Activists from around the world will rally in New York’s Greenwich Village on Friday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the birth of the LGBT movement.
The anniversary marks the moment on June 28, 1969, when patrons of a Greenwich Village gay bar called the Stonewall Inn rose up in defiance of police harassment. The unrest triggered a national and global movement for equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other queer people.
However, the future seems bleak for the cause of LGBT rights in Nigeria. LGBT persons in Nigeria face legal and social challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. The country does not allow or recognise LGBT rights. There is no legal protection against discrimination in Nigeria. Very few LGBT persons are open about their orientation, and violence against LGBT people is frequent and on the increase.
Irrespective of their sexual orientation, same-sex sexual activity is illegal in Nigeria. The maximum punishment in the twelve northern states that have adopted Shari’a law is death by stoning. That law applies to all Muslims and to those who have voluntarily consented to application of the Shari’a courts. In southern Nigeria and under the secular criminal laws of northern Nigeria, the maximum punishment for same-sex sexual activity is 14 years’ imprisonment. The Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act criminalises all forms of same-sex unions and same-sex marriage throughout the country.
In 2015, a survey by an organisation founded by a Nigerian homosexual activist based in London, Bisi Alimi, claimed that 94 per cent of Nigerians kicked against the practice of same sex, while about 30 per cent of Nigerians agreed LGBT persons should receive education, healthcare, and housing.
In an exclusive chat with DODONDAWA.COM, a member of LGBT community in Nigeria, who simply identified herself as Ayisha, but declined to reveal her true identity for fear of persecution, appealed to Nigerians to respect other people’s sex orientation which she claimed it was no fault of theirs.
According to her, “the society should embrace us as equal. We have equal rights in Nigeria and across the globe. Sex orientation is innate and it is no one’s fault. If family members and the society at large can embrace us, they will be surprised at what they will see.”
When asked to expatiate on what would surprise the society if it stops discriminating against the people of LGBT community, she explained that many of them will see that their husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters will come out to declare their sex orientations.
“You know many of us have been forced to marry the opposite sex against our wish. As a result of discrimination and rejection with no protection by the State, a gay guy will marry a woman and have a kid or two. He will continue with his secret gay lover. The same applies to some lesbians. Although I have been put under pressure to marry, what I tell my parents is that the right guy has not come. I can’t stand any relationship with any man but a woman,” she said.
On what options are available to LGBT persons to relate with one another, she said the options are limited, one of which is secret meetings or secret hangouts.
“Few of us know ourselves. You are not sure who the next person is because you don’t know who you are meeting. Maybe the person is working for the State as an undercover. You never can tell, so it has not been very easy. It has been very tough,” she said.
When asked if the ‘Stonewall Rally’ can be replicated in Nigeria to attract global attention, her response was “No. I don’t think that will take place in Nigeria anytime soon. The environment is very hostile. Even if you speak out about who you are today on social media, people will start throwing banters at you. I don’t see that happening in Nigeria soon, not in the next 10 years.
“Maybe it is possible because I will say nothing is impossible. But when it will come to pass is what I don’t have an answer to. It may take some 20 to 50 years,” she said.
(Additional reports from Reuters, Wikipedia)
