Bisi Alimi
Bisi Alimi | |
|---|---|
 Alimi at the Salzburg Global Seminar | |
| Born | 17 January 1975 |
| Known for | First Nigerian to openly declare his sexuality on national television |
Bisi Alimi (born 17 January 1975) is a Nigerian HIV and LGBT advocate who gained international attention when he became the first Nigerian to come out on television.
Alimi came out as gay on a live television show in 2004. After the broadcast he was disowned by his family and arrested. He fled Nigeria in 2007 and claimed asylum in the UK, becoming a British citizen in 2014.[1]
Alimi launched the Bisi Alimi Foundation in 2015, supporting research to influence rights for lesbian, gay and bisexual people in Nigeria.
In a 2014 interview on CNN, Alimi summarized their experience as: "And I had to, you know, face three years' ordeal in Nigeria which was very difficult. I couldn't get a job. I left university. Nobody was going to employ me. My life was constantly in danger. I was always beaten, arrested by the police, discharged. I was living for the day until when I had the opportunity to move to the United Kingdom."[2]
References
[change | change source]- ↑ "Bisi Alimi on LGBT rights in Nigeria". The Guardian. 2016-02-09.
- ↑ Gay and Endangered in Nigeria, CNN