Written by Kimbali Chimalu

A lot of gay Nigerians are increasingly stepping into the limelight to campaign for their rights as human beings deserving of respect and peace of mind in their own country. This is a noble and worthwhile pursuit, but it has led a lot of Nigerians to believe (and verbalize) that those who campaign for gay rights are trying to force some sort of “gay agenda” down their throats.

Nigeria, as it is today, is a very dangerous place for anyone suspected of being gay. People may like to deny this, but being gay in Nigeria is tantamount to dousing yourself in fuel and dancing around a bonfire. It is a death sentence, both in the literal and civic sense. The government has enshrined the persecution of gay people and their supporters in law that exposing yourself as a gay individual is simply “asking for it.” Nigerians cheered and openly displayed their bigotry when the law against same-sex marriage was passed. Would a gay person highlighting the injustice of that constitute as “shoving it down other people’s throats?”

People fail to realize that no sane human being would willingly “turn gay” in a country like Nigeria. The potential to lose your family, home, and even life is too great for anyone “to become gay on purpose in order to belong.” Belong to what exactly? The most persecuted group in the world? Let’s try to rationalize this: gays live in a society where the government has legitimized their oppression; almost the whole population sees them as abominations; their families often disown them; strangers continually spew vitriol and threaten their very existence; being suspected of being gay may most likely result in a public lynching. So, I fail to see the compelling argument that would encourage people to become gay because it is the “in-thing.” If anything, it is the “out-out-thing.” Those that make the “people-must-be-becoming-gay-in-order-to-belong” argument refuse to look beyond their heteronormatively-enforced ignorance and/or arrogance to empathize with the plight of their fellow humans.

Yes, TV shows are starting to be reflective of the general society around us, so there are a few portrayals of same-sex relationships, but the fact still remains that portrayals of heterosexual relationships are still in the large majority. However, these portrayals of same-sex relationships are found mostly in Western media, but since our focus is Nigeria, I challenge anyone to show me a portrayal of a loving healthy same-sex relationship in the Nigerian media. The few cases we see of same-sex relationships portrayed on TV are often stories of relationships shrouded in secrecy and shame, which is reflective of the general atmosphere in Nigeria. These people must hide who they are, lurking in the shadows and living on the margins of society.

People often shroud their persecution of homosexuals in the cloak of religion and culture, but that is the refuge of those who refuse to take responsibility for their cruel inhumanity to their fellow man. If they can safely transfer the burden of responsibility to religion and culture, then they can sleep better at night knowing that they are merely automatons preserving the scared edicts of their religion and culture. If their religion and culture have already dehumanized these people as “other,” then it is easier to continue the dehumanization than examine and challenge this injustice.

It is my sincere belief that Nigerians should be the last people to use religion as a tool of oppression. Other than the fact that we cannot legislate morality because there should be a thick brick wall separating the church and the state, anyone familiar with the institutions of colonialism and slavery will understand why using a literal interpretation of religious texts to justify the degradation and dehumanization of a group of people is dangerous. The colonial masters, believing in the divine authority that has been bestowed on them by God, carved up and subjugated a whole continent because the dark skin of the savages was an apparent result of God’s view of them as inferior and beasts of burden. Believing colonization to not be enough, this same people, acting under the belief of some divine supremacy, enslaved the inhabitants of that continent. I see no difference between what the fundamentalist racist colonial masters did to what fundamental homophobes are doing in Nigeria today.

When it comes to culture, the one true thing we know for certain is that culture is always adapting to fit the needs of society. We are not bound to live by the codes that worked for our dead ancestors because we were not made for culture; culture was made for us. It is a clay that can be reshaped and remolded to fit the needs of its people.

Whenever I talk about this topic, I always get two comments: are you sure you are not gay and are you even a Christian? So, I am going to preemptively answer these accusations. No, I am not gay. I do not have to be gay to recognize the need for equality. Yes, I am a Christian, but I do not believe that my religion should be the yardstick with which I legislate other people’s morality.

The fight for gay rights is a big and dangerous one, but it is a fight we must engage in. When the oppressed raise their voice for equality, the empowered often call it “shoving your agenda down my throat.” Asking to be treated as a human being in your own country is not “shoving anything down anyone’s throat.” Asking not to be persecuted in your own home is not shoving anything down anyone’s throat. Asking not to live in fear of being lynched for who you are or love is not shoving anything down anyone’s throat.

The truth is that other people’s human rights is non-negotiable and if campaigning for those human rights constitutes shoving it down your throat, then saddle up and be prepared to be force-fed basic human decency. No one is asking that heterosexuals go out and find same-sex partners. Heck, no one is saying that homosexuals will convert heterosexuals and their children and bring about the end of humanity. What people are demanding is that heterosexuals not use their normal to deprive other people of their basic humanity.

One of my favorite proverbs is “May the Kite and the Eagle perch. If one says no to the other, let its wing break.” In other words, live and let live. The world is big enough for us, homosexuals and heterosexuals, to coexist without one group trampling on the other’s rights.

Written by Kimbali Chimalu
http://www.bellanaija.com/2015/05/22/kambili-chimalu-may-the-kite-and-the-eagle-perch/

If our parents were homosexuals , we wont exist, if michael faraday's parent were gay , electricity wont exist . if mark zukerberg's parents were gay, facebook wont exist, if seun's parents were gay nairaland wont exist . If C ronaldo and lionel messi's parents were gay , they wont exist . If sir alexanda graham bell's parents were gay, the android phone i use wont exist ETC. If gays filled the world, THE WORLD WONT EXIST . THEY ARE A MISTAKE OF NATURE .

Tocheagle:
If our parents were homosexuals , we wont exist, if michael faraday's parent were gay , electricity wont exist . if mark zukerberg's parents were gay, facebook wont exist, if seun's parents were gay nairaland wont exist . If C ronaldo and lionel messi's parents were gay , they wont exist . If sir alexanda graham bell's parents were gay, the android phone i use wont exist ETC. If gays filled the world, THE WORLD WONT EXIST . THEY ARE A MISTAKE OF NATURE .

mumu.com.

Hope its not ma country dis gays wanna stay Dey shld look for anoda country to promote dem rites All gays shld be hanged on a spike #saynotogay

Gays are indisciplined. They have no case. Nature is translated from a Greek female word which produced Eve and Mary. Mother Nature didn't produce humans as thieves, adulterers, gays, corrupt people etc, people turn to these in disobedience to God's will.

Tocheagle:
If our parents were homosexuals , we wont exist, if michael faraday's parent were gay , electricity wont exist . if mark zukerberg's parents were gay, facebook wont exist, if seun's parents were gay nairaland wont exist . If C ronaldo and lionel messi's parents were gay , they wont exist . If sir alexanda graham bell's parents were gay, the android phone i use wont exist ETC. If gays filled the world, THE WORLD WONT EXIST . THEY ARE A MISTAKE OF NATURE .

Let me teach you sense.

From your argument, you're basically saying, allowing homosexuals will hinder reproduction. The answer is NO. Homosexuality has been in existence since the beginning of the human race. And they are not a mistake of nature. There was a time albinos and left handed people were also considered a mistake of nature. Now, we know better.

The difference between a homosexual and a heterosexual is simple: they are wired to be attracted to the same sex. But how can I explain this to you, you might ask? I can't because you only have to be one to understand how it is. And since you're not one, you can only learn to tolerate the fact they we humans are different. There will always be gays, there will always be straight people, there will always be illiterates, there will always be religious fanatics, there will always be introverts, there will always be fat people, there will always be thin people, there will always be touts, the will always be proud and pompous people, there will always be nice people, there will always be wicked people, there will always be hunchbacks, albinos, left handed people, celibate people, prostitutes, and there will always be religion (at least for a few hundred years after were all dead) The fact that I don't like religion or outright stupid people docent mean I can't tolerate them. Tolerating them is a more civilized and matured way of looking at things, and trying to understand the core of their policies and why they are who they are.

I have a couple of friends who are so obsessed with war/war films. When I ask them why, they say the find warfare appealing. I don't understand why a sane human would find warfare appealing. Agreed, it is necessary evil, but it is shuddering when you sleep next to someone who prefer killing people than making peace. It's kinda akin to sleeping next to an atomic bomb.

Now, to finish with your analogy of Mark Zukerberg, Alexandra Graham Bell, C. Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, I will leave you with one quote from Richard Dawkins.

“We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Arabia. Certainly those unborn ghosts include greater poets than Keats, scientists greater than Newton. We know this because the set of possible people allowed by our DNA so massively exceeds the set of actual people. In the teeth of these stupefying odds it is you and I, in our ordinariness, that are here.We privileged few, who won the lottery of birth against all odds, how dare we whine at our inevitable return to that prior state from which the vast majority have never stirred?”

― Richard Dawkins, Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder

In short, what this means is, the potential people who could have replace all the genius you listed but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of the Sahara Desert, considering the fact that the vast majority of humans died even before they attained reproductive age during the early 1700 up till the 1960s.

Either gays are or are not, there will always be geniuses. You don't need to accept that; that's how were humans are wired. Lastly enjoy this funny quote: if you don't like gays blame straight people, they are the ones that keep making babies.

What two consenting adults do in private is the least of my worries as long as no one goes ahead to harm others, maybe when I make more cash than Dangote and Bill Gates combined on a steady basis then I might start thinking if gays are even a problem in the first place.

Homosexuals (LGBT people in general) and paedophiles are in the same class. They all should be helped out of their perversion.

Scholar8200:
Homosexuals (LGBT people in general) and paedophiles are in the same class. They all should be helped out of their perversion.

You have any evidence to buttress your point?

TheDauraMallam:


You have any evidence to buttress your point?

Both classes have misdirected attractions.Sex serves dual purpose of pleasure and procreation . These folks are attracted to people who satisfy the perverted version of the latter but can do nothing regarding the former. The world would give an uproar when a man goes after 5-6yr olds for sex but want us to welcome a man/woman chasing another man/woman!

Scholar8200:
Both classes have misdirected attractions.Sex serves dual purpose of pleasure and procreation . These folks are attracted to people who satisfy the perverted version of the latter but can do nothing regarding the former. The world would give an uproar when a man goes after 5-6yr olds for sex but want us to welcome a man/woman chasing another man/woman!

Bros, your conclusion is flawed. Homosexuals are attracted to same sex, irrespective of age. Heterosexuals are attracted to the other sex irrespective of age, Bisexuals are attracted to both sexes irrespective of age.

Every sexual orientations have pedophiles, it's wrong to assume ALL homosexuals are in the same class with pedophiles, a class found in every sexual orientation. More so, here in Nigeria pedophilia is rampant among the heterosexuals, so where did you come up with your twisted analogy?

The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) defines pedophilia as recurrent sexually arousing fantasies, impulsive desires, or behaviors involving sexual acts with a child and that occur over a period of at least six months. In most cases, the pedophile is at least sixteen years of age and at least five years older than the child. Those who suffer from pedophilia have a compulsion to abuse young children irrespective of any sexual orientation.

Most people are in denial that pedophilia exists in their community or home. Pedophiles, however, will go to great lengths to continue their compulsive behavior. They will volunteer in church youth groups, coach youth athletic teams, and find other ways to associate with potential victims. Many times, they place themselves in positions where they can easily meet children.

The reason being a pedophile is wrong because children are not able to consent to sex. They are not able to consent because they are not able to properly conceive the ramifications of their actions. This is because children have not fully developed, especially on emotional terms, and in terms of social interactivity. You are not really fully developed as an adult until about 18 or 20, I believe. It is believed that there are specific stages of emotional development, and if these developments are disturbed by a very vivid event, such as physical or sexual abuse, that specific developmental stage is disturbed and causes a great deal of trauma for the victim in a manner specific to their stage of development they were experiencing at the time of the trauma - though symptoms may not present until adult life.

My point is, being a pedophile is wrong because it deliberately (and, unfortunately for many, permanently) injures and disables people in a way which is unnecessary, and which can be completely avoided. To be a pedophile is to hurt others' emotional and social development, for the sake of your own selfish and misguided gratification.

That being said, you are not in any moral position to determine the purpose of sex for other people. You can only determine for yourself.

Peace.

I warn again... This is Nigeria.. Thank God the Christians and muslims are united against this evil.... Homosexuality CAN NEVER work in Nigeria. The earlier u get a babe, the better for you! Abomination!!!

TheDauraMallam:


Let me teach you sense.

From your argument, you're basically saying, allowing homosexuals will hinder reproduction. The answer is NO. Homosexuality has been in existence since the beginning of the human race. And they are not a mistake of nature. There was a time albinos and left handed people were also considered a mistake of nature. Now, we know better.

The difference between a homosexual and a heterosexual is simple: they are wired to be attracted to the same sex. But how can I explain this to you, you might ask? I can't because you only have to be one to understand how it is. And since you're not one, you can only learn to tolerate the fact they we humans are different. There will always be gays, there will always be straight people, there will always be illiterates, there will always be religious fanatics, there will always be introverts, there will always be fat people, there will always be thin people, there will always be touts, the will always be proud and pompous people, there will always be nice people, there will always be wicked people, there will always be hunchbacks, albinos, left handed people, celibate people, prostitutes, and there will always be religion (at least for a few hundred years after were all dead) The fact that I don't like religion or outright stupid people docent mean I can't tolerate them. Tolerating them is a more civilized and matured way of looking at things, and trying to understand the core of their policies and why they are who they are.

I have a couple of friends who are so obsessed with war/war films. When I ask them why, they say the find warfare appealing. I don't understand why a sane human would find warfare appealing. Agreed, it is necessary evil, but it is shuddering when you sleep next to someone who prefer killing people than making peace. It's kinda akin to sleeping next to an atomic bomb.

Now, to finish with your analogy of Mark Zukerberg, Alexandra Graham Bell, C. Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, I will leave you with one quote from Richard Dawkins.



― Richard Dawkins, Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder

In short, what this means is, the potential people who could have replace all the genius you listed but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of the Sahara Desert, considering the fact that the vast majority of humans died even before they attained reproductive age during the early 1700 up till the 1960s.

Either gays are or are not, there will always be geniuses. You don't need to accept that; that's how were humans are wired. Lastly enjoy this funny quote: if you don't like gays blame straight people, they are the ones that keep making babies.

no one is born gay,homosexuality is a psychological disorder.