"On assignment in Nigeria in 2014, Robin Hammond, an award-winning photojournalist who has worked in Africa for over 15 years, met five young gay men who had been imprisoned, flogged, and threatened with the death penalty because of their sexuality. While the charges had been dropped, the men were terrified. Hammond explained to them that, as a photojournalist, hed like to tell their story. "They met me in a hotel room because they were so were deeply afraid. Hearing their stories about torture and abuse, what struck me was that those physical scars would heal but what really hurt them was that they were completely ostracised by their families."The men explained the danger a photograph could pose in exposing them to further persecution. "So I really had to let them tell their story on their own terms," Hammond says. "And their terms were that I not show their faces in the photographs or use their names." Those images became the first portraits in the photo and story-sharing platform Where Love Is Illegal, a project that aims to change the narrative surrounding LGBTI rights by encouraging survivors of discrimination to speak out and be seen. The website now includes stories and images of people in Malaysia, Cameroon, Israel, America, China, Uganda, and India survivors of discrimination everywhere." - VICE NewsFor More Info: https://i-d.vice.com/en_gb/article/powerful-portraits-of-lgbti-survivors-in-countries-where-same-sex-love-is-illegal