Living Proudly in Nigeria with Dignity and Respect

This January, a group of young, brave and queer Nigerians joined the trending “of course I am” challenge on TikTok. In the challenge, they made a video where they boldly talked about their sexual orientation and gender identity. The video went viral. It attracted a lot of negative comments. Most of the commenters expressed the opinion that LGBTQI persons in Nigeria are criminals who should be arrested, prosecuted and sent to jail. This incident is yet another demonstration of how a set of legislations can go beyond what they prohibit by eroding the dignity and respect for the fundamental rights of minorities.

A criminal is therefore someone who has been pronounced as such after being tried and found guilty of an offence known to law by a court of competent jurisdiction. In the absence of such a pronouncement, no LGBTQI person in Nigeria should be treated as a criminal.

For Nigerians who identify as queer, this incident is much worse than a collective insult. It triggers past traumatic experiences both on the collective level and at the individual level. It is a constant reminder that their fellow Nigerians believe that queer people are less than human, and therefore can easily be delt with as if they have no enforceable human rights.
It is worth restating here that there are no legal bases for the claim that LGBTQI Nigerians are criminals. The presumption of innocence is a right explicitly recognized in the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 (i). It is available to everyone, including LGBTQI individuals. A criminal is therefore someone who has been pronounced as such after being tried and found guilty of an offence known to law by a court of competent jurisdiction. In the absence of such a pronouncement, no LGBTQI person in Nigeria should be treated as a criminal.

Poor understanding of existing Nigerian anti-gay laws like sections 214 and 217 of the Criminal Code Act (CCA), section 218 of the Penal Code Act (PCA) and the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act (SSMPA) have led to increasing violations of the basic human rights of LGBTQI persons in Nigeria. The blanket bans on certain sexual and social activities in those legislations give the impression that the humanity of the queer person has also been banned, making it somewhat illegal for them to show who they truly are, forcing them to hide their authentic selves and be afraid of public spaces. Far from protecting any commonly held societal values, these legislations constantly enforce toxic values in the society such as the normalization of hate speech and physical violence.

It is crucial to point out that LGBTQI experiences in Africa are diverse. Though certain same-sex sexual activities are criminalized in many African countries, Africa has a rich history with sexual expression. Studies show that same-sex sexual practices existed in Africa before Europeans arrived, often within specific cultural and social contexts. The continent’s different cultures and traditions had various, even changing, views on sexual practices and gender identities. As Kate Hairsine (ii) wrote, making broad generalizations about Africa’s sexual attitudes is simply impossible.

While colonialism and religion play a role in today’s homophobia, pre-colonial evidence in the form of experiences show that acceptance and integration were also part of Nigeria’s story. Understanding this complexity can help us argue for the fundamental human rights of LGBTQI persons in a way that honors existing cultural strengths and traditions of inclusivity.
The struggle for the respect of everyone’s human dignity in Nigeria cannot be successful until we, as a people, learn how to truly embrace diversity, respect cultural contexts, and ensure that everyone, regardless of who they love or how they identify, can peacefully live with dignity and express themselves freely. We can build a future where queer people in Nigeria truly live out their authentic selves, only when we learn these values.

Reference
i. Section 36(5) Nigerian Constitution 1999.

.ii. Hairsine, K. (2019). Why is homosexuality still taboo in many African countries? DW. https://www.dw.com/en/why-is-homosexuality-still-taboo-in-many-african-countries/a-51528737