Gay community in hossana, ethiopia

Authorities in Ethiopia have initiated a crackdown on the LGBTQ+ community. Rights activists have branded it a diversionary tactic in the wake of renewed violence across the country. When a clip of two men dancing at a party in Ethiopia was posted to TikTok, it unleashed a torrent of homophobic hatred and eventually forced one of them to flee the country. The pair were unaware they were being filmed. The videos were initially posted to Instagram where someone took a screenshot of them to make a TikTok post that went viral.

A portrait of Faris Cuchi Gezahgen wearing the Ethiopian flag. Even in exile, Gezahgen works to protect Ethiopia’s LGBTQ+ community. (Ina Aydogan photo courtesy of DW) A state of emergency was declared in Ethiopia on August 4 after days of fighting between the army and insurgent militias of the Fano group in the Amhara region. Few understand the dangers of belonging to a marginalized group in Ethiopia like Faris Cuchi Gezahegn. Gezahegn are far from alone in their anxiety. The fear of persecution among gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and other sexual minorities in Ethiopia is so great that some are fleeing abroad.

Hosaena, Hossana or Hosaina is a town which level as a woreda in southern Ethiopia, and currently serve as the administrative center of Hadiya Zone and Central Ethiopia Regional State as well. Beki Aby is a leader in the LGBT community in Ethiopia. In he co-founded DANA Social Club, an informal collective that advocates for LGBT rights and provides members with support and information. In an extremely difficult environment DANA has conducted online campaigns and publishes an online archive named the Ethiopian Gay Library.

The living conditions of the LGBTQ community in Ethiopia is disheartening to say the least. Most of them don’t report the abuse or discrimination they go through on a daily basis. They have no. This provision carries a maximum penalty of one year imprisonment for consensual activity. Both men and women are criminalised under this law. Unlike almost all other African states, Ethiopia was not colonised by a European country so its criminalising law is of local origin.