Andre Lombard on being a gay journalist in a homophobic country Nightmare in Nigeria T


his was access we had been trying to arrange for over three years, trying desperately to battle against Nigeria’s infamous bureaucracy. We were making steady progress in attempts to gain permission to film in Lagos’s state


schools. As a senior journalist for the BBC’s first-ever African youth news programme, this could make possible a plethora of new stories and angles. But the regional education minister – the man making the


decision – had conditions to our access. “I am happy for you to film,” he told me and my colleague, “if you can promise that you will not cover any gay issues in your programme.” I was faced with a conundrum. I’m an openly gay man. My


initial instinct was to deny the request. To accept it would be an abandonment of my values and also the values that I believe that the BBC should hold. We had not been planning to cover LGBTQ stories, but were


we editorially correct to restrict the topics our programme could cover? Ten again, was I putting my principles and identity above the interests of our journalism? And what would I really achieve by making a moral stand? We did agree to it and I have questioned whether that was


the correct decision in the years since. Nigeria is one of 65 countries worldwide that criminalises


LGBTQ people. Same-sex relations are illegal under the 2013 Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act, using the colonial language of ‘carnal knowledge against the order of nature’ and ‘gross indecency’. Indeed, in the 12 states of Nigeria that operate Sharia law, legally gay relationships can be punished by being stoned to death. During my almost nine years at the BBC’s Africa department, I was fortunate enough to travel to some amazing countries across the continent. Unfortunately, many of them had anti-LGBTQ laws. Friends would often ask me why I was travelling to such places where I could not be my authentic self, something of which I was acutely aware. Penny Dale became the BBC’s Zambia correspondent in


2001, staying until 2004. Openly lesbian in the UK, she says moving there meant she became “very closeted” and “only half myself ”.


10 | theJournalist “ “I had to be really, really careful as homosexuality is illegal.


As I was in my 30s, people would often ask where my husband was or if I had children. I’d have to make some rubbish up, like I was married to my job. One thing about journalism is that you can often hide behind that.” Tat’s something that James Longman can relate to. As


ABC’s chief international correspondent, his career has taken him across the globe, including Uganda, Liberia and Syria. “I’m often conscious of my sexuality in a way that I’m not


back home,” he tells me over the phone from Iraq, where he is covering the latest crisis in the Middle East. Te day before we spoke, he had attended a big dinner with


local sources. “Tere’s always a lot of machismo at these events. Tere’s


always a lot of talk about women and having children. Often in journalism we gain someone’s confidence by talking about family. Do I tell this guy that I have a husband or do I steer the conversation away from personal things?” Ultimately, though, he says people can surprise you. “Sometimes, you roll the dice with someone you think will


have a problem with it and you get a positive reaction. Gay people by our very nature are everywhere. You have just as much chance of speaking to a gay person as you do at home”. I’ve certainly had my own stereotyped thoughts and, dare I


Was I putting my principles and identity above the interests of our journalism?


say it, prejudices challenged in this way. In Sierra Leone, I was working with a local journalist who, unprompted, rued the state of gay rights in the country, making me feel comfortable enough to come out to him. Despite the challenges she faced as a lesbian, Dale says she


looks back at her period in Zambia with ‘huge fondness’. “It was a wonderful if intense time. Although I wasn’t able to


be myself, there were other aspects of me that were able to come out and come to fruition, including falling in love with radio and what a joy it is.” Eventually, though, her sexuality was the deciding factor in


leaving Zambia as she “didn’t want to live like this any more”. Paul, a gay freelance journalist living in east Africa and


working across the continent, tells me that his sexuality can affect the stories that he covers. I’ve used a pseudonym for


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25