PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER
Victoria Schneps-Yunis
CEO & CO-PUBLISHER
Joshua Schneps
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Matt Tracy
matt@gaycitynews.com
DIGITAL EDITOR
Tat Bellamy-Walker
tat@gaycitynews.com
FOUNDING EDITOR
Paul Schindler
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Duncan Osborne (News)
Donna Aceto (Photography)
Christopher Byrne (Theater)
Susie Day (Perspective)
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Nicholas Boston, Kelly Jean Cogswell,
Steve Erickson, Andy Humm,
Eli Jacobson, David Kennerley,
Gary M. Kramer, Arthur S. Leonard,
Michael T. Luongo, Lawrence D. Mass,
Brian McCormick, Eileen McDermott,
Mick Meenan, Donna Minkowitz,
Christopher Murray, David Noh,
Sam Oglesby, Nathan Riley,
David Shengold, Ed Sikov, Yoav Sivan,
Kathleen Warnock, Benjamin Weinthal,
Nicole Akoukou Thompson
ART DIRECTOR
Leah Mitch
ADVERTISING
Ralph D’Onofrio
718-260-2510
rdonofrio@schnepsmedia.com
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES
Gayle Greenberg
Andrew Mark
Julio Tumbaco
Miriam Nieto
Laura Cangiano
Kathy Wenk
Jeannie Eisenhardt
Lenny Vigliotti
Elizabeth Polly
Please call 718-260-2524 for
advertising rates and availability.
CO-FOUNDERS EMERITUS
Troy Masters
John Sutter
Gay City News, The Newspaper Serving Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender NYC, is
published by Schneps Media. Send all inquiries to:
Gay City News, One Metrotech North, Third Floor,
Brooklyn, NY 15201 Phone: 212-22-1890
Written permission of the publisher must be
obtained before any of the contents of this paper, in
part or whole, can be reproduced or redistributed.
All contents © 2021 Schneps Media
Gay City News is a registered trademark
of Schneps Media
Fax: 212-22-2790
© 2021 Schneps Media
All rights reserved.
FOUNDING MEMBER
IMMIGR AT ION
Gay Immigrant Recalls Tumultuous
Escape From Nigeria
Uchechukwu Onwa arrived to the United States in 2017.
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
Uchechukwu Onwa, a gay
immigrant from Nigeria,
said he knew it was time
to leave his home country
when a group of men brutally raped
his teenage friend for appearing “effeminate.”
Months after the sexual assault,
Onwa’s friend tested positive for HIV
— and shortly after that he died by
suicide.
“Losing my friend in this kind of
way really got to me,” Onwa, 29, of
Flatbush, Brooklyn, said in a Zoom
interview with Gay City News. “I was
so scared and terrifi ed because I was
just thinking that the same people
that did this to my friend will come
for me.”
Onwa, a coordinator at the Queer
Detainee Empowerment Project
(QDEP), an advocacy group assisting
LGBTQ immigrants, said that
incident was one of many that inspired
him to get involved in social
justice work. Onwa has witnessed
the disparate impact of COVID-19
on queer detainees who have lost
mental health support groups due
to the pandemic — and he pointed
to the death of former group member
Faby Federick, a Black trans
woman from Costa Rica, who died
by suicide in March after being detained
in an Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) detention
center.
Back in his home country, Onwa
began advocating for queer individuals
who were targeted for their sexual
orientation and gender identity — but
that work put his life at risk. In 2014,
Goodluck Jonathan, the former president
of Nigeria, signed the Same-
Sex Marriage Prohibition Act, which
criminalized LGBTQ relationships
and imposed a 10-year prison sentence
on individuals running queer
clubs, organizations or who are allies
to these groups.
After the law was passed, Onwa
said a group of men broke into his
home, beat him naked, and threatened
to burn him alive.
“This country was not safe for me
anymore,” Onwa said. “So the best
thing for me to do was either leave
this country or stay and die.”
Ahead of his arrival in the United
States, Onwa frequently watched the
NYC Pride March from afar. It was inspiring,
he said, to see others in the
US live their authentic lives.
“It was a lot of joy,” Onwa said.
“Just seeing people out on the street
marching in multiple colors, rainbow
UCHECHUKWA ONWA
colors and reclaiming their identity.
I was wishing that I could be there
one day to march on the street.”
Onwa’s arrival to the United States
in 2017 did not go as smoothly as he
had hoped. At the airport, he was
chained and taken to an ICE detention
center. For the fi rst time, the
activist said he experienced racism
combined with xenophobia. When
an offi cer questioned why authorities
covered Onwa’s nose and mouth, an
offi cial said, “You know he’s coming
from Africa, he could have Ebola, he
could have some virus.”
“Why are you guys chaining me?”
he recalled asking. “I don’t even know
where they are taking me to. Then
they drove me to the ICE detention
center. I didn’t even get to see the
beautiful country of America.”
After three months, Onwa was released
from the ICE detention center.
Looking back on his journey, Onwa
said he’s in a happier place and is advocating
for LGBTQ immigrants who
have encountered similar struggles
while voyaging to the US.
“I know that there are so many
people in other countries, people like
me who want to be safe,” he said.
“Them not having that opportunity
and knowing that I have that opportunity
I feel privileged.”
AUGUST 26 - SEPTEMBER 8,14 2021 | GayCityNews.com
/GayCityNews.com
link
link
link
link
link
link
