Gays, lesbians unveil selves in Abuja

06.12.2002- Gays and lesbians in Nigeria went on demanding recognition and acceptance from the society last Sunday. For the first time, gay and lesbians came out publicly to hold an AGM on 5^th Sunday 2005. Interestingly, they claim they are members of the Anglican Church and criticized the church for discriminating against them, but called on all to accept them the way they are.

According to the bible, God created man, He made sex a process for procreation between man and woman and also a form of pleasure. Sadly there have been developments over a period of time has made men and women to determine the best means of experiencing sexual pleasure which has led to a heated debate and controversy, especially where it involves the same sex engaging in intercourse.

According to the source, the increasing exposure of homosexual practices has led to great condemnation particularly in African societies where such habit is frowned at and regarded as uncustomary, barbaric and indecent. The greatest critics of homosexual practices have been religious institutions who have classified the act as a very grievous sin against God.

Looking at the scripture of Genesis 19:1-9 in the bible, It could be recalled that this act did not just start today, it has been with man for a very long time and was first recorded in the Bible in the city of Sodom and Gomorrah. The religious establishment which has been worse hit by the practice has even been more peeved by the ordination of practicing homosexuals as clergymen, a development that has forced out the Nigerian Communion out of the worldwide Anglican Church.

It is believed that the head of the Nigerian Anglican Communion, Archbishop Peter Akinola, has on his part acquired a worldwide reputation as one of, if not the most virulent critic of the involvement of homosexuals in the clergy. Notwithstanding the level of condemnation from religious institutions and Nigerians, the country’s constitution does not condemn or state that people with such sexual interest cannot exist. The problem, meanwhile, is the disposition of the society to such sexual behaviour.

Most people that spoke to the media described homosexuality as a form of insanity that cannot be accommodated within the African setting. In the opinion of Miss Ucha Osukwa, an Abuja based community health advocate, people that engage in such act should be totally despised and treated as sub-human beings, because they have debased the dignity God bestowed on man by their conducts. Miss Osukwa spoke in line with her Christian belief as expressly directed to the church in Rome by the early Christian Church of Apostle Paul of Tarsus.

Interestingly, further investigation by the media revealed that such people have already made up their minds to live their normal lives notwithstanding the disposition of the society to their plight. They demonstrated their effrontery recently with an Annual General Meeting of gays and lesbians in the country in Abuja.

The meeting which held under the auspices of Changing Attitude of Nigeria (CAN) resolved that prejudice against them in the church was as “unacceptable as racism or prejudice against women”.
The meeting which was the first in the history of Nigeria, had over 2,000 registered members and was addressed by Davis Mac-Iyalla, a director of CAN who said the meeting was to enable members deliberate on how to come out of their closets, and let the members of their various families know who they are.

Davis mac-lyalla went on to say the Bishop of Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Archbishop Akinola, has been dishing out tissues of lies to the Nigerian government and the outside communities that they (gays and lesbians) do not really exist in Nigeria. He stressed that contrary to Akinola’s claims, most of them gathered at the meeting were born into the Anglican Church and that some of their parents held responsible positions in the church. “We are creating a group of lesbians and gays Anglican church members. Lay and ordained.

We are also prepared to be open and visible within the church, with the aim of meeting together to develop ideas, aims and objectives. “Gays, lesbians and bi-sexual people are called by God to express their sexuality in loving faithful and committed relationship. Therefore, the church should stop colluding with cultural repression and discrimination against lesbians, gays and bi-sexual people in all part of the world” he added. However, in the opinion of Pastor Solomon Balosibina of the Foursquare Gospel Church Gwarinpa, Abuja, “the act is unholy and should be condemned totally.”

According to him, man was made in the image and likeness of God, he must be pure and holy and do things that must glorify God. Citing the book of Genesis chapter 19: 12, 13, he explained that it was because of such evil that God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, noting that although the Nigerian constitution does not outlaw such habit, people that fear God must not be part or support the evil.

He charged the church to continue in prayers so as to phase-out such evil from the church and the society. The big question, however, is the time it will take for the quest of lesbians and gays to gain public recognition and acceptability. Some of their critics say it would be a very long time.

Report by Ndanji

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