Help us free 13 imprisoned LGBTQ victims of homophobia
Project Not Alone is raising funds to feed and free LGBTQ prisoners.
MAY 9, 2023 — Seven gay men, four lesbians and two trans women deserve to be set free in Cameroon and Nigeria, where they are locked up for whom they love. You can help open the prison doors and let them out.
Those 13 imprisoned victims of anti-LGBTQ hostility and homophobia are the focus of this year’s Project Not Alone, which expands on the project’s previous work that won early release for 24 gay, lesbian and trans prisoners in Cameroon during the years 2019 through 2022.
This year’s financial goal is $11,891, which will pay the prisoners’ fines and provide lawyers (working pro-bono) for detainees who are being held pending a trial. It will also pay for hygiene supplies and supplementary food for prisoners during the months while they await release from their dirty prison cells, surviving on one filthy, poorly cooked meal a day.
As in the past, whether those goals are accomplished will depend on the generosity of readers and other donors.
The prisoners in Project Not Alone this year are incarcerated in Mfou and Bafoussam, Cameroon, and in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Their stories will be told here in the days and weeks ahead. For their safety, a pseudonym will be used for every detainee.
Here is how we learned about them:
LGBTI rights activist Steeves Winner received an invitation from the organization SOS Solidarity, which advocates for victims of violence in western Cameroon. He traveled to Bafoussam to deliver food (rice, oil, plantain, soap, condiments, and food paste) and interview eight LGBTI detainees in the prison there. Seven of them met the requirements of Project Not Alone: They were incarcerated for nothing other than their sexual orientation.
- Five gay men had been arrested last December in a private apartment while watching a homosexual pornographic film. Without a lawyer, they have been held without trial ever since.
- Two young lesbian women were arrested in January when their noisy love-making attracted the attention of neighbors. They were tried, convicted, sentenced to a year in prison and fined 198,000 CFA francs each (about US $333). They have no money to pay the fines, which in Cameroon means they will have to spend an additional four months in prison unless Project Not Alone can pay the fines and win them early release.
Winner found that the eighth detainee at Bafoussam Prison was accused of raping a minor, so he is ineligible for our assistance.
Next, Winner made food deliveries to LGBTQ detainees at the Mfou prison outside Cameroon’s capital, Yaoundé. In his interviews there found four victims of Cameroon’s homophobia and lesbophobia:
- Two lesbians have been in detention in Mfou without trial and without an attorney since January. They had been arrested at home in the midst of a loud argument about infidelity, which tipped off their neighbors about the nature of their relationship.
- Late last year, two gay coworkers in Mfou were arrested fined 200,000 CFA francs each (about US $336) and sentenced to six months in prison. If they could pay their fines, they could go free right now, but they have no money, so they won’t be released until late August unless Project Not Alone intervenes.
In addition to those 11 LGBTQ Cameroonians, this year’s Project Not Alone also includes two LGBTQ Nigerians:
This spring, two transgender Nigerians were arrested at their hair salon in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Because they were charged with homosexuality, they face a 14-year prison sentence if they are convicted. They have no attorney and no money for bail.
The Care & Dignity Foundation, a trans-led advocacy group in Port Harcourt, notified LGBT activist Mike Daemon about their situation. Daemon is publisher of the LGBT web site NoStringsNG and a board member of the St. Paul’s Foundation for International Reconciliation, which is the financial sponsor of Project Not Alone.
After reviewing the case, the project agreed to raise money to pay an attorney who will work for the two trans detainees pro bono. He anticipates that they will be allowed to plead guilty in exchange for a short sentence and a fine — if Project Not Alone is able to pay on their behalf.
Overall, Project Not Alone 2023 is seeking $11,891 to feed and free the 13 incarcerated men and women. That total includes:
- $2,974 for food and hygiene items ($58 per detainee per delivery, which are scheduled every two months if donors make that possible and if detainees have not yet been released.)
- $4,817 to pay fines and court costs of convicted prisoners.
- $3,002 for legal expenses (filing fees, copying charges, etc.) incurred by attorneys working pro bono.
- $1,098 for transportation and admission charges for the project’s frequent prison visits.
This year’s initiative follows previous successful efforts on behalf of LGBTQ prisoners — initially in Yaoundé (food deliveries to three prisoners), in the northern Garoua area and in Bertoua in the east (food for six prisoners and early release after their fines were paid), then back in Yaoundé in 2021 and 2022 (food for 18 prisoners and early release after their fines were paid).
Please help us continue this work.
U.S. tax-deductible donations to Project Not Alone 2023 may be made via:
- The “Donate” button on the Facebook page of the St. Paul’s Foundation (Our favorite because Facebook charges us no transaction fees, but the button might not appear on mobile devices.)
- PayPal
- DonorBox
- By sending a check to St. Paul’s Foundation, 21 Marseille, Laguna Niguel CA 92677 USA.) Please write “Project Not Alone” on the memo line.
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