• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Film/TV/Stream
  • Republicans
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Men
  • Trans Rights
  • Tech/Science
  • Royals
  • Monkeypox

Anti-Gay Attacks Target Activists, Rights Organizations in Ivory Coast

Andy Towle January 27, 2014

Ivorycoast

Anti-gay animus is ramping up in Ivory Coast. The headquarters of the African nation's most prominent LGBT rights organization was attacked over the weekend, the AP reports:

Nearly 200 people stormed the offices of Alternative Cote d'Ivoire in Abidjan, the capital, on Saturday afternoon, breaking windows with stones and stealing computers and other equipment, said Claver Toure, the group's executive director.

"Everything they could take was taken, and the rest was broken," Toure said, adding that a private security guard was hospitalized with wounds to his face.

Toure criticized what he described as a deliberately slow response by security forces. Government spokesman Bruno Kone and Interior Ministry spokesman Bazoumana Coulibaly both said they were unaware of the attack Monday morning.

Map_ivorycoastThe ransacking is just one in a series of "coordinated" attacks LGBT rights groups say, and more are planned for this weekend.

76 Crimes reports on similar attacks last week:

Ivory Coast has its share of people who dislike homosexuals, but it is not one of the 76-plus countries with laws against homosexuality. In fact, in 2011 Touré described the country as an “El Dorado” for LGBT people, at least in comparison to many other African countries.

That aspect of the country was not visible on Jan. 20.  Soon after returning home from work shortly before 7 p.m., Touré said, the three Alternative CI staff members noticed that a crowd of about 60 people had assembled outside, whistling and banging on pots and pans. They threatened the occupants of the “faggot house,” shouting, “We will kill them,” “We don’t want fags in our city,” “We don’t want people with AIDS in our neighborhood,” “We’ll kill you all,” “We don’t want people working with AIDS and queers here,” “Damn you! We’ll burn your ass.”

The mob kept up the racket as it tried to break down the doors of the house  with rocks and metal bars.  They threw garbage and human excrement, then prepared Molotov cocktails to burn the building and the people inside. The police arrived just in time to intervene.

Touré, along with the assistant coordinator and the human rights/legal officer of Alternative Cote d’Ivoire, were trapped in the house for more than an hour until police were able to smuggle them out safely.

Topics: AIDS, LGBT Rights, News More Posts About: Ivory Coast, Ivory Coast, News

Related Posts
  • Russia Blocks Facebook, Accusing it of Restricting Access to Russian Media;
  • Duran Duran Has New Music And You Are About To Enjoy it. It’s 2021. Seriously.
  • ‘Mayor Pete’ Trailer; Papa Pete Pwns Tucker; 4-Stars for Dr. Rachel Levine; JoJo Siwa’s Perfect 10s; Lynda Carter’s 8 Wonder-full Words: GOOD NEWS
  • Kenny Goss: I didn’t want to be Mrs George Michael

    Kenny Goss: I didn’t want to be Mrs George Michael

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Kenny Goss didn’t want to be “Mrs George Michael”. The 63-year-old businessman had a 13-year relationship with the pop icon – who died on Christmas Day in 2016, aged 53 – …Read More »
  • Adele feels ‘mortified’ over Las Vegas residency

    Adele feels ‘mortified’ over Las Vegas residency

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Adele finds the thought of letting down her fans to be “mortifying”. The 34-year-old singer feels she failed her fans by postponing her residency at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas earlier …Read More »
  • Biden predicts states will try to arrest women who travel for abortions

    Biden predicts states will try to arrest women who travel for abortions

    Published by Reuters By Jeff Mason and Rami Ayyub WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden predicted on Friday that some U.S. states will try to arrest women for crossing state lines to get abortions after the Supreme …Read More »
  • Elliot Page signs up for his ‘first ever dating app’

    Elliot Page signs up for his ‘first ever dating app’

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Elliot Page is on his “first dating app ever”. The 35-year-old actor – who separated from Emma Portner in January 2021 after three years of marriage – revealed that he is …Read More »
Previous Post: « Gay Marriage News Watch: Updates from VA, NV, FL, MI, OR, IN, and AR — VIDEO
Next Post: European Continent Now Completely Free of Laws Criminalizing Gay Sex After Cypriot State Repeal »

Primary Sidebar

News

  • Lindsay Lohan marries financier Bader Shammas

    Lindsay Lohan marries financier Bader Shammas

  • Horseshoe crabs: ‘Living fossils’ vital for vaccine safety

    Horseshoe crabs: ‘Living fossils’ vital for vaccine safety

  • ‘A Disgusting Sight In Any Case’: Vladimir Putin Fires Back After G7 Leaders Joke About His Infamous Horse-Riding Picture

    ‘A Disgusting Sight In Any Case’: Vladimir Putin Fires Back After G7 Leaders Joke About His Infamous Horse-Riding Picture

RSS Partner Links

  • Sunday Comics
  • Speedo Sunday
  • Natalie Portman, Idris Elba, & More Stars Check Out Adele's Hyde Park Performance in London!
  • Cynthia Erivo Comes Out As Bisexual
  • Naomie Harris Criticizes 'Disturbing' Amount of Media Coverage Johnny Depp & Amber Heard's Trial Received
  • Travis Scott's First Festival Since Astroworld Tragedy Gets Canceled
  • Bret Michaels Breaks Silence on Hospitalization, Shares New Details About Health Condition

Most Recent

  • What charges might Trump face for trying to overturn 2020 election?

    What charges might Trump face for trying to overturn 2020 election?

  • Kenny Goss: I didn’t want to be Mrs George Michael

    Kenny Goss: I didn’t want to be Mrs George Michael

  • Adele feels ‘mortified’ over Las Vegas residency

    Adele feels ‘mortified’ over Las Vegas residency

  • Biden predicts states will try to arrest women who travel for abortions

    Biden predicts states will try to arrest women who travel for abortions

  • Elliot Page signs up for his ‘first ever dating app’

    Elliot Page signs up for his ‘first ever dating app’

  • Mac Engel Column: WNBA player speaks honest truth about Brittney Griner: ‘If this was Shaq, he’d be home’

    Mac Engel Column: WNBA player speaks honest truth about Brittney Griner: ‘If this was Shaq, he’d be home’

  • Gay Man Tells Co-Worker to Stop Talking to Him About Her Pregnancy: ‘I Don’t Care’

    Gay Man Tells Co-Worker to Stop Talking to Him About Her Pregnancy: ‘I Don’t Care’

  • Biles, Denzel Washington, Rapinoe among winners of top US honor

    Biles, Denzel Washington, Rapinoe among winners of top US honor

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy
[towleroadmr] [towleroadtn]

Footer

Copyright © 2022 · Log in