{"id":449,"date":"2021-02-19T08:50:52","date_gmt":"2021-02-19T08:50:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/kaleidoscope\/?p=449"},"modified":"2021-02-27T14:34:31","modified_gmt":"2021-02-27T14:34:31","slug":"lgbt-history-month-19-28-allies-law-reformers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/kaleidoscope\/2021\/02\/19\/lgbt-history-month-19-28-allies-law-reformers\/","title":{"rendered":"LGBT+ History Month 19\/28: Allies \u2013 Law Reformers"},"content":{"rendered":"

It goes without saying that LGBTQ+ people are amazing.\u00a0 We are. \u00a0I\u2019ve decided as such and my word is gospel at this point.\u00a0 That being said, I wouldn\u2019t be allowed to say that if it were not for some of the bravest people out there who have made an impact on LGBTQ+ rights and who just happen to not be LGBTQ+ themselves.\u00a0 These people are allies.<\/p>\n

Allies are individuals who support and advocate the rights and equalities of others who are marginalised and discriminated against in society.\u00a0 \u00a0In this instance, heterosexual (straight) people who advocate the rights of LGBTQ+ people.<\/p>\n

Over the next few blogs I will be highlighting key names across the world who are making their voices heard on behalf of the marginalised.\u00a0 In today\u2019s issue, we\u2019re looking at law reforming allies: Alice Nkom and Lord Wolfenden.<\/p>\n

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Alice Nkom<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Alice Nkom was born in Poutake, Cameroon on the 14th January 1945.\u00a0 She is a Cameroonian lawyer based in the city of Douala.\u00a0 In 1969, at the age of 24, Nkom became the first black French-speaking woman called to the bar in Cameroon.<\/p>\n

Since then, Nkom has continually worked towards the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Cameroon.\u00a0 Many advocates have been abused, tortured and even killed in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights and Nkom has often faced death threats and threat of imprisonment.\u00a0 Despite this shecontinues to fight against oppressors for a better, safe future for Cameroonian LGBTQ+ individuals.<\/p>\n

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Across Africa, 34 countries continue to criminalise homosexuality, from imprisonment to the death penalty, and while some African countries continue to reform the laws which persecute LGBTQ+ people, Cameroon continues to criminalise sex between men and sex between women with a penalty of between six months and five years imprisonment, and a fine.<\/p>\n

In 2003, Nkom founded the Association for the Defence of Homosexuals (ADEFHO); a non-profit pro-bono advocacy group for the defence of people accused of being LGBTQ+ (actual or assumed) which has been praised and funded by the United Nations.<\/p>\n

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Nkom\u2019s most famous case occurred in 2005 when she defended the Yaound\u00e9 11, a group of men who were arrested on charges of assumed homosexuality.\u00a0 The men were sentenced to a years imprisonment, for which the United Nations called it a violation of human rights law.<\/p>\n

A persistent campaigner and advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, Nkom called on others to join her in the fight against the country\u2019s anti-gay laws, in March 2015, saying \u201cIf we unite our efforts and our resources, we will get the Supreme Court to join the other supreme courts in the world to firmly condemn the use of Article 347 as a basis for legal action or verdicts.\u201d<\/p>\n