Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.Before Bobrisky, the anti-corruption watchdog successfully convicted actress Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin in February on the same charges. On conviction, she was given the option to pay a fine instead of going to prison.
There is context for these sudden prosecutions: Nigerian authorities are trying to save the face, if not the value, of the naira, after sharp declines against the United States dollar. In recent months, forex traders have been rounded up for allegedly participating in “speculative activities” and cryptocurrency traders have been accused of sabotaging the naira.
Femme, glam, vexatious and iconic, Bobrisky’s rise to fame was rocky and well-documented, especially by herself. She first became popular on Snapchat for skin bleaching, using products that she sold at the time. “I think her life has been very effective in communicating queered living to people who would not have understood it on paper,” said Blaise. “I also believe her to be misogynistic, homophobic, classist and hella problematic.’’
Bobrisky’s visibility — and her continued freedom until recently — didn’t reflect the wider reality of the average trans person in Nigeria. Many are homeless and exposed to the kind of danger and violence that Bobrisky seemed secure from, thanks to the privilege that comes from wealth and fame.