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Fotógrafo registra gays e lésbicas em países onde a homossexualidade é proibida

por: Redação Hypeness

No Brasil, ser homossexual não é fácil. O preconceito está em todos os cantos, inclusive dentro de casa, e não há um gay, lésbica ou bissexual que não tenha receio de agressões homofóbicas em espaços públicos. No entanto, é preciso convir que as coisas estão cada vez melhores. Os direitos LGBT estão aos poucos sendo conquistados e as pessoas já estão aprendendo a respeitar o amor, independente do gênero dos envolvidos.

No entanto, há países em que amar alguém do mesmo gênero é um verdadeiro crime. O fotógrafo Robin  Hammond viajou por diversos desses países registrando vítimas da intolerância sexual. Assim surgiu o projeto Where Love is Illegal (Onde o amor é ilegal, em tradução livre). A cada foto, um emocionante relato de como essas pessoas LGBT se privam de sua liberdade e, não raro, da vida devido ao amor. Confira alguns deles:

J&Q (Uganda) – “Vira e mexe nós temos que fingir que somos irmãs para viver em sociedade, especialmente na vizinhança em que residimos”

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A posed portrait of 21 year old Artyom. He always knew he was different but didn’t accept he was gay until his second year of university. From the age of 12 he was teased and beaten by other students because he acted and spoke effeminately. The bullying was ignored by teachers. Artyom had no friends. By 16, the name calling and physical violence, the intense feeling of isolation, and the break up of his parents drove him to consider suicide “I just wanted to disappear”. He contemplated overdosing himself with medication. Thoughts of leaving his mother alone stopped him. He denied to himself he was gay until his second year in university when he finally ‘came out’ to himself. He feels much freer now that he knows he is not alone and has discovered he can be liked by others. He is currently training to be a model. St Petersburg, Russia. November 2014. While many countries around the world are legally recognizing same-sex relationships, individuals in nearly 80 countries face criminal sanctions for private consensual relations with another adult of the same sex. Violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender expression is even more widespread. Africa is becoming the worst continent for Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender, Queer, Inter-sex (LGBTQI) individuals. More than two thirds of African countries have laws criminalizing consensual same-sex acts. In some, homosexuality is punishable by death. In Nigeria new homophobic laws introduced in 2013 led to dramatic increase in attacks. Under Sharia Law, homosexuality is punishable by death, up to 50 lashes and six months in prison for woman; for men elsewhere, up to 14 years in prison. Same sex acts are illegal in Uganda. A discriminatory law was passed then struck down and homophobic attacks rose tenfold after the passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Act. In Cameroon it is also illegal. More cases against suspected homosexuals are brought here than any other African country. In stark contrast w A posed portrait of Khalaf Yousef Ibrahim Abu Khalaf. 40 year old Khalaf from Amman, Jordan, is a gay man who has been living in Beirut, Lebanon since May 2014. “I came here escaping my family. After I came out, my older brother came to my house with three of my other brothers. He showed me a gun and said ‘you destroyed the honor of our family, be prepared to die’. They beat me – they kicked and punched me, I lost a lot of blood from my nose.” Khalaf is from the Bedouin tribe where family honor is considered very important. His brothers went downstairs to his parent’s house and started talking about how they plan to kill Khalaf. Their plans were overheard by Khalaf’s wife and mother who were next door. His wife came upstairs, pale and sobbing: “Your brothers want to kill you – wait until they have left, take your passport and papers and leave!” “I was really afraid. I thought my family would have a bad reaction, but not to kill me!” Khalaf’s wife knew he was gay, he had told her five months previously. But he came out publicly in April 2014 “I came out on a channel on YouTube. It was an interview with an Egyptian guy. They interviewed me and uploaded it on GooglePlus. All my family and everyone who knows me saw the interview. For the first time I accepted myself, for the first time in my life the real Khalaf was talking to the world. Before I had two faces, the secret one, and the one I used everyday.” “When I was 30 I told a Sheikh (Imam) about my sexuality, and he advised me to get married – that this is the devil doing this stuff - so I got married.” “I thought I was alone. I used to have these feelings for men but I thought I was the only one. I had no idea that there were other people who had the same feelings. I had no idea about even the name of this thing.” “My wife knew I was gay, but she still loved me, even now we are divorced she still loves me. The worst part of the story is I feel I was unfair to her.” Khalaf

Darya (Rússia) – “No meio da rua, eu fui cercada por oito homens mascarados. Nas suas mãos havia tacos de beisebol. Um deles tinha uma faca. Eles pularam em cima de mim. Eles gritaram comigo, me humilharam. Eles me derrubaram no chão e começaram a me bater com os tacos…”

A posed portrait of 23 year old Darya Volkova. Late one night in the first week of March 2011, Darya was attacked on her way home from a driving lesson. For two months before that she had received threats on social media. She would receive messages like “death to lesbians”, “burn in hell”, “if you won’t shut up we will find you”, “we know where you live, we will find you and you will pay for it”, “we will kill you”. These were in response to her coming out as a lesbian and her street activism. As she walked through a park on the way home heard the foot steps of several people behind her, they shouted for her to stop, she started walking faster until she came across two men blocking her path wearing balaclavas. She was surrounded. They started to push her and shout “death to lesbians”, “burn in hell”. One of them threw a punch which she was able to block, and then she felt a powerful blow on her back as one of the men struck her with a baseball bat. She fell to the ground. She was kicked and beaten with baseball bats until she was knocked unconscious. One of them men then stabbed her in the stomach. She lay bleeding for what must have been around four hours before she was found. By that time she had lost a lot of blood. She was rushed to the hospital. Several times her heart stopped after surgery. After being discharged from hospital and spending a week resting she went to the police: “they just laughed at me,” she said “you got what you deserve… we don’t serve lesbians here”. She was scared to go back to the area so moved away. She still receives threats on social media. No investigation into the attack has ever been made. “I really hope that destiny will judge them,” she says. St Petersburg, Russia. November 2014. While many countries around the world are legally recognizing same-sex relationships, individuals in nearly 80 countries face criminal sanctions for private consensual relations with another adult of the same

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Mohammed (Golfo Persa) – “Eu fui torturado tantas vezes por causa da minha sexualidade. Eu fui espancado por membros da minha família: pai, tio, irmãos mais velhos. […] Ninguém gosta de mim. Ninguém nem conversa comigo. Eu nem sei porquê ainda estou vivo, pra ser sincero”

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Milli (África do Sul) – “Em abril de 2010, Milli estava na casa de uma amiga. Enquanto esperava sua amiga voltar para casa, ela foi até o proprietário e pediu fogo para seu cigarro. Ele a puxou pelo pescoço e disse: ‘você acha que você é homem! Eu vou te engravidar e te matar!’ Ele estrangulou Milli com um pedaço de arame até que ela perdesse a consciência e a estuprou por horas”

A posed portrait of Milli, 35. In April 2010 Milli went to stay with a friend. While waiting for her friend to return home, she went to the landlord and asked for a light for her cigarette. He dragged her into his shack and said: “You think you are man! I’m going to make you pregnant and I’m going to kill you”. He strangled Lilli with a piece of wire until she lost consciousness “and then he did what he was doing, for hours!”, “I tried screaming”. Neighbours eventually kicked in the window and held the man until the police arrived. The police arrested him but he was released on ZAR 400 bail (around US$40). He didn’t appear in court for his hearing. He was on the run. Free Gender, a black lesbian organisation working to end homophobia, based in the township of Khaylitsha, Cape Town searched for the rapist posting pamphlets. It took a year to find him. When asked why the police didn’t search for him, Milli says: “they don’t have time to listen to you when you go to them, when it comes to homosexuals, they take their time”. “I just thank God that I am alive. I thought I was going to die.” South Africa. November 2014. While many countries around the world are legally recognizing same-sex relationships, individuals in nearly 80 countries face criminal sanctions for private consensual relations with another adult of the same sex. Violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender expression is even more widespread. Africa is becoming the worst continent for Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender, Queer, Inter-sex (LGBTQI) individuals. More than two thirds of African countries have laws criminalizing consensual same-sex acts. In some, homosexuality is punishable by death. In Nigeria new homophobic laws introduced in 2013 led to dramatic increase in attacks. Under Sharia Law, homosexuality is punishable by death, up to 50 lashes and six months in prison for woman; for men elsewhere, up to 14 years in prison. Same sex acts are ille

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M. (Síria) – “Todo dia é uma luta. Quando o dia acaba não significa que a luta acaba. E se você sobreviveu o dia anterior, não significa que vá sobreviver o próximo. Eu ainda estou ameaçado aqui. Há membros da minha tribo e da minha família no ISIS e eles sabem onde estou, mas eles disseram que vão me caçar em breve”

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Todas as fotos © Robin Hammond

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