By Chidiebere Udeaja
The LGBTQ+ community, which encompasses a diverse range of identities based on sexual orientations, forms a small part of Nigerian society. However, these individuals face significant challenges, including stigmatization, harassment, detention, and even death, due to the country’s laws and societal attitudes.
Understanding the LGBTQ+ Community
The term LGBTQ+ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer, with the “+” representing other sexual orientations that may not fit into these categories. Lesbians are women attracted to women, while gays are men attracted to men. Bisexuals exhibit traits of both lesbians and gays, and transgenders identify differently from their birth sex. The queer community manifests a departure from societal norms and acceptable lifestyles.
The Challenges Faced by the LGBTQ+ Community in Nigeria
Nigeria is one of more than 30 of Africa’s 54 countries where homosexuality is criminalized in laws that are broadly supported by the public. In Nigeria, the LGBTQ+ persons have been constantly faced with the challenges of sexual profiling, otherwise known as stigmatization, harassment and detentions, deaths, including extortion by security operatives and other citizens. No doubt, the absence of a legal recognition for homosexual relationships in the West African country, has subjected these minority individuals to gross marginalization. They are barred from freely associating with their heterosexual counterparts in the society even as the nation’s dominant religions of Christianity and Islam don’t recognize them.
In the year 2013, the government came up with what homosexuals and most rights groups see as a criminalizing law: Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act (SSMPA). It stipulates among other punishments a 14 year jail term for anyone convicted of engagement in sex with members of the same sex. This Act which became a law in 2014 further caused a huge setback to the aspirations and goals of the LGBTQ Community in the country. As expected, the law completely changed the political, religious and social spaces inciting intense public hatred for homosexuals by their heterosexual compatriots.
To the average Nigerian heterosexual individual, the homosexual people are not just normal. Hating them is almost done with a sense of national pride. According to a report in 2016 by Human Rights Watch, a rights group in Nigeria, the law has led to an over 200 percent increase in extortion and violence against LGBT people and imposed restrictions on non governmental organizations providing essential services to LGBTQ people in Nigeria. Also it provided a legal platform for the public to engage in homophobic attacks creating an atmosphere of impunity for crimes against the LGBTQ community. Thus a plethora of hostile attacks on the community started.
In August 2023, according to Punch Newspaper, the Delta State Police command announced to the public that it invaded a hotel in asaba, the capital, where a gay wedding was going on. Over a hundred suspects were arrested. Also in Lagos State, arrests of gay suspects were made at different times in 2018 and 2022 parts of the State. Gombe State also witnessed similar arrests by military forces in October 2023.
Increased extortion and violence against LGBTQ+ individuals.
* Restrictions on non-governmental organizations providing essential services to the community
*A culture of impunity for crimes against LGBTQ+ individuals
* Hostile attacks and arrests.
Personal Stories of Persecution
Many LGBTQ+ individuals have shared their stories of persecution, including:
Mr. Thankgod Kelechi Ibe, who was traumatized during a police raid on a hotel in Asaba and later fled the country.
Recalling his excruciating experience in the Asaba hotel raid by security operatives, Mr Thankgod Kelechi Ibe (who fled the country after the incident) said: “I don’t feel safe anymore in Nigeria despite being a law abiding citizen. What was meant to be a gathering for fun became a nightmare for us. The police raid really traumatized me. It’s risky to identify as gay in Nigeria. I received hostile treatments at all times even from family members. My family never cared to know where I am. It’s as bad as that”.
In 2020, David Bakare, a gay person, was beaten up by some men after he uploaded a video where he was dancing. Another gay person, Michael Ighodaro was attacked in 2017 by homophobes in his home city of Abuja when he was waiting for a taxi outside his friend’s home. His attackers stormed up behind him, hurled abuses at him, and broke his hands and ribs. “I couldn’t go to the hospital to get treatment or to the police to report what had happened because I didn’t feel comfortable telling them I was beaten because I’m gay. So I had to visit the nurse in my office,” he said. Ighodaro was forced to seek asylum in the US.
Reported and unreported cases of homophobic attacks on members of the LGBTQ+ community in Nigeria abound. Most times they don’t speak up because of the stigma attached to being gay. In some cases they are murdered like that of “Abuja Area Mama”, a popular Transgender. Some who openly identify their gay statuses are serially abused especially on the social media spaces.
They are constantly bullied, ostracized, and traumatized by their fellow citizens making existence a curse rather than a blessing for them
The Need for Change
The LGBTQ+ community in Nigeria faces significant challenges, including:
*Stigma and marginalization
*Violence and harassment
* Lack of protection under the law
* Brain drain, as many talented individuals are forced to flee the country
A Call to Action
There’s an urgent need to nip these discriminatory practices in the bud. Nigerians need to understand that LGBTQ+ rights are human rights. Everyone deserves dignity, respect and protection under the law. Harmful stereotypes and misconceptions about gay people need to be changed. These call for increased awareness on the need to create a more inclusive and acceptable environment for LGBTQ+ individuals in the country. Our politicians and especially lawmakers should reconsider discriminatory laws and promote more inclusive policies.
It’s saddening to note that so many LGBTQ+ individuals who are highly intelligent, skilled and talented have been forced to flee the country resulting in brain drain which definitely affects national development negatively.
A stich in time saves nine. The time to accept homosexual people in our society is now. Let’s allow them breathe in Nigeria.
To create a more inclusive and accepting environment, Nigerians need to:
* Challenge harmful stereotypes and misconceptions about gay people
*Increase awareness and promote understanding
* Reconsider discriminatory laws and promote inclusive policies
* Allow the LGBTQ+ community to breathe and live without fear of persecution
The time to accept and include LGBTQ+ individuals in Nigerian society is now. By doing so, we can promote national development, reduce brain drain, and create a more just and equitable society for all.
