{"id":387,"date":"2024-07-10T11:07:29","date_gmt":"2024-07-10T11:07:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387"},"modified":"2024-07-10T11:07:29","modified_gmt":"2024-07-10T11:07:29","slug":"cameroon-presidents-daughter-hopes-to-help-change-anti-gay-laws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387","title":{"rendered":"Cameroon president’s daughter hopes to help change anti-gay laws"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

The daughter of Cameroon’s president has said she hopes that her coming out as a lesbian can help change the law banning same-sex relations in her country.<\/p>\n

Brenda Biya told the Le Parisien newspaper that there were many people in her situation and she hoped to inspire them.<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old shared an image of her kissing another woman last week, sparking mixed reactions in Cameroon.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m crazy about you & I want the world to know,\u201d she said in the Instagram post with a picture of her embracing Brazilian model Layyons Valen\u00e7a.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

In the interview with France’s Le Parisien<\/a>, she said she had not informed anyone in her family before publishing the post.<\/p>\n

\u201cComing out is an opportunity to send a strong message,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She added that she found the anti-gay law, which existed before her father came to power, \u201cunfair and I hope that my story will change it”.<\/p>\n

Paul Biya, 91, has been Cameroon’s president since 1982 and is one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders.<\/p>\n

Ms Biya said she had been with the Brazilian model for eight months and had already taken her to Cameroon three times without telling her family they were in a relationship.<\/p>\n

The musician, who lives abroad, said she had received many messages of support as well as negative reactions since posting about her relationship.<\/p>\n

She was happy to reveal her status, adding she wanted to give hope and “send love” to those suffering “because of who they are [and] help them feel less alone”.<\/p>\n

It was her brother who called her first after the post, angry that she had published it without warning the family, she told Le Parisien.<\/p>\n

Her parents, the president and First Lady Chantal Biya, later called wanting her to delete the post. \u201cSince then, it\u2019s been silence,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said she had her first crush on a girl when she was 16, but said that it was difficult to express her love because of the situation in her country.<\/p>\n

Same-sex relations are against the law in Cameroon and are punishable by up to five years in prison.<\/p>\n

There has been no official comment by the president or the first lady.<\/p>\n

A government source told French broadcaster RFI that the matter concerned the \u201cprivate life of an adult residing outside the country and does not in any way concern Cameroon or the head of state\u201d.<\/p>\n

Rights groups that have been criticising Cameroon\u2019s laws against same-sex relations have been praising Ms Biya\u2019s revelation as a courageous move.<\/p>\n

But questions have been raised about whether coming out is a privilege that can only be enjoyed by a select few in the country.<\/p>\n

“Anti-LGBT laws in Cameroon disproportionately target the poor. Wealth and connections create a shield for some, while others face severe consequences,\u201d LGBT activist Bandy Kiki earlier said in a post on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The daughter of Cameroon’s president has said she hopes that her coming out as a lesbian can help change the law banning same-sex relations in her country. Brenda Biya told…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":388,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[645,643,644,331,279,646,361],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nCameroon president's daughter hopes to help change anti-gay laws - Frisco Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Brenda Biya says her family in Cameroon was angry when she posted a photo of her kissing a woman.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cameroon president's daughter hopes to help change anti-gay laws - Frisco Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Brenda Biya says her family in Cameroon was angry when she posted a photo of her kissing a woman.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Frisco Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-10T11:07:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/177043d0-3e94-11ef-9e1c-3b4a473456a6.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"By\u00a0Basillioh Rukanga,\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@FriscoTimes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@FriscoTimes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"By\u00a0Basillioh Rukanga,\u00a0\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"By\u00a0Basillioh Rukanga,\u00a0\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/person\/2b21d75bff3a54bc0c28e7e6f36905d0\"},\"headline\":\"Cameroon president’s daughter hopes to help change anti-gay laws\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-10T11:07:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387\"},\"wordCount\":491,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/177043d0-3e94-11ef-9e1c-3b4a473456a6.png\",\"keywords\":[\"antigay\",\"Cameroon\",\"change\",\"Daughter\",\"hopes\",\"laws\",\"Presidents\"],\"articleSection\":[\"World\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387\",\"name\":\"Cameroon president's daughter hopes to help change anti-gay laws - Frisco Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/177043d0-3e94-11ef-9e1c-3b4a473456a6.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-10T11:07:29+00:00\",\"description\":\"Brenda Biya says her family in Cameroon was angry when she posted a photo of her kissing a woman.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/177043d0-3e94-11ef-9e1c-3b4a473456a6.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/177043d0-3e94-11ef-9e1c-3b4a473456a6.png\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":576},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Cameroon president’s daughter hopes to help change anti-gay laws\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/\",\"name\":\"Frisco Times\",\"description\":\"Your Gateway to San Francisco's Stories\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Frisco Times\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/cropped-\u5fae\u4fe1\u622a\u56fe_20240625172131.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/cropped-\u5fae\u4fe1\u622a\u56fe_20240625172131.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Frisco Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/FriscoTimes\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/friscotimes\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/person\/2b21d75bff3a54bc0c28e7e6f36905d0\",\"name\":\"By\u00a0Basillioh Rukanga,\u00a0\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"By\u00a0Basillioh Rukanga,\u00a0\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?author=111\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cameroon president's daughter hopes to help change anti-gay laws - Frisco Times","description":"Brenda Biya says her family in Cameroon was angry when she posted a photo of her kissing a woman.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cameroon president's daughter hopes to help change anti-gay laws - Frisco Times","og_description":"Brenda Biya says her family in Cameroon was angry when she posted a photo of her kissing a woman.","og_url":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387","og_site_name":"Frisco Times","article_published_time":"2024-07-10T11:07:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":576,"url":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/177043d0-3e94-11ef-9e1c-3b4a473456a6.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"By\u00a0Basillioh Rukanga,\u00a0","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@FriscoTimes","twitter_site":"@FriscoTimes","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"By\u00a0Basillioh Rukanga,\u00a0","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387"},"author":{"name":"By\u00a0Basillioh Rukanga,\u00a0","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/person\/2b21d75bff3a54bc0c28e7e6f36905d0"},"headline":"Cameroon president’s daughter hopes to help change anti-gay laws","datePublished":"2024-07-10T11:07:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387"},"wordCount":491,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/177043d0-3e94-11ef-9e1c-3b4a473456a6.png","keywords":["antigay","Cameroon","change","Daughter","hopes","laws","Presidents"],"articleSection":["World"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387","url":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387","name":"Cameroon president's daughter hopes to help change anti-gay laws - Frisco Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/177043d0-3e94-11ef-9e1c-3b4a473456a6.png","datePublished":"2024-07-10T11:07:29+00:00","description":"Brenda Biya says her family in Cameroon was angry when she posted a photo of her kissing a woman.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/177043d0-3e94-11ef-9e1c-3b4a473456a6.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/177043d0-3e94-11ef-9e1c-3b4a473456a6.png","width":1024,"height":576},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=387#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Cameroon president’s daughter hopes to help change anti-gay laws"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/","name":"Frisco Times","description":"Your Gateway to San Francisco's Stories","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#organization","name":"Frisco Times","url":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/cropped-\u5fae\u4fe1\u622a\u56fe_20240625172131.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/cropped-\u5fae\u4fe1\u622a\u56fe_20240625172131.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Frisco Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/FriscoTimes","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/friscotimes\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/person\/2b21d75bff3a54bc0c28e7e6f36905d0","name":"By\u00a0Basillioh Rukanga,\u00a0","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&r=g","caption":"By\u00a0Basillioh Rukanga,\u00a0"},"url":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?author=111"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}