FannyAnn Eddy

Area of Achievement

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FannyAnn Viola Eddy

In 2002 FannyAnn Eddy started the Sierra Leone Lesbian & Gay Association in 2002, the first organisation of its kind in the country. She dedicated her life to supporting and advocating for member of LGBTQ+ community and their rights, frequently addressing the United Nations and other international groups. In 2004, the 30-year-old activist was brutally murdered when a group of assailants broke into the office of the Sierra Leone Lesbian and Gay Association in central Freetown. According to the official investigation, the incident was not politically based nor an anti-gay hatecrime.

1974

2004

native of Sierra Leone

FannyAnn Eddy had had spent time in Southern Africa as a refugee from hostilities in Sierra Leone where she used her time to learn how to ‘mobilise in a hostile environment’. In 2002 Eddy founded the Sierra Leone Lesbian and Gay Association, which was the first organisation of its kind in thatcountry. Eddy and her group documented harassment and discrimination towards LGBTQ+ people in the West African nation. They also noted beating and arbitrary arrests of LGBTQ+ people. Her organisation also continued to provide psychological and social support to the fearful underground community.

Eddy addressed governments and international groups and travelled widely in doing so. She publicly lobbied government ministers to address the health and human rights of gays and lesbians and to end state sponsored oppression. In April 2004 she was part of a delegation of sexual rights activists who attended the annual session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva. Eddy met with the Sierra Leone delegation, and testified to the Commission that gays and lesbians faced ongoing harassment and said that “Homophobic attacks go unpunished by authorities, further encouraging the discriminatory and violent treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.” She also became an active participant in the All Africa Human Rights Symposium in Johannesburg and earnt a position on the interim steering committee.

Since Eddy’s death, The Hirschfeld Eddy Foundation was named after her and Magnus Hirschfeld. It is a human rights foundation for LGBTQ+ people and was set up in 2007.

Eddy left behind a wife and a 10-year old daughter after she was murdered.

“Silence creates vulnerability. You, members of the Commission on Human Rights, can break the silence. You can acknowledge that we exist, throughout Africa and on every continent, and that human rights violations based on sexual orientation or gender identity are committed every day. You can help us combat those violations and achieve our full rights and freedoms, in every society, including my beloved Sierra Leone.”

https://lgbtplushistorymonth.co.uk/2011/03/fanny-ann-eddy/

https://www.hrw.org/news/2004/10/05/sierra-leone-lesbian-rights-activist-brutally-murdered

https://legacyprojectchicago.org/person/fannyann-eddy

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