Aderonke Apata

Aderonke Apata (born 20 January 1967) is a Nigerian LGBTQ activist, former asylum seeker and barrister. She received widespread media attention due to her asylum case in the United Kingdom. Apata is the founder of the African Rainbow Family, an LGBTQ charity. Apata first became aware that she was lesbian at the age of 16. However, the sentence was stopped when a person acting as counsel raised a legal technicality.

In 2012, after Apata was caught working as a care manager with a fake visa, she again tried to apply for asylum, fearing returning to Nigeria and being persecuted for her sexuality. In 2014, Apata said that she would send an explicit video of herself to the Home Office to prove her sexuality.

In 2018, Apata started her formal legal training with a law conversion course. On 13 October 2022, Apata was called to the bar. Activist of the Year from the 24th Sexual Freedom Awards (2018)