“I want people to know that we’re queer, we’re here, we’re trans, and we’re taking up space.” Read more from chisompeterjob on how queer Nigerians are using TikTok to exist freely and discover community 📲
bans same-sex marriage and relationships, forbids people from registering with LGBTQ organizations, and bans public affection between same-sex people. The punishment for violating the law is up to 14 years in prison. In some parts of the country, Sharia law can sentence queer people to. These laws force the LGBTQ+ community to hide in plain sight. For many community members, social media is one way to exist freely without the fear of being arrested.
For Fola Francis, a trans woman who uses TikTok to document her life and dispel the myth that trans people do not exist in the country, the platform is both exciting and draining for her. “Sometimes your video can leave your [intended] audience, and that could cause a lot of stress,” Francis says. “But at the same time, it also connects you to your community, which is the main goal. So, it is a great medium for me to document my journey, and I am grateful for it.
“TikTok is literally my safe space, and my videos rarely reach bigoted people, so it’s just a little community of queer siblings cheering each other on, which makes me forget things happening in real life.” For Starr, social media is “freeing and rejuvenating,” because while they are not out of the closet in real life, they are out on TikTok and continue to use it as an escape with little judgment.
As a trans woman in Nigeria, Francis deals with transphobic comments on and offline, but what makes it different online for her, especially on, is the ability to “delete comments and block people" she doesn’t want in her space. Francis is also grateful for how TikTok allows people to continue to be educated about the trans experience in Nigeria.
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