In an interview with Blanck Digital magazine, Nigerian gay activist,
Bisi Alimi says he can't come to Nigeria because he's scared for his
life. Bisi who came out as gay on National TV many years back has been
living in the UK since 2007. Bisi
says Homosexuality can be accepted in Africa as Africans are neither
idiots nor senseless.
"Since I left Nigeria in 2007 I have never been back, it’s not a safe
place for me. It would be sheer foolishness on my part to go back to
Nigeria after the failed attempt on my life or the ever ending run-ins I
had with the police. It is one thing to be a maytr and another to live
to fight another day and I think I would rather want to live so I can
keep fighting.
More pics and excerpts of the interview after the cut...
Do you miss Lagos?
Do I miss Lagos? Do I miss Mushin? I will be lying if I said I don't. I
really miss the fun I had as a child; I miss the buzz of living on the
street and the fun of overcoming those unexpected dangers that come with
living in a place like Mushin. I miss my friends, my families and the
neighbourhood.
However, I wont deny that in as much as I do miss Lagos and Mushin, I
also realised that Lagos broke ties with me when I came out as gay and
it was very hard then and even harder now to really relate to Mushin as
home.
Can you go Home?
The simple answer is NO! Unless otherwise I want to take a risk and
sometimes I have said myself, is it a risk worth taking? I am not sure I
know the answer.
What has been the impact of your sexuality and your coming out been in Nigeria?
It has changed the conversation around same sex relationship and
identity in Nigeria. The fact is, do your research and you find that
prior to 2004 when I came out on New Dawn, there were hardly any
conversations around such issues. A few months before my coming out,
Obasanjo was busying spreading false messages about no homosexuals in
Nigeria. To my recollection of things, that was the first time same sex
issues were making mainstream news. The media were reporting it and it
was really getting airwaves. However, there was a narrative that was
missing. The narrative of the real people. We were considered invisible
by Obasanjo and there was that need to create visibility.It was a great
shock when on the morning of that October, a guy sat on the sofa with
Funmi Iyanda and talked about being gay. I mean in Nigeria? Till today I
still received emails from Nigerians saying I must be mad to have done
that.
Today we have a law that criminalises same sex relationship in Nigeria.
The law came into effect because I spoke up and others have not kept
quiet since then. Whichever way we look at it, the act of 2004 changed
the discourse in Nigeria.
Do you think homosexuality can be accepted in an African society?
Yes I do. I do because Africans are not idiots or senseless. It really
angers me when in the discourse of accepting sexual orientation and
gender identity that Africans are liken to some dangerous species.
History in Europe as regards LGBT people is not that far away. I mean
homosexuality was decriminalised in the UK just over 50 years ago. It is
important to note that Nigeria was just coming out of colonial rules
when Britain was decriminalising homosexuality. Now don’t get me wrong, I
am not making a case for homophobes in Nigeria or Uganda or any other
part of Africa. What I am saying is, the question that generates a sense
of hopelessness as regards LGBT rights in Africa is only playing to the
irrational discourse that Africans are not rational people. We know
that contrary is the case.
It is important to understand the impact post colonial religious
movement is having on the continent. Yes, homosexuality will be accepted
in Nigeria if we stick to the positive narrative of same sex
relationships. If we step up the game and let Africans remember the
basis of the African society, one built on the principles of "umbutu"
and not on greed as perpetrated by religious entrepreneur who are
constantly ruining the continent with the support of their politicians,
who disregards democracy and the wish of the people.
It is not only homosexuality I see being accepted on the continent, I
see good governance coming on as well. I see the people's wishes coming
true. I see respect for women and girls. I see the end of marriage rape
and child marriage. I see education becoming a right and not a
privilege. I see healthcare being people orientated and I am see an
Africa like David Diop said in "Africa", a continent "Whose fruit bit by
bit acquires the bitter taste of liberty"
Source:
Blanck Digital.com
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