people live in an increasingly hostile environment, Organizing in West Africa summarizes geographic trends in and a recent surge in homophobic laws, violence, and arrests LGBTQ organizing, key issues facing LGBTQ communities and have focused new attention on the struggles of LGBTQ people individuals, common strategies and responses employed by in the region. Historically, gay men and other men who have sex LGBTQ and MSM organizations and activists, current gaps with men (MSM) have been the focus of philanthropic attention and unexplored issues in the organizing landscape, and (particularly in response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic), which has describes the working conditions of LGBTQ and MSM groups kept issues facing lesbians, bisexual women, trans* people, and and organizations. This section concludes with a summary other queer-identified and gender-nonconforming West Africans of the emerging movement’s achievements to date, as at the margins. In recent years, however, more broadly-based articulated by research participants. LGBTQ organizations are emerging, including many led by queer- identified or gender-nonconforming women. These organizations • Sources of Support – Mapping Technical Support Providers contend with multiple, overlapping challenges in establishing and and Funders and Sources of Money – Funding Challenges sustaining their work – particularly in Francophone countries, provide a glimpse of the wider context for LGBTQ and where civil society infrastructure is comparatively weak. MSM organizations seeking funding and international partnerships in the region. This section shares basic In response to these challenges – and with donor interest in information about the major international organizations indigenous LGBTQ activism growing – a group of funders and active in the region that are concerned with LGBTQ and MSM activists1 came together in 2013 to propose a bilingual fund rights and health, and shares some of the challenges West managed and led by West African LGBTQ activists. As a first step, African LGBTQ and MSM organizations face in efforts to they commissioned a scan of LGBTQ organizing in the region. secure funding for their work. The research was conducted by six consultants, reaching a total of 50 groups and organizations and 180 activists from nine West • Finally, Expectations and Recommendations for an LGBTQ- African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, led Fund compiles advice and recommendations from Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, and Togo). We Exist: Mapping activists, organizations, and funders, intended to inform the LGBTQ Organizing in West Africa presents the scan’s findings in Fund’s approach, priorities, and governance. five sections: As an overview of LGBTQ organizing, this report is not intended to • Setting the Context summarizes the legal environment be comprehensive. Rather, it gives a general picture of the LGBTQ for LGBTQ persons, analyzes key legal and policy trends, movement in a large and varied region, centering the diverse provides a brief history of queer identity and organizing perspectives and experiences of activists and organizations on in West Africa, and gives an overview of current major the ground. categories of activism and organizing, including key features of the regional organizing culture. 4 | WE EXIST Mapping LGBTQ Organizing in West Africa 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. THE NEED FOR LGBTQ-LED FUNDING IN However, a shift in approach is now emerging. Activists and WEST AFRICA funders have begun to acknowledge: Across West Africa, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and • The limitations of the public health lens for addressing queer (LGBTQ) people live in an increasingly hostile environment. sexual rights Developments such as Nigeria’s Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) • The dangers of stigmatizing the MSM community through Act (SSMPA), a similar new law in Gambia, campaigns for association with HIV/AIDS equivalent laws in Burkina Faso and other countries, and a wave of • The need to give equal priority to other LGBTQ communities, violence and arrests in Gambia, Nigeria, and Senegal have focused particularly queer-identified women and gender- new attention on the struggles of LGBTQ people in the region. nonconforming people. Arguably, however, gay men and other men who have sex with New, more broadly-based LGBTQ organizations are emerging, men (MSM) remain the focus of attention. In West Africa, as including many led by queer-identified or gender-nonconforming elsewhere, the HIV/AIDS pandemic opened some of the first