Adebisi Alimi 29, an
actor-turned-activist, was the first person ever to come out as gay on
Nigerian television back then in 2004. He now shares his story when he
speaks up for the rights of the LGBT community. NPR report
Alimi’s acting career was just starting to take off when his
sexuality stole the spotlight. The student newspaper at University of
Lagos, where he was studying theater, threatened to publish a photo of
him with his then-boyfriend. So Alimi beat them to the punch.
He went on “New Dawn with Funmi,” one of the most popular
talk shows in Nigeria, and challenged a long-held belief that
homosexuality was brought to Africa by white colonizers. That was also
the year Alimi was diagnosed with HIV.
Suddenly, his home country no longer saw him as a rising star. Alimi
lost his roles on TV and on stage, many of his friends shunned him and
the police even arrested him on unexplained charges. In 2007, things got
worse. He was detained at the airport on his way back from the United
Kingdom, where he gave an interview to BBC Network Africa, and was
released two days later. Then a group of men entered his home and
attempted to kill him. Alimi fled to the U.K. and hasn’t been back to
Nigeria since.
But Alimi says, “My story is not a story of a victim; it’s a human story.” Without it, he says, he wouldn’t be the outspoken activist he is today.
Now 40, Alimi shares his story when he speaks out for the rights of
gay black and African men. He’s the founder of Bisi Consultancy, an
organization that develops social policy recommendations based on HIV
research on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. For
his birthday on Jan. 17, Alimi has also started a campaign called
40four40 to raise 40,000 pounds — or about $62,000 USD — for four LGBT
charities.
