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Davis speaks to Africanveil about
changing attitude Nigeria and its vision
 06
August 2007- Changing attitude Nigeria is an out group, it’s started
on 1st of August 2005, because in the world wide Anglican
Communion there is a process to listen to the experience of the gays and
lesbians people.
Changing attitude has about 2,900 members and its spread out in 9 cities
of Nigeria. We discovered that the Archbishop of Nigeria Peter Akinola
is not listening rather he’s attacking us. Speaking again of lesbian and
gays of Nigeria, we are a coordinating council for gays and lesbians in
the Anglican church of Nigeria.
We have members from Catholics,
Prespeterian, Methodist that have come to join changing attitude of
Nigeria. We are an out group working for inclusion in the Anglican
Church of Nigeria in and out of church of Nigeria.
As regarding to challenging the
archbishop Peter Akinola, we are not out to challenge the authority of
the church, but we are out to tell the truth about ourselves and to tell
our experiences and our stories. This had lead us to our first national
recognition on 17th of October and when we had the
publication that is widely read all over Nigeria and since then we have
had series of challenge and events going around drawing the attention of
the world and to what we are doing.
When it come to speaking about
homosexuality, Its very difficult to be gay in Nigeria even before I was
born there was a sodomy penal cord law for 14 years which criminalised
homosexuality for 14 years imprisonment but with recent development
people are having the courage to come out and speak for their rights.
The former government of President Oluse-gun Obasanjo in early 2006,
they introduced a bill that would criminalise same-sex relationships,
the government is still trying to push us under ground.
When it comes to reaching out to
other members of changing attitude Nigeria, we are out, we are not in
the closet. There are some groups that are working in the closet but we
as changing attitude are open and we are encouraging others to come out,
because the government and the church of Nigeria keep denying the
assistance of gays and lesbians.
We have recently noticed that the Anglicans church has changed its
language, the Anglican church is now saying we love gays and lesbians
but we don’t celebrate it, which is one good achievement for changing
attitude Nigeria, we have ‘changing attitude England’ which is also
supporting us, we are in contact with Amnesty international and also in
contact with human rights organisations, we are working together to seek
support.
Speaking about threats to the
organisation and me, on the 25th October 2005, I and other 8
members making us 9 were arrested in Abuja and were taken to the police
where we were beaten and locked up in a cell. This was so because I made
a publication on the 19th October and on the 25th
October I then got arrested with other 8 members for the next three days
without water and food.
They did not directly tell us that they were arresting us on
homosexuality grounds, but with the material they found me with,
regarding gays and lesbians. We had to bribe ourselves out of there
though, something I will not talk about now.
On the 28th of December as we made progress, the church of
Nigeria came up with a smear campaign against me, denying my existence
and denying I was an Anglican, ever since we had been having serious
attack from the church in and out. But we keep stronger and keep going
ahead and we trust our God will never fail us.
Regarding support within Africa,
there has been support through media, Behind the Mask has published what
I was going through and that was good supports because that was one way
of letting the world know what I was going through.
Africanveil is also doing a great job, its also been publishing what
changing attitude Nigerian is going through and the news within it, that
way we know there are media organisations that are supporting us, other
than that I have never been in contact with any African group that has
come to contact me and asked if we could work together. Most of the
support groups we have are from America and Europe.
I must say I’m in exile for my for
my own safety, as I started the campaign I started receiving death
threats and threatening mails, at one point someone came to my home and
threw a stone with some threatening message it got worse that I had to
flee Nigeria for my own safety at some point.
I just came back from the states
recently and I must say it did benefit changing attitude Nigeria in a
way that most Nigerians know more about America and I had to tell some
Americans what it is like to be gay in Nigeria and how it would help
changing attitude Nigeria, it was successful I must say.
Last but not list, I wish all those
laws that criminalise same-sex relationships and preventing us from
coming out, will be scrapped out so that we can have our own freedom and
to speak for ourselves and have equal right, because right now we are
still sleeping with one eye closed because of fear of criminalisation.
Report by Africanveil |
