Performers strutted their stuff onstage at an LGBTQ community dance party in Nigeria’s Lagos, publicly celebrating their identities in a country where being gay could land you in jail. To the tune of Afrobeats stars like Ayra Starr and pop stalwarts like Beyonce, a parade of sequin-wearing, wig-clad, neo-goth performers danced, spun and posed for the jury, egged on by a raucous crowd. Among the attendees was Kim, a 27-year-old transgender woman who came to Lagos six months ago after suffering physical violence and harassment in her central Nigerian town.
“Nigeria is tough on queer people but the positivity, just holding on to what we have — and that’s our true self — it’s powerful here,” Kim told AFP. Like Kim, many in the ballroom were looking for a safe space to express themselves in the face of repressive laws and hostility in Africa’s most populous country. Being gay in Nigeria — a highly religious country divided into a predominantly Muslim north and largely Christian south — is punishable by 10 to 14 years of prison under a law passed in 2014.
Though the law is rarely applied, it has legitimised widespread intimidation and violence against the LGBTQ community. – “A safe space” – Despite this discrimination, Nigeria has had a culture of LGBTQ balls for around 20 years. Judges hold up their scores as a participant walks on stage during the Fola Francis queer ball in Lagos on June 9, 2024.
– The queer ball was held to pay a tribute to late LGB.
