Fun Fast Facts:
- Penalty of five years imprisonment and a fine of 20,000 to 200,000 francs.
- The Advocate estimates that in 2011 at least a dozen men were arrested under Section 347.
- Jean-Claude Roger Mbede arrested for sending SMS to male acquaintance. Sentenced three years at Kondengui Central Prison.
- Mbede was represented by Alice Nkom, a Cameroonian lawyer, well known for her advocacy towards decriminalization of homosexuality in Cameroon.
LGBT-friendly organisation: Alternatives Cameroun
- Legally recognised non-profit organization since October 27, 2006.
- Fight for the right to access to medical services, information and education for sexual minorities.
- HIV prevention and education.
- Legal support for LGBT community.
W3JOY interviewed Yves from Alternatives Cameroun:
One member of the civil society here, he intended to organise this “day against homosexuality” in Cameroon….Cameroonian authorities didn’t allow him to organise this kind of march…it would be difficult for them to explain to the international community and to the Cameroonians.
We have in our penal code section 347 which penalises homosexuality. We have many people at this moment who are in jail because they are gay.
The most common violation in jail is rape. If people know you are homosexual, you are always [the] victim of rape by the other inmates….It is not easy to be in jail if you are gay in Cameroon.
Authorities say it is a white man’s culture [and] we don’t have homosexuality in African culture…I am a gay man, and my first boyfriend was not a white man…I’m sorry, he is African, he is Cameroonian…like me. I’m sorry, but homosexuality is also African.
I try to live my life discreetly….I try to pass…I cannot say openly that I am gay…when I am out of my workplace, when I go to the place where I live, I am obliged to live secretly.
Now we are having discussions about homosexuality on TV, radio, in the families everywhere….This is an improvement in our fight.
Things will go slowly, slowly, slowly, but I think we will achieve our goal to remove this Article 347 from our penal code.
Published on: Sep 22, 2012 @ 2:54
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:54 — 27.4MB)