The date chosen for the posts is not random. The daughter of the Cameroonian president, who currently resides in Switzerland, decided to put an end to the rumors about her sexuality by going out with a woman on the last day of June, which is Pride Month for the LGBTQ+ community.
On LGBTI Pride Day, the community's main cause is to prevent the rollback of rights.
Since 2016, the country's penal code has provided for a Imprisonment of up to five years and a fine of 305,000 euros For sexual relations between two people of the same sex.
The president of Cameroon is Paul Biya, 91, who has been in power since 1982. So far, neither the government nor the head of state have made any public comment on the issue. According to the BBCThe daughter of the Cameroonian president shared an article in the French newspaper Le Monde in which she wrote that she was “out.” She also shared messages of support from many people. The rapper has more than 300,000 followers on Instagram.
Cameroonian trans activist Shakiro was among those who praised Bia, saying her Instagram post could be a “turning point.” Shakiro, who currently lives in Belgium, was one of two transgender Cameroonian women sentenced to five years in prison in May 2021. She was released two months later after benefiting from “provisional release” granted by the Association for the Defense of Homosexual Rights in Cameroon, an NGO that supports the LGBTQ+ community in Cameroon.
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