Queer Nigerians Are Utilizing Make-up as a Type of Resistance

“I am very experimental with my fashion,” says Nigerian mannequin and artist Uche Uba. “Make-up for me is, to an extent, an act of defiance. You can not inform me what I can or can not do to my face.”

In Nigeria, vital components of queer existence — together with intercourse between folks of the identical gender, advocating for queer rights, and even associating with queer folks — may be criminalized. If prosecuted and located responsible, folks may be sentenced as much as 14 years in jail and, underneath Sharia legislation in northern Nigeria, it can lead to loss of life by stoning. In response, some members of the Nigerian queer group have taken to utilizing experimental magnificence seems to be as a approach to present resistance.

“Sporting make-up for me is essentially exhibiting and expressing who I’m as an individual,” says Michael Kohh, a make-up artist and social media content material creator who commonly posts movies of himself switching wigs and make-up seems to be, with humorous voiceovers in Yoruba. “It has helped promote my work as a make-up artist, however I’ve [also] been in a position to present that, no matter who you might be, you may put on make-up. It is helped me join with the queer group.”

Globally, males in make-up face bullying and homophobic trolling, even in progressive international locations. In Nigeria, the place homophobia is inspired and nonetheless closely enshrined in legislation, this typically results in queer-presenting folks being victims of police brutality and bodily assaults by fellow residents. Through the #EndSARS protests in October 2020, when Nigerians gathered within the streets to demand an finish to extreme violence by the infamous Particular Anti-Theft Squad, many younger Nigerian males who experiment with make-up by portray their nails or placing on lipstick recounted their experiences of being stopped, extorted, and bullied by the Nigerian police. I actually was taken into custody for over two hours in Lagos as a result of my nails had been painted.