Bisi Alimi
| Bisi Alimi | |
|---|---|
Alimi at the Salzburg Global Seminar
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| Born |
Ademola Iyandade Ojo Kazeem Alimi 17 January 1975 Lagos, Nigeria |
| Residence | London, United Kingdom |
| Education | Birkbeck, University of London |
| Known for | First Nigerian to openly declare his sexuality on national television |
Bisi Alimi (born Ademola Iyandade Ojo Kazeem Alimi, 17 January 1975) is a Nigerian gay rights activist, public speaker, blog writer and HIV/LGBT advocate who gained international attention when he became the first Nigerian to come out of the closet on television.
Alimi was born in the Mushin district of Lagos to parents Raski Ipadeola Balogun Alimi (a Nigerian police officer) and Idiatu Alake Alimi (a university clerk). Alimi was raised in Lagos, where he attended primary and secondary school. He was the third in a family of five children from his mother, and sixth from a family of ten children from his father. He later changed his name to Adebisi Alimi.
Bisi attended Eko Boys' High School in Lagos, and graduated in 1993. He led his school cultural dances, both at primary and secondary school, to many awards and honours. He was a member of his secondary school literary and debating society and a Social Prefect (in charge of organizing social activities) in his senior year. Also, in 1993, he gained admission into Ogun State Polytechnic, and would later study Creative Arts, majoring in Theatre at University of Lagos. It was during his university education that his sexuality attracted media attention after Campus Lifestyle, the university’s magazine outed him as a gay man. Prior to the magazine outing, Bisi had experienced much discrimination within the campus, including facing a disciplinary committee on the accusation of his gay status. Although he did graduate, he was almost denied his certificate as it was believed that his morals were unacceptable for an alumnus of the university.
He was admitted at Birkbeck College, University of London in 2011, where he earned his master's degree in Global Governance and Public Policy.
Prior to his public self-outing, Bisi Alimi began his advocacy career in the late 1990s in Nigeria when a number of his friends died from HIV/AIDS. After 2 years of community mobilization work (including condom distribution and safe-sex education) for Gay men and Men who have Sex with other Men (MSM) in Nigeria, he joined the Alliance Rights Nigeria (ARN) in 2002 as a Programme Director, developing and providing HIV/AIDS and sexual health services and support. In his capacity as ARN Programme Director, he was at the heart of developing the Nigerian MSM HIV prevention framework in 2004. He was trained by the International AIDS Alliance in 2004 as HIV project Designer, Community Mobiliser, Care, Support and Treatment. In 2005, he co-founded The Independent Project (later, The Initiative for Equal Rights) working as its Executive Director.
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