My take on LGBT Activism

[Keke]

As a Nigerian living in Nigeria who became aware of her sexuality as far back as 2004 in Senior Secondary class 2,  and who has taken time to observe the LGBT community in Nigeria and the changes in the attitude of the rest of the society towards them these past few years, I would say LBGT Activism started suddenly in the country and would need to be slowed down for proper reorientation.

You can't make people accept what they don't understand, a concept they were just beginning to get a grasp of and have not fully digested being shoved down their throats? Of course there is bound to be backlash.

Activism especially on issues that are deeply rooted in culture and religion in a very religious society should not be sudden. Such sudden activism embarked on without proper laying of foundation or wetting the soil is bound to instill paranoia and evoke backlash. That is exactly what is going on in Nigeria currently. It might not be a big deal for some people who want to be with girls just for fun, but for some of us, we want to know that we have an option. That if we fall in love with a man, we can be with him and if we fall in love with a woman, we can be with her as well (speaking from a bisexual standpoint). And no, I do not want a situation where I have to give up my country and everything that might be going on for me in it to achieve this (relocation).

Before the activism, everyone tended to ignore homosexuals. At most there would be expression of disgust, stigmatization and then sympathy because it was seen as the work of the devil. Only in very few cases was there any act of physical voilence towards them. Unlike with the emergence of activism. People now see it as a fight to ward off western imposition. What should have been a simple call to respect human rights, is now seen as a call to accept the works of the devil which indicates the“endtime” and as an attempt to impose western values.

Activism should be slowed down for a while, not to relocate every homosexual (they aren't just a handful trust me). Activism should be slowed down to allow more time for proper sensitization. People should be encouraged through the process of unlearning. The society should get to the point of obeying to a reasonable extent the fundamental rights we already have in place. One can't possibly expect a society that doesn't fully respect the fundamental rights to life, freedom of speech and human dignity, to understand and accept the economic, social and cultural rights, especially ones right to determine their sexuality and sexual orientation, and their right not to be discriminated against based on their choices.

The media is doing a good work of portraying LGBT members as active and honorable members of the society. Let the society digest this before the placards hit the streets.

[Hawken]

God (or whatever you believe in) bless you for this.

Whenever i go this way with some of my friends, they look at me like i am speaking from a place of internalized homophobia. They refuse to see that you cannot force people to change the way they think. And even if you could, you cannot do it overnight.

A lot of us are not at the same place we were 2 years ago in respect to the acceptance of who were are. We've gotten better and we didn't achieve that by badgering ourselves.. At I least didn't. 

We need to take a breath and realize that baby steps, mostly in situations like these, are good steps.

[ChazBee]

I remember having this argument with someone a few years ago in Uni and she tagged me confused. It is easier to convince Nigerians mildly than with force and the LGBT community always neglect the fact that the genuine members of the community are very silent and coordinated whereas the bad eggs are out there making it hard for people to even accept us. 

As a lesbian, I am okay with self identification and acceptance because tbh if there weren't articles and reports available on the internet self acceptance would have been difficult for some of us who have never been able to fall in love with a man.  But reading about and knowing people who are same as I am who are not white or foreign honestly makes this journey very easy for me and I guess that should be okay for now because the further we push it the more the purpose is misinterpreted and the harder it becomes for the message to be fruitful. 

 

[Keke]

2 hours ago, ChazBee said:

I remember having this argument with someone a few years ago in Uni and she tagged me confused. It is easier to convince Nigerians mildly than with force and the LGBT community always neglect the fact that the genuine members of the community are very silent and coordinated whereas the bad eggs are out there making it hard for people to even accept us. 

As a lesbian, I am okay with self identification and acceptance because tbh if there weren't articles and reports available on the internet self acceptance would have been difficult for some of us who have never been able to fall in love with a man.  But reading about and knowing people who are same as I am who are not white or foreign honestly makes this journey very easy for me and I guess that should be okay for now because the further we push it the more the purpose is misinterpreted and the harder it becomes for the message to be fruitful. 

 

1. In every movement there are bad eggs. This should not be an excuse for society to out the rest of us down. But then, yeah, there actions can really have devastating impact.

2. There should be a push I believe, but it should be gradual. The media is doing their thing and they are doing it quite well. Gay scenes in movies are becoming a normal site. I'm only against children classics being modified to include gay scenes. There should be a push but it should be subtle and have more to do with the processing of unlearning than the call for sudden change I see.

[Keke]

3 hours ago, Hawken said:

We need to take a breath and realize that baby steps, mostly in situations like these, are good steps.

I always say this.

And I give example of how a divorced woman was treated in our society 15 years back and how it is now.

Then you dare not show your face outside, now you do. You are even celebrated and called strong for leaving.

I also cite shaming of rape and abuse victims. Just last three years, one would never step out to say they were raped. But this year, there has been serious outcry against victim blaming and more people come out leading to more arrests if not prosecutions.

Baby steps.

Society is so dynamic. You could wake up tomorrow and every damn thing is different.

[Hawken]

35 minutes ago, Keke said:

Society is so dynamic. You could wake up tomorrow and every damn thing is different.

#Gospel

[Michelle]

Progress can be difficult without activism. All of our social progress was achieved with good old fashioned activism.