Cameroon Lesbians Arrested signals Persecution

Persecution of lesbians In Cameroon evidenced by Arrests | Petition Hilton hotels to Speak out Against Arrests
By Melanie Nathan, 03/02/2012

International lesbian tourist, may I suggest, if you are traveling to Cameroon, and staying at the Hilton Yaounde Hotel, or any other hotel for that matter, beware! Do not ask for a King Size bed. You may get arrested on suspicion of being a lesbian. Well that is not how it happened in the case of 10 local lesbians who were arrested in Ambam, Cameroon, some 190 miles south of the capital of Yaounde, yet the fact of the matter is the Cameroonian Government is openly persecuting lesbians, using draconian laws they say make it illegal for people of the same gender to love each other.

Consensual same-gender sex is considered criminal in the West African nation and punishable by a jail sentence from six months to five years and a fine.

Alice Nkom a Cameroon local Attorney who was present in Geneva and met Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with a group of NGO Defenders of LGBT rights,  noted  detainees in Cameroon are frequently tortured in police stations and forced to confess.

African countries which criminalize homosexuality already through various older laws are trying to vamp up laws with tougher sentencing; some trying to outlaw the misnomer of so called “promotion of homosexuality.”

There has been a spate of anti-homosexuality persecution in Africa these past few months, with Uganda’s reintroduction of the Kill the Gays Bill, the Ugandan Minister of Ethics Rev. Lokodo unlawfully closing down an LGBT meeting at a private Entebbe hotel and ordering arrests of LGBt leadership, Liberian Senator Taylor introducing anti-gay legislation, Robert Mugabe publicly slandering Zimbabwean gays,

According to Ms. Nkom in a UK Guardian Article, “Homophobia is getting worse. People accused of homosexuality are put in jail straight away,’ she told reporters in November after three men were each sentenced to five years in prison for homosexual acts.”

Now is the time for the world to speak out against Cameroon. The LGBT community should be outraged at this persecution.

Please visit my Hilton Hotels petition asking Hilton Hotels to speak out against the arrests of the ten women. OR Lesbians beware!  You are not welcome! http://www.change.org/petitions/global-head-of-hilton-hotels-speak-out-against-persecution-lgbti-people-in-cameroon