From the Associated Press:
Gay men in Ivory Coast say they’ve been assaulted and forced to flee their homes after the U.S. Embassy published a photo of them signing a condolence book for victims of this month’s killings at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
The photo, published on the embassy’s website, shows the faces of six men with the caption “LGBTI community signing the condolence book.” It was taken at the embassy on June 16, the same day Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan and other officials signed the book in honor of the 49 people killed in the Orlando attack.
The photo has been widely shared on social media and two of the men said that in the days after it was published an angry mob punched and kicked them while shouting anti-gay slurs. The men spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity for their safety.
Four of the six men, including the two attacked, said they have fled their homes under pressure from family and friends who had been unaware of their sexual orientation.
According to AP, the men did not give permission for their photo to be published and it remained on the embassy’s site at the time of their report. (I’m not finding it at this writing. CBS News has posted a burred version of the image at the link above.) The embassy has expressed “deep regret” over the attacks and has encouraged the men to contact the police.
RELATED: Being a former French colony, Ivory Coast did not inherit the anti-sodomy laws still in effect in many former British colonies around the world. Homosexuality was never criminalized there, but LGBT citizens otherwise have zero legal protections in any category.