Nigeria Crossdressing Ban WEB
Metadata
- Nigeria Crossdressing Ban WEB
- May 23, 2022
- Content Type Package
- Language English
- Transcript/Script English FOR USAGM SHARE ((PLAYBOOK SLUG: Nigeria Crossdressing Ban (TV) HEADLINE: Nigeria's LGBTQ Community Fights Restrictive Cross-Dressing Bill TEASER: PUBLISHED AT: Monday, 5/23 at 11:10am BYLINE: Timothy Obiezu CONTRIBUTOR: DATELINE: Abuja, Nigeria VIDEOGRAPHER: VIDEO EDITOR: SCRIPT EDITORS: BR, MAS VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA, Other (see courtesies for JP Crime Fighter, Zic Saloma)) PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _x_ RADIO __ TRT: 2:34 VID APPROVED BY: MAS TYPE: TVPKG EDITOR NOTES:)) ((INTRO)) Nigeria's LGBTQ community is protesting against a bill introduced in parliament that seeks to criminalize crossdressing. The LGBTQ community says the bill, which imposes a punishment of six months in prison, would only worsen discrimination and the assaults sexual minorities suffer, including transgender people who dress according to their innate gender identity, not the gender of their birth. Timothy Obiezu has more from Abuja, Nigeria. We first want to warn our viewers that this report contains images that some may find offensive. ((NARRATOR)) A risky demonstration by sexual minority groups in Nigeria. The LGBTQ activists are protesting a bill introduced by lawmakers in Nigeria's lower house of parliament last month seeking to ban cross-dressing. The measure calls for a punishment of six months in jail or a fine of about $1,200. ((SFX - VIDEO OF TRANS WOMAN BEING BRUTALISED)) ((Mandatory: Facebook)) ((Mandatory Courtesy: JP Crime Fighter)) This viral footage purporting to show a transgender woman who was beaten and stripped in Lagos began circulating on social media after the bill was introduced. VOA cannot confirm the authenticity of the video or the date it was recorded. LGBTQ activists say they fear the law will prompt more attacks. ((Kayode Somtochukwu Ani, Queer Union for Economic and Social Transformation)) ((English, 20 secs)) "What laws like this do is that they basically encourage people to take violence into their own hands, just as we had after the SSMPA [Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act] was passed, individuals forming vigilantes and going into people's homes to drive them out because they suspect that they're queer, and then beat them, murder them." ((NARRATOR)) The cross-dressing bill is an expanded version of Nigeria's Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act that punishes gay sex with up to 14 years in prison. ((Mandatory courtesy: @zicsaloma)) While the bill would allow comedians to cross-dress for entertainment purposes, activists say it will worsen the existing violence against non-binary or transgender people. Activist Empress Cookie says she, too, has been violently attacked. ((Empress Cookie, Transgender Woman)) ((English, secs)) "They started stripping me naked, and they were like, 'Oh, see he's even wearing female pants.' I was emotionally traumatized. I was drained. At a point I was like lifeless.” ((NARRATOR)) Public activities by sexual minority groups are outlawed in many African countries, where authorities often cite religious and moral reasons. Nigerian religious groups that support the same-sex marriage ban also now support the bill restricting cross-dressing. ((Archbishop John Praise Daniel, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria Deputy President))((English, 9 secs)) "We don't know man and man. God didn't create Adam and Adam or Adam and Steve, God created Adam and Eve." ((NARRATOR)) The cross-dressing bill will undergo several readings in parliament before it is passed and forwarded to President Muhammadu Buhari for approval. Many LGBTQ advocates, like Empress Cookie, are hoping he doesn't sign it. ((Timothy Obiezu, for VOA News, Abuja, Nigeria))
- Transcript/Script FOR USAGM SHARE ((PLAYBOOK SLUG: Nigeria Crossdressing Ban (TV) HEADLINE: Nigeria's LGBTQ Community Fights Restrictive Cross-Dressing Bill TEASER: PUBLISHED AT: Monday, 5/23 at 11:10am BYLINE: Timothy Obiezu CONTRIBUTOR: DATELINE: Abuja, Nigeria VIDEOGRAPHER: VIDEO EDITOR: SCRIPT EDITORS: BR, MAS VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA, Other (see courtesies for JP Crime Fighter, Zic Saloma)) PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _x_ RADIO __ TRT: 2:34 VID APPROVED BY: MAS TYPE: TVPKG EDITOR NOTES:)) ((INTRO)) Nigeria's LGBTQ community is protesting against a bill introduced in parliament that seeks to criminalize crossdressing. The LGBTQ community says the bill, which imposes a punishment of six months in prison, would only worsen discrimination and the assaults sexual minorities suffer, including transgender people who dress according to their innate gender identity, not the gender of their birth. Timothy Obiezu has more from Abuja, Nigeria. We first want to warn our viewers that this report contains images that some may find offensive. ((NARRATOR)) A risky demonstration by sexual minority groups in Nigeria. The LGBTQ activists are protesting a bill introduced by lawmakers in Nigeria's lower house of parliament last month seeking to ban cross-dressing. The measure calls for a punishment of six months in jail or a fine of about $1,200. ((SFX - VIDEO OF TRANS WOMAN BEING BRUTALISED)) ((Mandatory: Facebook)) ((Mandatory Courtesy: JP Crime Fighter)) This viral footage purporting to show a transgender woman who was beaten and stripped in Lagos began circulating on social media after the bill was introduced. VOA cannot confirm the authenticity of the video or the date it was recorded. LGBTQ activists say they fear the law will prompt more attacks. ((Kayode Somtochukwu Ani, Queer Union for Economic and Social Transformation)) ((English, 20 secs)) "What laws like this do is that they basically encourage people to take violence into their own hands, just as we had after the SSMPA [Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act] was passed, individuals forming vigilantes and going into people's homes to drive them out because they suspect that they're queer, and then beat them, murder them." ((NARRATOR)) The cross-dressing bill is an expanded version of Nigeria's Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act that punishes gay sex with up to 14 years in prison. ((Mandatory courtesy: @zicsaloma)) While the bill would allow comedians to cross-dress for entertainment purposes, activists say it will worsen the existing violence against non-binary or transgender people. Activist Empress Cookie says she, too, has been violently attacked. ((Empress Cookie, Transgender Woman)) ((English, secs)) "They started stripping me naked, and they were like, 'Oh, see he's even wearing female pants.' I was emotionally traumatized. I was drained. At a point I was like lifeless.” ((NARRATOR)) Public activities by sexual minority groups are outlawed in many African countries, where authorities often cite religious and moral reasons. Nigerian religious groups that support the same-sex marriage ban also now support the bill restricting cross-dressing. ((Archbishop John Praise Daniel, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria Deputy President))((English, 9 secs)) "We don't know man and man. God didn't create Adam and Adam or Adam and Steve, God created Adam and Eve." ((NARRATOR)) The cross-dressing bill will undergo several readings in parliament before it is passed and forwarded to President Muhammadu Buhari for approval. Many LGBTQ advocates, like Empress Cookie, are hoping he doesn't sign it. ((Timothy Obiezu, for VOA News, Abuja, Nigeria))
- NewsML Media Topics Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
- Network VOA
- Embargo Date May 23, 2022 11:30 EDT
- Byline Timothy Obiezu
- Brand / Language Service Voice of America