Gay cameroon

The lawyer risking everything to defend LGBT rights

Armand Mouko

BBC Afrique, Douala

BBC

Despite being vilified, threatened and humiliated in public, veteran Cameroonian lawyer Alice Nkom is determined to uphold the rights of queer peoplein her country.

A human rights NGO that she runs, Redhac, was recently suspended by the government and she is due to appear before investigators to answer accusations of money laundering and funding terror groups – which she denies.

The 80-year-old says the authorities are obstructing her work and believes she is entity targeted because of her legal activism with the LGBT community.

"I will always defend homosexuals because they risk their freedom every diurnal, and they are thrown into prison like dogs," she tells the BBC in a solid tone, speaking in her office in the city of Douala.

"My job is to defend people. I don't observe why I would say I'm defending everyone except homosexuals."

Dressed in a shadowy gown, Ms Nkom delivers her stark message in a measured voice that reflects years of thoughtful legal argument.

According to the country's penal code, both men and women found guilty of homosexual se

Born This Way: Lgbtq+ and Lesbian in Cameroon

DVDS

by Deb Tullmann

color. 55 min. In English & French w/English subtitles. Shaun Kadlec & , Mrs. Lockhart Prods., dist. by Good Docs, www.gooddocs.net. 2015. DVD $129; acad. libs. $299; streaming $499; digital + DVD $499. Public performance. GENDER STUDIES

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While LGBT Americans mark the Supreme Court's conclusion to expand the definition of marriage, gays and lesbians in some parts of the world are still struggling to fulfill basic acceptance. This documentary shines a light on the gay experience in one such place, Cameroon, in Central Africa. We meet a young same-sex attracted man living in a poor section of Douala who is harassed daily by anonymous strangers; a young lesbian with a closeted lover who struggles to come out to her mentor; and an activist lawyer who fights the corrupt legal system to keep innocent people out of prison. We also spend time at Douala's Access Center, an organization officially concerned only with HIV-AIDS treatment and prevention but unofficially a welcoming haven for LGBT Cameroonians.

VERDICT While the camera lingers generously on Cameroon's people and the country's varied urban and ru

Cameroon urged to overhaul laws criminalizing gay relationships

Laws criminalizing consensual same-sex relationships must be repealed by the Cameroonian government, Amnesty International said as it called for the release of those currently in prison for homosexuality,”It is moment to end the arrest, detention, prosecution and other forms of persecution and discrimination against people perceived or known to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender,” said Erwin van der Borght, Amnesty International’s director for Africa.Since Pride 2011, 13 people in Cameroon have been arrested for allegedly practising homosexuality. Most have been targeted on the grounds of their perceived sexual orientation, rather than on any alleged participation in prohibited consensual acts. In virtually no cases have the police or other eyewitnesses claimed to have seen the alleged homosexual acts.Jean-Claude Roger Mbede was sentenced to three years in prison for homosexuality in April 2011. The hearing of his appeal was due to take place today but he was not brought to court. The date has now been pushed back to 19 March when the appeal court is expected to decide whether to grant his application for provi
gay cameroon

Recent studies in Cameroon indicate societal resistance to LGBTQ+ rights.

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History

Censorship of LGBT issues in Cameroon

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Censorship of LGBT issues in Cameroon is imprisonment as punishment.

Current status
Imprisonment as punishment
Article 83 of the Law on Cybersecurity and Cybercrime of 2010 in Cameroon carried penalties of up to two years imprisonment and a pleasant for any interactions between the alike sex online for the purposes of sexual propositions. The penalties are also doubled if sexual intercourse is followed up on.

Section 264 of the Penal Code (2016) criminalises the universal utterance of any “immoral speech” and the drawing of the public’s attention to any “occasion of immorality”. In light of the criminalisation of lgbtq+ intimacy, a legal scholar has suggested that a publicly uttered speech advocating “unnatural sexual indulgence” would be considered “immoral”.

Right to switch legal gender in Cameroon

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Right to modify legal gender in Cameroon is illegal.

Gender-affirming care in Cameroon

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Gender-affirming car

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Last updated: 16 July 2025

Types of criminalisation

  • Criminalises LGBT people
  • Criminalises sexual activity between males
  • Criminalises sexual activity between females

Summary

Same-sex sexual activity is prohibited under the Penal Code 2016, which criminalises acts of ‘homosexuality’. This provision carries a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment and a fine. Both men and women are criminalised under this law.

Cameroon’s first Penal Code in 1965 did not criminalise same-sex sexual activity, however an amendment introduced in 1972 added the offence of ‘homosexuality’ which has been retained until today.

There is substantial evidence of the law being enforced in recent years, with LGBT people being frequently subject to arrest. Mass arrests, arbitrary detention, and torture and violence while in custody are commonplace. Many of the reported cases are summarised below, however the frequency of arrests mean that many cases are not included here. In a high-profile case