{"id":6757,"date":"2020-06-24T12:37:30","date_gmt":"2020-06-24T12:37:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/justiceandpeace.nl\/?post_type=story&p=6757"},"modified":"2023-02-02T09:40:15","modified_gmt":"2023-02-02T09:40:15","slug":"adama-dreams-of-liberty-for-the-lgbtiq-in-mali","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/justiceandpeace.nl\/en\/stories\/adama-dreams-of-liberty-for-the-lgbtiq-in-mali\/","title":{"rendered":"Adama"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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24-06-2020<\/p>\n

Written by Diane Lemieux
\nEdited by Olivia Ayes<\/h6>\n

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\u2018My dream is to be free to be myself,\u2019 says Adama. Unfortunately, in Bamako, Mali, being himself is a right he doesn\u2019t have.<\/p>\n

As director of an association with AIDS in their name (cannot be named due to security reasons), one would expect his primary role to be focused on AIDS. Instead, the organisation’s activities centre around the rights, well-being, and safety of the LGBTIQ+ community. Attitudes in Mali are so hostile that they were asked to keep the AIDS label in their title.<\/p>\n

\u2018We\u2019re in the process of getting the name legally changed because we haven\u2019t done any AIDS related work in a long time. We want to change the word AIDS to Stigma.\u2019<\/p>\n

That long, convoluted administrative process is the easy part.<\/p>\n

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Photo: View of Bamako, the capital and largest city of Mali. Bamako is situated on the Niger River. [Source<\/a>]<\/p><\/div>\n

Fighting an uphill battle<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In 2012, an armed conflict broke out during which Tuareg rebels took control of much of northern Mali, declaring the secession of a new state, Azawad. That war, plus the arrival of Islamic terrorist groups as well as a military coup in the capital, Bamako, prompted the intervention of French troops. The territory has since been reunited and elections have restored a fragile democracy.<\/p>\n

Since the war, however, propaganda against homosexuality has increased, hardening public attitudes. In 2017 an internet-based group called the LCHM (Lutte Contre Homosexualit\u00e9 Mali<\/em>) unleashed an anti-homosexuality social media campaign that led to a dramatic increase in violence against members of the community.<\/p>\n

Though there is a strict separation between religion and government in Mali, there appears to be an increased influence of Islamic religious leaders in politics. In 2018 the religious Haut Conseil Islamique<\/em> led a massive campaign against the government\u2019s planned sexual education programme that included a section on gender diversity. While there is no law against consensual sexual relations between adults of the same gender, there are also no laws to protect members of the LGBTIQ+ community from violence or discrimination. Several studies show that today, the vast majority of Malians are opposed to homosexuality.<\/p>\n

Self-discovery<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Adama was twenty years old when he discovered what it was that made him different. Having spent his youth increasingly isolated from his extended family and fellow students, bullied for his way of being, he met a doctor at a small clinic that provided health information to men who had sexual relations with other men. The shock of discovering that homosexuality was \u2018a thing\u2019 and that he was not alone sent him on a six-month journey of discovery.<\/p>\n

Eventually he decided to quit his job at a bank to work as a volunteer, sharing with others what he had learned. It took a lot of courage to leave a well-paid job, the status, and acceptance it gave him. In Mali, to lose family support is to be banished from community life and the social networks that are vital to survival.<\/p>\n

\u2018C\u2019est tr\u00e8s douloureux \u00e0 vivre<\/em>,\u2019 he says, describing the painful tightrope act he performs even at home. He lives with his parents who still hope that his homosexuality is a phase, that he will eventually marry and take up his responsibilities as the eldest son in the family.<\/p>\n

United front for LGBTIQ+ communities<\/strong><\/h2>\n

During his two years as a volunteer, he realised that homosexuality wasn\u2019t just about health, but also about rights and the notion of identity.<\/p>\n

\u2018I started to be seen a person who wanted too much information, who wanted to go too fast in fact. For me it was a need. It wasn\u2019t just for me; it was for friends and colleagues and their friends who were experiencing violence and facing these questions and didn\u2019t know what to do.\u2019<\/p>\n

And thus, with other LGBTIQ+ leaders, their association was born in 2011. Today the association has 3000 members and is represented in five regions of the country. The programme has expanded to include the whole LGBTIQ+ community. It provides information on health and identity; they document cases of violence against the community and do advocacy work for legal rights. From the safety of their own building where members can find a safe space, rest, and support one another, they\u2019ve reached out to human rights and feminist groups to create a united front.<\/p>\n

The work is dangerous\u2014the daily cost to people around him, high. Between 2017-2018, the association recorded:<\/p>\n