Before You Proceed
Two guiding premises underlie this article. The first is this: this article does not support or reject homosexuality as a sexual orientation. The purpose of this article is not to plead the cause of homosexuality as a lifestyle—there are many who have done that, and this is no place to rehash the argument. This article instead recognises the existence of homosexuals as a distinct sub-culture—a minority, if you prefer—within a larger culture, and is concerned, instead, about a philosophy of hate and prejudice against this minority which is about to be set in motion in the guise of legislation.
The second premise is this: that you, the reader, are not entrenched in some belief system that supersedes any attempt at reason. And so, this article is not for those who rely on prejudice, and by “prejudice”, I mean the bigots, the fanatics, the fundamentalists and all those who will support the stoning of a woman to death in the belief that she is a witch. It’s a waste of time and ideas to attempt a rational discussion with a person whose fundamental philosophy precludes being reasonable. If you see yourself as one of these: Dear Sir or Madam, the following paragraphs are probably a waste of your time, and the insults you intend to hurl in the comments are assuredly a waste of your talents. You would derive more satisfaction by exiting this page now. The button is quite easy to locate.
However, on the assumption that you are the sort of person who resolves a dilemma through a sequence of rational principles; the sort of person who weighs consequences against actions, understanding the relationship of cause and effect, and has the ability to separate between similar but distinct ideas, then let us reason together on the superficial logic of targeting homosexuals in Nigeria through the following arguments.
The Legal Argument
An average student of law will eagerly tell you that there is a clear difference between civil law and criminal law: he will explain to you that civil law “punishes” one person for his irresponsibility towards some other person while criminal law punishes the person for his irresponsibility to the state. If you have some time on your hands, a student of jurisprudence will inform you that there is a clear difference between law and morals, and while it is the role of the state to prescribe laws for the protection of the individuals and the state, it is the role of the society to prescribe morals for acceptance in that society. He could also tell you, if you care to listen, that there are situations where the goal of morals and law overlap in the same activity and that there are situations where the law says one thing and morals state another. If our imaginary student also has ample time, he could give you this example: if you are standing by a pool and you see a child drowning, you have no obligation to save the child, and you will not go to jail for murder—except of course, you pushed the child in. Society may call you a scumbag and you may forfeit your dinner invitations, but you are not a criminal as far as the law is concerned.
In case you are puzzled, the jurist will further tell you that basic role of law is—should be—the protection of the state and other individuals from the acts of other individuals or other states, and every other function of law derives from that basic premise. He will explain that as long as an individual has not threatened the welfare of other individuals, the law has no—should have no—problem with that individual. You see, jurists generally concede that the role of law (with the exception of canon or religious law as agreed to by the adherents of that religion) is not to dictate private action, but to ensure the safety of all persons and property under general parameters. Our jurist friend could give you another example: you can decide to jump off a mountain ledge in the name of sport—that is a private action. But when, in the name of sport, you push someone else off the ledge without his consent, it becomes a crime, punishable according to the gravity of the consequence of your push. Law, therefore, prevents harm to people who have not consented to an action, either directly or indirectly. Law does not—should not—decide on what your private action should be—that’s for a Big Brother reality show. Public opinion should be left for the public, and a legal system should never, compulsorily, substitute a person’s private opinion with that of the public.
But, celebrating a gay marriage is public, you may say. Let us not digress on the issue of whether a marriage celebration—gay or not—is necessarily public. In fact, let us assume that the marriage in question is celebrated just as loudly as church marriages are celebrated. But the law in Nigeria already takes care of that by declaring such a marriage invalid. If you are naturally antagonistic to homosexual marriages—if you think the troubles of a married life are the natural reserve of a heterosexual couple, then fine, the Nigerian law already invalidates homosexual marriage. But this issue is about criminalizing what is already an invalidity. An invalid action is far different from a criminal action. Entering a wrong password to your account is an invalid action, hacking into another person’s account is a criminal action. The gravity is determined by the damage it does to other people. A marriage conducted by a pastor in a Nollywood movie does not harm anybody, yet it is invalid—the law does not recognize it as a marriage, because it does not meet the legal requirements for a marriage. That’s enough. Going further to imprison actors in a Nollywood marriage ceremony is just as petty as it is absurd. And this is exactly what the Nigerian legislators propose to do.
The Moral Argument
Maybe you are worried about your sexuality being doubted. If that is a worrisome issue for you, then let me reassure you: No, you do not need to be in support of, or approve homosexuality itself in order to disapprove of a law that sets out to make life difficult for homosexuals. Your heterosexuality is intact. You may relax.
This is a basic principle of conscience: just as you do not have to be black to fight slavery, or Jewish to be repulsed at Hitler’s Nazi Germany. Justice defines circumstances—your stand against an injustice should be irrespective of the nature of the person against whom the injustice is committed. Opposing the Nigerian government on its prejudicial law does not automatically commit you to a life of homosexuality.
What you are opposing is simply the use of the law to target a group of people who pose no threat to the life or property of Nigerians. You may find a homosexual person intolerable, you may forget to invite them to your dinner parties and thanksgiving services. But when you target them for jail—or keep silent while this is being done—makes you no different from the Nazis of Germany and their hatred of Jews or the Apartheid whites of South Africa and their repulsion at blacks. You see, it’s easier to sit down and criticize other bigots in history—but do nothing when faced with a similar situation.
But even worse is the criminalization of associations that support or advocate gay rights. Any student of human rights will tell you that an attempt to ban people from discussing gay marriage or promoting it is just as bad as an attempt to lock up Arsenal Football Club fans. The Nigerian situation is not a joke, however, and I am confident that a court of law in no distant time will adjudge that aspect of the law as unconstitutional. It is bad enough to put homosexuals in jail—it is repugnant to natural justice to then try to muzzle any support for them. And your individual silence in the face of such an injustice is a tacit approval of its execution.
The Cultural Argument
A common argument in support of the prejudicial legislation—and one infamously and misguidedly utilized by Mr. David Mark, the Senate President, states that homosexuality is not part of our “culture”. Let us ignore the obvious fact that Nigeria has over 250 ethnic groups with diversified cultures out of which at least one involves a woman “marrying” another woman, another involves a husband “gifting” his wife to a male guest, another approves raiding a neighboring nomadic camp to kidnap a wife, and several involve a brother or son taking the surviving wives of a deceased as inheritance—let’s ignore all of these disparate sexual and marital cultural phenomena and focus instead on the nature of culture. What we call “our culture” is not a set of fixed, written rules handed down by our forefathers in a leather bound book. Instead, “our culture”, like any other culture, is an interwoven set of constantly changing practices. Culture, a student of sociology will tell you, is constantly in a state of flux: it grows new ideas, it borrows from other cultures, it ceases some long-held beliefs, and it is forever changing. You see, the only permanent culture is a dead culture. Jackets and fast cars are not the African culture, but I am yet to see a black man going to jail for perfectly stringing a Windsor knot.
The Religious Argument
Arguably, the two major religions in Nigeria are against homosexuality—but what about those who are not adherents of the major religions? On the absurd assumption that every Nigerian is either a Muslim or a Christian, then why not let’s adopt the full canon of the Old Testament and Sharia? You see, as an average bible student will tell you: every head will roll. From the Christians who enjoy pork and bush meat—despite the clear injunctions of Leviticus 11—to the Muslims who have a fondness for beer. The only people left alive will be the fundamentalists, and they will soon kill each other from sheer intolerance. We might as well speed up this process and hand over the reins of government to Boko Haram. After all, what these terrorists want is the criminalization of sins and the banning of ideas from the “West”. And if we now start deciding to criminalize our sins, then we are all convicts waiting to be sentenced. The words of Jesus are more logical: he whom has no sin, let him cast the first stone.
The Political Argument
The Nigerian democratic setup—in the words of Byron—is an aristocracy of blackguards. Like the Greek gift, the goal of the legislature is to secure the affections of the unthinking Nigerians through a diversionary illusion while plundering us through other orifices. Let us not be ashamed to call a farce a farce. The threat of Boko Haram—and now Hezbollah, the devaluation of the currency, the escalating corruption in the public service, the rising price of goods, the unavailability of electric power—and several more—are far more real and dangerous threats to the welfare of the average Nigerian than the marital issues of homosexuals.
Whatever your inclinations about homosexuality, your bank account has not diminished through the sexuality of a gay person—unless, of course, you set out to spend money on some deliverance mission, which then is your own fault, but let us not digress. The point can be shown to you by any keen student of political science: as a political goal, banning homosexual marriage is at the bottom of the list of resolutions for Nigeria’s 2013. It takes a smug legislator, self-assured in the gullible nature of the average Nigerian, to hurriedly push through a law dealing with a non-issue to score cheap popularity while ignoring pressing matters.
In Conclusion
And now, here’s the worst part: if this law is allowed to sail through, it could be your affairs that will be considered criminal tomorrow. You use your left hand to write? Criminal. You squeeze your paste from the bottom of the tube? Criminal. You wear your wristwatch on the right hand. You criminal! The facts may be different, but the principle is the same. This law is a test by the legislature, a measurement of how much nonsense can be dumped on the public. Of course, it is general public opinion that there is a number of clowns seated in the legislature—some whom attained their claim to lawmaking solely by affiliation with their political party and not through a personal resume—and there is a tendency to just ignore them. However, when clowns begin to create dangerous precedents, then it is time for the audience to get serious and put them in place.
Mention or follow @ayosogunro on twitter for direct interaction.
Ayo Sogunro 
Excellent article although gay people do not choose their lifestyle, like left handedness, gay people’s sexuality is innate.
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No, it’s not nature, it’s nurture. You can check for the scientific evidence yourself.
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Double thumbs up my oga, as usual, you’ve “killed” it. We ALL should be worried.
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Total rubbish… Get ur think cap on.
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Get your English right!
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though i’m extremely homophobic, I can’t help but reason with your article. Criminalizing homosexuality is very harsh. However, I just don’t wish for time when two men will be publicly displaying their affection. I can’t also help but feel like a hypocrite since I know I have my sins but in my defence, it’s my private sin. My point is most of us may never come to term with homosexuals being born that way but we will try not to cast our hypocritical stones at the born that ways as long as they keep their ‘born that wayness’ in private. That being said, I vehemently believe that making homosexuality a criminal act is sheer stupidity and wickedness.
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I commend you for your honesty and you are right the criminalisation of homosexuality is wrong, inhuman, and prejudicial. If we agree that sexual orientation is innate how do you then punish a fellow human being for being gay? Do we also punish African for being black or punish more than half the world’s population for being female … Oh wait we did that and continue to do so. Goes to shoe people are monsters. To my oga on twitter aka Ayo Sogunro, well done mate brilliant article.
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I appreciate your honesty, but if you cannot ‘come to term with homesexuals being born that way’ one assumes that you think it is a choice, and therefore you must have come across a moment in your life when you had to choose to be a heterosexual, or a homosexual is this not the case? I would guess not as you no doubt felt compelled to be heterosexual as it is the way you were born, as it is for homosexuals, only they usually have to fight to be themselves because of ignorance and bigotry.
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Truth is translated into hatred and bigotry. Homosexuality is not inate.
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Hold on. Being a medical professional, the comments here beg a single question: since when did being homosexual become innate? What gene codes for being gay? From a physiologic and anatomical point of view homosexuality has no relevance. It is and has always been a lifestyle choice. The fact that society in the name of tolerance has embraced being gay shouldn’t lead us to blindly endorse it as part of human nature. This point I will always disagree with.
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You might want to revise your medical studies then.. Or maybe you are not aware, in which case I will say get to the internet and look up research studies. Granted a single gene hasn’t been conclusively identified as a “gay gene”, there are many biological indicators in the area of genetics alone that reasonably suggest it is part of human nature. Also it has been observed in 100s of species. Remember you do not necessarily need to identify a single gene for a trait because of pleiotropy for eg. Lastly, keep 2 things in mind, 1.environment strongly affects the expression of genes and 2. sexuality has been shown with countless studies that it can be fluid.
I am making this very concise hoping(as a student of science) you can take it from here and review your knowledge base. When you start a sentence with “As a medical professional..” it carries some weight in this area of discussion, so it is up to you to be responsible and take the time to read and educate yourself before making declarations like homosexuality has always been a lifestyle choice. Ignoring facts and passing off your personal bias and opinions in professional statements is not ethical.
But as the writer mentioned, this post is not about arguments concerning the validity of homosexuality as a sexual orientation so I will end it here.
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You should be the one to educate yourself before making claims like homosexuality is inate.
Homosexuality in humans is the supression of heterosexuality due to influence and denial of God (churchian != Christian).
* != means not equal to.
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You? A “Medical Professional”?
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OMG!!! Ayo Sogunro has killed it again!! This is yet another brilliant article from you, sir. I so want to shake your hand. I should print out segments of this article, and post on my ceiling and all over the walls of my tiny apartment. 🙂
Personally, I detest male homosexuals (I love lesbians, btw), but this persecution of them in our society is wrong and evil. Homosexuals didn’t delay my civil service salary; the oga employer at the top of my employee organization did. He also reduced my salary; homosexuals didn’t. Homosexuals didn’t raise fuel prices; aren’t the ones who keep crippling our power, educational, agricultural, petroleum, transport sectors.
One thing with humans is that there’s a deep need to made rules & regulations…’for other humans’!
These legislators who wanna pass this anti-gay law will never support a bill that says looting our Treasury should be punishable by public flogging or decades of years in jail. They will completely ignore a bill that requires adulterers and fornicators to be jailed and punished.
Like you said, this anti-gay law is yet another test, to see how far they can control and dominate the ‘gullible’ masses. And they will do it in the name of God and/or Allah. We need to bale out this water while it’s ankle-deep, before they start generating bills that will require me to marry before I’m 30, or have kids, or limit how many gadgets I carry.
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As far as i understand, the law bans only same sex MARRIAGE..not same sex relationships,that alone explains it is not morally based..the same way it bans spraying money on ppl bt doesnt ban throwing it in d air.
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http://eurekanaija.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/the-homosexual-question/
Lol. This is a long post, I just skimmed it but here’s my 2 kobo’s worth. I said everything I want to about this matter in the blog post linked above. I got into an interesting argument with someone in the comments section of that post. Let me just summarize: I’m Christian, and I consider homosexuality a sin. I think it’s absolute nonsense to hurt someone because they’re gay. I think it’s outside the jurisdiction of the state to decide on what is so obviously a moral matter, and not a legal one.
I’m not sure of the origin of this bill but I think it started with someone wanting to legalize gay marriage. Talk about back-firing. This is what happens when you invite the government into your bedroom.
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Excellent article you wrote and even more excellent comments. But you know already, I’m inclined to your commentator’s position. I wouldn’t accept any argument that resorts to you having to quote your personal scriptures–I have mine too, and I don’t quote it to you. 🙂
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Great post again Ayo. I cannot fault your points, and as unlearned as I am, I’ve also made similar assertions at times, only for peeps to give me the crazy look.
@Kayode Duce, seems to me you’ve found an allies eh? Maybe you could run a shortie/gay awareness campaign sef…
Treat a social issue as a social one and a criminal issue as such. The Nigerian government doesn’t know what it is doing. Simple! I see some peeps here alluding to religion, conveniently forgetting that inasmuch as Nigerians are religious people, Nigeria isn’t a religious state. We aren’t governed by religious law, which is why a ‘witch’ cannot be convicted of any crime if there is no admissible evidence.
I’m Christian and as ‘straight’ as 180 degrees can be. I do not like or encourage homosexuality but I also don’t hate them. Hate negates my faith. I will however have a problem with any dude who aims for my nether region with his penis and will treat such a person the same way I’ll treat a burglar with a gun.
I also have a problem with heterosexual hypocrites; especially men who frown at queer men but seem to approve of lesbianism – and would even fantasise an on-the-scene experience.
One more thing (and this goes to all readers): what would you do if your 19-year-old son/daughter tells you (s)he’s gay? And please don’t give me the “God-forbid”, BS!
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GOD forbid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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When this debate started I wrote on facebook and argued with many of my friends that corruption and other sensitive issues are there to be outlawed but not gay/lesbian relationship, to my surprise all of them called me names; gay included and said though in different contexts that “they’ll rather have corruption forever than allow gay/lesbian relationships” what the law makers are trying to do by passing the anti-gay bill into law is what many Nigerians will do if given the opportunity, most of them will base their argument on religion while some will base it on morality but what I continue to argue with people is that gay/lesbian relationship has no effect on the society and as such shouldn’t be treated like a life threatening issue, rather corruption and abuse of power/office should be treated as a life threatening issue. God bless you for this Brilliant article
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It worries me that there are a lot of pending bills before the Legislature, some since 2005– like the bill to deal with cybercrime– which demand the urgent attention of Nigeria’s lawmakers; and yet they choose to focus time and resources on criminalizing sexual orientations.
Should we take that to mean they lack the intellectual capacity to focus on and deal legislatively with these issues?
And if both religions claim to preach and practice love, peace and tolerance, where did the storied tolerance go?
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Mr. Sogunro.
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This issue is worrisome indeed but not the way the author has outlined. For me, I think thus:
1. I do not support the legalization of gay marriage (lets face it, sooner or later, it wouldv come to two choices – to legalise or not to legalise it)
2. I only support lesbian relationships as a fantasy. I cant even dream of supporting a gay relationship. I mean, where do we explain to our younger ones and children that they come from when both mummy and daddy are men?! The institution called family – a fundamental part of all of our diverse society is threatened by such unions.
3. There are more pressing issues that need attention and that cannot be overemphasized. That our lawmakers are swift in reaching a consensus about such a matter while other more economical and politically strategic issues are left hanging is even more worrisome.
4. I dont think the writer is accurate in equating homosexuality with being left-handed or how one squeezes their toothpaste. Those issues have no effect on the larger society but the chain reaction homosexuality starts off goes beyond the individuals practising it.
5. I agree with the writer that the purpose of the law is to protect people from the excesses of other people and that is why I think the decision, though ill-timed, was inevitable and a necessary decision. As a commentator pointed out, homosexual relationships is different from homosexual marriage. Let people express their affections in whatever ways suit them but let the institution called “family” be protected from being ridiculed and extinguished.
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@Amaechi, good points but you misunderstand the writer with regards to your fourth point. He is not equating homosexuality to left-handedness or toothpaste-squeezing. Rather, the duplicitous action of our ‘legislators’ is what he is hinting at. Basically, he is saying: criminalizing a private affair is insane and sets a dangerous precedence.
As for your fears about the effect of homosexual marriage – funny that homosexual relationships in their entirety is not your problem but male-male relationships. Curiously enough, you are not the first to express this sentiment and it’s becoming quite prevalent. Do I sense some sexism? I wonder what the female folks would think. But, I digress. All your fears are similar to those expressed in support of miscegenation laws. Strange that a lot of folks either have short memories, do not know study history, or just chose to be totally non-empathetic.
As regards the family, do brush up on the latest studies on homosexuality. Heterosexual families have raised children that have turned out to be homosexuals while homosexual families have successfully raised heterosexual kids. These ‘fears’ are inherently irrational and are mostly a product of our overly-religious upbringing.
Your line of thinking seems to be based on the idea that homosexuality is a choice or a lifestyle as some uninformed people allege. It isn’t. Homosexuality is innate and not limited to human. It’s already being well-documented in over 500 species of animals. So, this idea of ‘granting’ homosexuals relationships but not marriage is disingenuous in the least and at worst, evil.
Yes evil, and arrogant. Or who are we to dictate to our fellow human beings how they should live their lives or what they can or cannot enjoy their humanity? That’s just crazy.
Homosexuals are humans like the rest of us and they deserve to enjoy all of the things that we (heterosexuals) enjoy including state protection, marital benefits, equality before the law, and so on.
My Sogunro, thumbs up for a well-articulated write-up. To think that this is the same law-making institution that refused to say anything when one of theirs was committing pedophilia with pride and consummate gusto is just completely bewildering. Perhaps, he got a pass because his religion allows it? Maybe homosexuals should also start their own religion and have it explicitly written in their religious book that homosexual relationship is totally acceptable. Maybe, just maybe, they may also get some form of (religious) protection from the bumbling idiots in our law-making houses.
Our case as a nation is quite pathetic. As the Yorubas like to say: a fi ete le, a npa lapalapa. It would have been funny if it’s not all tragic………..well, it’s a tragicomedy. It’s what Nigeria has always been and maybe what it would ever be? Perhaps……..
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D-Oracle, Nigeria’s case as a nation would never ever remain a tragicomedy in-so-far as people like Ayo Sogunro (my contemporary), you and me refuse to sit back with sealed lips and look at ‘their’ drama.
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i too have seen this “i detest male homosexuals but i support lesbianism as a fantasy” a few times too many. how nice it must be to expect the lives of others to bend to your whims and fantasies. ladies can love other ladies because it makes me feel good. come on people….
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Are you those species? There is no study that supports homosexuality as nature, not even in twins (identical DNA), it is purely nurture. You have to be heterosexual to be homosexual, so homosexuality is simply a suppression of heterosexual normalcy caused by denial of God (a churchian is not a Christian).
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Is it not interesting that the men ‘love’ (quoting SpacyZuma) lesbian relationships, you have fantasies about them, but y’all ‘hate’ homosexuality?
Who are we kidding abeg?
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Ur gay right? And also show me where it is the bible that mala and male shoulld marry to reproduce. and also those cutures that accept a woman to marry a woman, are the women sleep with each other? Just a question, answer the questions without being insultive
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Get some education, a simple google search will help. Displaying stupidity in a public forum is unappealing.
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Listen to Deola’s advice. Get some education. It is thoroughly infuriating to see such an inane and absolutely dumb comment on a well-reasoned and finely-written article.
You embarrass yourself and have just shown that you did not even read the article. If you did then you would have seen the author’s advice that folks like you should exit after the second paragraph. Or perhaps you chose to ignore? Either way, get a life or pay a visit to your psychologist/psychiatrist if getting a proper education won’t cut it for you.
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This is not a forum to insult other people. she has a right to her opinion.Bunch of hypocrites.
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Lydia, you are right. I ought not to be insulting. I was pissed off by that comment esp considering that the writer has explicitly stated that such people should exit and not bother to comment. He was very clear about this in paragraphs 1 and 2.
I apologize to you and to Bunmi for being insulting esp in the second part of my comment. But I stand by my statement in the first part. The comment is dumb and inane – not the writer.
I hope the difference is clear. Thank you 🙂
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This is just in line with my thoughts. Anytime I argue about castigating homosexuality, peeps countenance of withdrawal switches on immediately. So, I have learned to keep quiet instead.
My point remains the same, do you treat madness criminally? Do you arrest the HIV infected? I am not gay and I don’t like being gay ever. But, we cannot keep treating them as criminals because of their sexuality.
Good one sir!
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homosexuality should be treated as an illness,just like madness and HIV .I do not think the law stops them from doing what they like secretly but just don’t let us in on it.Nobody is born with that orientation they should seek help
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@bumi, u should first read his opening statement then come read his ‘religious argument’. But since u can’t understand, let me break it down for u. Just because someone argues for something does not make them one. This is not an issue of religious morality, this is how a law will criminalize consenting adults for who d sleep with. irrespective of what u believe my dear Nigerian is a country of over 170 million pple, it is not a country for those who think they are ‘sinless’.
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I am not in support of gay ‘marriage’-whatever dat even means. I believe dat d homosexual orientation(which I refuse to cal a sexual orientation as it is impossible to have sex wit a member of your sex in any biologically meaningful way) is not normal and d as such I think d institutionalization and state -sponsorship of aberrant behaviour and disposition is downright ridiculous. I may agree tho dat is improper to criminalize homosexual conduct and relationships. However, I am curious as to why human-right
http://m.facebook.com
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I am curious as to why human rights activists around these parts do not also champion d decriminalization of incest, for similar reasons and wit just as much fervor.
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Incest is not a crime, marriages within the confines of consanguinity and affinity r voidable and not void… but definatly not a crime…
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D argument used here wil b just as gud for those who practice incest. I am curious as to why human rights activists around these parts do not also champion d decriminalization of incest, for similar reasons and wit just as much fervor.
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Brilliant article. Very well thought out. I would also like to add that homosexuality is very common amongst even the people that are apparently going against the gays. It’s really hypocritical of the government.
Also, I doubt a democratic government is even allowed to pass such laws because the rule of law still exists.
Basically, I feel like the Nigerian govt doesn’t know where to dump all their frustrations. We are a third world country and all our leaders are worried about are the gays? Wonderful.
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*sigh* the gay debate. Must it always involve insults? Can’t we just each hold our opinions and respect others’?
And here’s my opinion:
I am not gay, will never be and will never accept it. Why? Because of my faith. And may nobody make me feel I’m wrong in this. It is what I believe and my mind is staid on it. What someone believes is their religion.
Should gay people be put in jail? No! Did Christ put anyone in jail? What our lawmakers and supporters of that law don’t understand is that when these men and women got to jail, they become ‘gayer’. Yep! Unless they decide to take them to a mixed jail. So in the end what are they accomplishing? Those people come out and are more gay than ever.
But like someone said above, the lifestyle should not be encouraged, biko. Its sad to see a kid tell you they are gay. I’m like what do you know about being gay? You’re saying at the young age of eight you like fellow girls and want to stick your finger in their vaginas? Wtf is that?
Please, let’s leave homosexuality as it is- a sexual orientation (to put it politically correct) and should be left to consenting adults. Let a child grow up into an adult and choose how best they want to have sex and with whom and face whatever consequences. Shoving same sex in children’s faces and telling them people are born that way is a rape of innocence just like child molestation. They shouldn’t have to know about sex that way or any other way. At all.
Ayo, God bless you for speaking out against this nonsense law.
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“Let a child grow up into an adult and choose how best they want to have sex and with whom and face whatever consequences. Shoving same sex in children’s faces and telling them people are born that way is a rape of innocence just like child molestation.” – moskeda
You seem to think/believe that homosexuality is a choice? Well, you are not alone. So many people are also not knowledgeable enough on this matter. Rather they graft their bias and prejudice mostly based on faith and faux-morality clothe it in some pretentious guff about ‘having nothing against gays’ then proceed to expose their lack of knowledge. Homosexuality is not a choice. It’s innate. If it were a choice, then how do you explain some of the following:
– over 500 animal species have been documented to exhibit homosexual behavior
– heterosexual couples raise homosexual kids and vice-versa
Homosexuals, if you have them as friends and without them telling you, are every bit as human and ‘normal’ as you are. But the minute they tell you they are homosexuals, the way you see them changes. What does that say about you (us)? We are mostly insecure and paranoid. That’s the basic problem.
The second part of your quote above is quite interesting. Do you consider religious education to children a ‘rape of innocence’/’child molestation’? No? I guessed as much. Hypocrite much? It’s the same phony argument used by the Christian right in the US against the teaching of evolution in schools. Let me be straight, you cannot accept that religious myths and fables should be taught to kids as truths on one hand and turn around to call the teaching of ideas and knowledge based on solid evidence as ‘rape of innocence’. That is just wrong on so many levels. I am not surprised though because I always believe that religion goes together with hypocrisy and cognitive dissonance.
It’s what it is.
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Go and research on homosexuality being innate and you will discover that there is still no conclusive answer that scientists have for it. Please be informed before you speak. How about those that lived their whole lives as heterosexual and one day turned gay? Or vice versa? Of course the whole “in the closet” pops up to cover such cases. Some say its a gene, others say its hormones, another study says it’s brain structure. Which one we dey? If it cannot be proven for each individual that is gay that they came into this world that way, then let’s not be in a rush to conclude. Many homosexuals are even against the idea that they are born with it. Why? they don’t want to be ‘tolerated’ cos of something they came to earth with. They want to be seen as adults that made a conscious decision to follow a certain way of life and should be respected for their choices and not made to look like they’re bad people.
A child is neither born gay nor anything else. They learn lifestyles as they grow and that is why it’s important to shield their innocence as parents until they are adult enough to understand and choose what they want to be. Telling a child they are gay for whatever reason is WRONG. How do you explain to the child about being gay without bringing up the issue of sex? Please explain to me. Cos I’m yet to see a gay platonic couple.
And back to religion or faith as I’d rather call it. No one can separate it from this issue. Even Ayo knew that before he gave the warning in the first paragraph. Christians and Muslims should not be persecuted because of their stand on homosexuality. For what are the gay rights activists preaching when they tell people of faith that their opinion is wrong just because they are against their fight?
Please, let’s live in peace. Adults should be allowed to do as they wish as long as it harms no one. And D’Oracle, try to calm down. It’s a debate and you can’t make your point heard or understood by being harsh and calling people names. Just as you fight for the right of the gay people, you should respect people’s rights to speak freely as it’s doing them no matter how ignorant it may sound or how hurtful it is to you.
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First of all, allow me to commend the author for taking the time and effort to present a beautiful and logical piece. Kudos!
I believe that every heterosexual person does not like and feels uncomfortable with homosexuals(gay/lesbians).
Homosexual marriages are not allowed or recognised by the Nigerian law. This new bill only goes one step further to make any attempt at homosexuality or homosexual unions a criminal act punishable under the law.
I think the author should have made an attempt to examine what may be the root cause of homosexuality. I don’t agree that some people are born that way. I haven’t seen anywhere it’s written in any of the scriptures that God made some people with only the desire for other same-sex sexual attraction and orientation.
Homosexuality can be traced to a number of factors all of which are man-made. The prison sytem accounts for creating the most homo- oriented persons. Another institution that promoted homo- tendencies is the single sex school system (boys only/girls only schools) especially the boarding schools. And another factor is sexual frustration which is actually what many of us mistake for innate manifestation of homo- tendencies.
Having identified some of the factors that lead to homosexuality, I think we would have done ourselves and the homos a lot of good by addressing the root causes of the problem and making an attempt at rehabilitating and re-integrating the homos into societal acceptance.
In conclusion, I support the attempt at criminalising homosexuality in our society as it seems like the only available tool to halt the alarming trend. The rate at which our girls are becoming lesbians is quite disturbing. We see them flaunting it everywhere, campuses, social media, clubs etc.
Homosexuality negates the laws not only of society but of God and the divine purpose for sexuality. Plus it’s one of the fastest way to bring down the wrath of God on any society. We have precedence of this in Sodoom and Gomorah and the Hurricane Katrina that struck during the world gay convention in Texas some years back.
We can’t sit back and watch people do what is evil before God in the name of freedom of expression. In spite of our individuality, we still have duties to the society as a collective entity. The wrath of God does not target only the offenders. The scriptures attest to that.
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Thanks so much for this short epistle.Pls tell them before they turn our children into something else in the name of human right. I think I support you 100%. If homosexual advocates have nothing serious doing let them just go and sleep. From whatever point of view, be it moral or religious what is not good is not good. Sodom and Gomorrah didn’t do as much when God wiped them off.
Ayo should also concerns himself with writing epistle on more important and beneficial issues than the issue of homosexualism which is not acceptable in our society. Let it go back to the 1st and 2nd World countries where it came from.
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Ayo, I agree with you when you said “… if this law is allowed to sail through, it could be your affairs that will be considered criminal tomorrow…”. The recent move by the Lagos state govt to ban the use of Hijabs in public schools buttresses your argument.
But on the other hand, use of Hijab is obeying the law of God while homosexuality negates the law of God and established societal norms.
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Nice one! This has always been my opinion. I hope more Nigerians see this for what it is. I do not support homosexuality but it is not a criminal offence if it is two consenting adults.
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Whewwwww… Well stringed argument, I must bow to this better researched work… Thumbs up bro!
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Reblogged this on ReluctantAfroAngloFrenchie and commented:
this is just amazing. so measured and rational. if only my fellow nigerians would see the light to this extend. a luta continua
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@yemi true talk.. Criminalisin gay/single sex unions is utterly wrong but then we live in a society were our cultural values still takes precedence…. I don’t also agree that homosexuality is a form of sexual orientation cos if it is then incest should also be termed a form of sexual orientation and human rights activists should also fight for its legalisation… I prefer to think of homosexuality as a form of mental disorder which needs serious medical attention instead of criminalisation… Nice article though…..
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I respect and admire the excellent articulation of your points on this issue of criminalizing homosexual behaviours in our obodo 9ja. As repulsive and nauseating as the idea/scene of a man repeatedly thrusting into another man is to me, I cannot but bow to your superior intellectual power in this regard.
Although I used to be extremely homophobic, my perception of this sort of sexual orientation has since evolved to a more moderate and tolerant aversion primarily because of the argument that it is a private business between consenting adults and does no harm whatsoever to other members of society.
I’m grateful to you for enriching my perception with your well-researched and absolutely intelligent essay replete with illustrations from everyday events. We have pressing issues that Abuja politicians should be legislating against and criminalizing; homosexuality is definitely not one of them.
Let he who has no sins cast the first stone.
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1. These are very good arguments
2. I can’t be bothered to do any research presently but I have always held the opinion that sexual orientation might be written in the genetic code. If it can be ascertained for sure that homosexuality is genetic (I acknowledge that it is acquired for many), I think a lot of the opposition will dissipate.
3. I don’t care much for gay people [except of course for the women :)] same way as I don’t care about a lot of other people and a lot of other things.It strikes me as odd, like a lot of other things too, why a dude would submit his bum for destruction. However, it is his right to want his bum destroyed. None of my business. In the same vein, I don’t care what social travails he may face, as long as I don’t discriminate against him based on his orientation.
4. From the above, I do not appreciate the need for commentators or “activists” to railroad, by blackmail, people into joining causes. As a human being reserves his right to be gay so do I reserve my right not to care.
5. If a gay person feels aggrieved enough, there a number of ways to challenge the status quo: Form pressure groups, go to the courts, fight! Even in that bastion of freedom called the United States of America, it is a raging battle up to the level of the Supreme Court. If you are a gay person, the fight is yours essentially. Some civil and social rights folks with different sexual orientations may help you but nobody can construe your passion better than you.
6. I have previously touched on blackmail. Whilst I acknowledge that the conclusion was made in some jest, it is thinly veiled blackmail to the discerning. That conclusion is about as honest as anti-gun control campaigners in the USA stating that regulating guns is tantamount to enthroning tyranny. But thank God I’m Nigerian (read: docile) so the attempt at blackmail is stillborn anyways – doomed to failure.
7. Hey gay people, I’m short so I feel your pain. By conventional fiat, I am disallowed some things I could call rights. The only difference between you and I is that it is not “legally” criminal to be short, although it might be conventionally criminal to be. So you see, we are both criminal. Suck it up. :p
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The Duke has killed me with laughter……
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Ur comment got me rolling on the floor with lafta. We will oone day pass a law criminalising “being short” with a 21year jail term… Run bro!…LMAO
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I have a fundamental problem with the comments of many of the male respondents here:
1) what gives you the audacity to think that 2 woman coupling is for your pleasure or your gaze?
2) the baseness of comments regarding gay male sex baffles me, as many of you would gladly perform similar acts to female (or even perhaps male) sex partners.
3) you politely agreeing to let consenting adults live their private lives in peace and safety doesn’t make you special, it simply makes you human.
4) get off your faulty high horses, you are not without you own faults. refer to point numbers 1, you filthy misogynists!
5) tomorrow the government might decide to jail people bare with some aspect of your identity/person so kindly take a seat. oh and don’t mistakenly hold your brothers hand in the street!
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Concise and well put. You get a thumps-up from me. Bunch of hypocrite. They would easily and quickly join in a 3-some with their girl and her girlfriend but let their girl enjoy the same with another guy? Mbanu.
What does this portray? Out minds have been set not only by some religious mores but also by a disturbingly patriarchal culture that some male folks cannot see the offense in their glib comments. It’s not funny at all.
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Absolutely wonderful. Well thought out, well written article.
However, except for those bits that say that there are weightier issues our legislators should concern themselves with and cease to pursue cheap publicity, I think you’ve mostly just delivered a fine load of crap. Wonderfully, well thought out, well written crap.
Before you label me a fanatical, unreasonable bigot, understand that I mean to respond in a few pages of finely delivered, well thought out crap of my own; I’m just a little bit pressed for time right now.
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This article makes a very sound and academic case for gay right.
But the reality is that we (Nigerians) are a ‘RELIGIOUS’ society, you may see it as hypocracy, but the majority of Nigerians would rather live with corruption than gay rights. The law has come to stay!
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The next time you look at a woman inappropriately, or dance, may sharia come and find you. If indeed you prefer ‘religious’ (persecution) over corruption.
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Great post again Ayo. I cannot fault your points, and as unlearned as I am, I’ve also made similar assertions at times, only for peeps to give me the crazy look.
@Kayode Duce, seems to me you’ve found an allies eh? Maybe you could run a shortie/gay awareness campaign sef…
Treat a social issue as a social one and a criminal issue as such. The Nigerian government doesn’t know what it is doing. Simple! I see some peeps here alluding to religion, conveniently forgetting that inasmuch as Nigerians are religious people, Nigeria isn’t a religious state. We aren’t governed by religious law, which is why a ‘witch’ cannot be convicted of any crime if there is no admissible evidence.
I’m Christian and as ‘straight’ as 180 degrees can be. I do not like or encourage homosexuality but I also don’t hate them. Hate negates my faith. I will however have a problem with any dude who aims for my nether region with his penis and will treat such a person the same way I’ll treat a burglar with a gun.
I also have a problem with heterosexual hypocrites; especially men who frown at queer men but seem to approve of lesbianism – and would even fantasise an on-the-scene experience.
One more thing (and this goes to all readers): what would you do if your 19-year-old son/daughter tells you (s)he’s gay? And please don’t give me the “God-forbid”, BS!
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I have no idea what I will do. Honestly, I have never thought of it. I will have to get back to u on that one.
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Very interesting piece! Candid and straight to the point….thumbs up @ayosogunro
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I see that this forum is full of gay people or their sympathizers which is not wrong..but i am also delighted that the writer is also an african, a nigerian at that. i also believe as students of history its our duty to research extensively on this topic. as a christian, the bible condemns it…outrightly as well as other sins… but note should be taken that the one country/city/state/province God destroyed himself was because of this…sodomy. now from a cultural perspective, as africans and as a student of african history…i have never seen or heard were it was written in our history where the word..not the act was even mentioned or tolerated.
most people in the west who know their history will also tell you that it was until the 1970’s that homosexuality was taken off the list of mental and psychological disorders in the US.
the west can tolerate it and even accept it…which is why gay marriage is being legalised in some states in the US. but u see…being a third world continent has its advantages too… we love our values, ideals and we keep the and pass them on to generations. now those supporting gay marriage that are nigerians say africans are those that have been to these western countries and back.
My opinion in this is thus…the ban and criminilizing of gay mrriage is really not in error because even in the same US. polygamy is illegal. which was an african custom…why then would an african take a behavior that is not thiers?. Think!!!.
i also do not support extremity in terms of violence and all that, i believ if any one is gay its only nice to look out for similar folks and associate, but the thing about most of them is trying to introduce that to straight folks..which i am against. if you are gay( as most claim they were born that way) which is another discussion for later. by the way the nigerian government wont come to ur bedroom to see if u straight or not…so we still in order. but celebratin a marriage that is not between a man and wife doesnt make sense as an african…its irritating. if any person feels its too harsh they should go to were its tolerated and accepted
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Display of huge ignorance. Anyone that knows even an inkling of African history especially the Egyptians would know that homosexuality and incest was pretty common in Egypt. in fact, the ‘Pharaohship’ is passed on via the female gender of the reigning Pharaoh and if the son of that Pharaoh wants to succeed his father then he MUST marry his sister. I must add that this was quite common among ancient royal families.
The earliest recorded homosexual couple in all of human history were two Egyptians – Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum around 2400 BCE. I think that should sort out the nonsense of ‘not part of African history/culture.’
It seems people are just fixated about this culture thingy when the writer was brilliantly explicit in explaining what culture is and entails. It is not static! Culture evolves! As a joke, the last time I checked most banks totally disallow wearing of Agbada, Iro and Buba, etc to work? Perhaps wearing suits (strange consider our very hot tropical climate) is also part of our culture? Driving cars?
To these pretend-culture-defenders, what happened to the killing of twins? Taking and selling of slaves? And this for the Yorubas – remaining a virgin till your wedding night when a white handkerchief turning red indicates your pristine state? (and that is one ‘culture’ I totally frown at since it places unequal burden on the female while the male is allowed to do as he likes).
I don’t want to go into the religious context because I won’t have the time to exhaust it and, besides, the author stated clearly that it has no merit in this case. Funnily though, Christianity/Islam is not part of our culture. Is that irony not lost on Mr(s) Oluwatumbi and other pretend-culture-defenders?
I will allow your opening slur to slide. Defending the humanity of others does not make one a sympathizer or homosexual. It’s the decent thing to do. I don’t have to be black to condemn slavery or miscegenation laws, neither do I have to be a Jew to condemn the Nazis. Again, It’s the humane and decent thing to do. I hope you get that.
I’m out of this thread. It’s been a pleasure. Thank you all. 🙂
PS: For more knowledge about homosexuality in Africa, anyone interested should read:
Murray, Stephen (ed.); Roscoe, Will (ed.) (1998). Boy Wives and Female Husbands: Studies of African Homosexualities. New York: St. Martin’s Press. ISBN 0-312-23829-0.
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mr oracle….. incest has notin to do with homosexuality…dont deviate from the context here…and u are wrong..the earliest known case of gay marriage was from emperor nero, and he wasn’t african. slur?…u just have to be kidding…the country that is fighting for gay rights now was the same country that brought, maltreated, raped slaves..and to this present day racism is still evident there.u might ask how i know , cos i hv been there. quoting a book written by a white man is just flat out stupid. what does a white man knw about africans?. u have been obviously been brainwashed by their lies…if u want to know about african history or ancient egyptian history go check their hieroglyphics or read any interpretation u can find to see if a mention of it was said.
secondly i want to bring to ur notice that in classifications of races presently…the western world has classified egypt as being a white race. (that again is another discuss for later).
your comparisms are baseless…u mention the jews and nazis?..how pathetic…cos they never asked for ur sympathy today the jews are the richest on the planet…the US pays billions of dollars in reparations to them for the genocide…my pain is you forget where u are from…wht of what happend in rwanda,etc?..i see u lost touch on were u from. now back to the context of this forum. i am not against anybody taking up a sexual nature he or she desires..just do not impose it upon pple that are not comfortable with it. and please you should go into the religious context as all ur quotes have been out of context. please give instances in the bible of it of which they are and tell me if those cases were in africa.
and yes our culture and religion as africans was the african traditional religion…and you know as well as i do that you cannot find homosexuality in it. you see religion is the basis for all of this fiasco and homosexuality, and u and i know that no religion common to africans suport it…not even eastern religions that i know of. so please stop sounding like a wimp by calling one’s opinion a slur…if u are concerned about justice and fair play…please support the fight against racism. Because am pretty sure u have attempted to travel out of ur african country to the uk or usa and you have seen how u are being treated..so talk about that and use ur writing skills for that. and also pls indicate ur real name too as no parent calls her child oracle…just saying so i know who i am making my point to. thats if u african . Peace!!
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People like your are just bigots! An extremely ignorant one too. And it astonishes me that people like you are so arrogant,you just think we want to and have to hear what you have to say. The writer very clearly in the second paragraph, said you were wasting your time here. But no,you just felt we needed to hear your BS! You deserve your miserable, value’able, third world shit hole of a country! Opunu buruku!
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@Mrs George. Its amazing how you frown and rail against certain position and you end up doing the same thing “You deserve your miserable, valua’able, third world shit of a country! Opunu buruku” Really!!? Please say you are not a Nigerian
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You seem to consider yourself a true African who fervently believes in the preservation of our so-called core African values.. Wao!! Excellent!!! Forgive my naivety, what are these values and traditions?
If I can remember correctly, our forefathers did not know about Jesus or Mohammed; the intermediary between them and the Supreme being used to be several small gods. However, the advent of Christianity and Islam has almost extirpated that part of our true African value.
Please don’t insult my grand-mother’s intelligence by attempting to prove the superiority of these adopted religious beliefs over our traditional African way of serving God. One quick question for you: when was the last time you did a libation and broke kola nuts to bless our ancestors and seek directions from them? If you have never done this, then your claim to ‘true Africanism’ is in serious doubt!
As true Africans we are not supposed to clad ourselves in clothes. Our girls ought to be perpetually dressed in the manner of those nubile Swaziland girls with temptingly dangling breasts. No?
As true Africans, we are not supposed to be conversing in the language of foreigners and living the way of life of the West whose values profile you seem to dislike.
As true Africans, we’re supposed to maintain our culture of polygamy and not insult our ancestors by agreeing to stay married to one woman for the rest of our lives. We’re supposed to maintain Chinua Achebe’s Okonkwo’s life style; we’re supposed to be wrestlers and warriors with banana leaves wrapped around our loins, and not be concerned with white- or blue-collared jobs.
As Goodluck would say ‘I don’t give a damn’ about homosexuals or how they conduct themselves in private; it’s their rectum and not mine! However, it’s abominably wrong for our intellectually indolent legislators to criminalize a harmless sexual orientation but are happy with the crazy talk of granting amnesty to real idiots/threats like Boko Haram!
If any of my children turns to homosexuality when they’re adults, it’s their business; after all, it’s only a baby-adult that still needs parental approval for his personal affairs including his/her marriage.
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Great article bro, well written
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its really unfortunate….people compare homosexuality to paedophilia and all what nots. and y’all who don’t want to see public display of affection by homosexuals will jump at a chance to get a Visa to Europe and go live all around them.
This road to heaven we all claim to know the path to is very long, and at the end, its only God that will judge. suddenly sodomy is the only sin on earth. remove the log in ur eyes before you go finding the spec in some other persons own. now I don’t know about homosexuality being genetic or not, truth remains, tthat just like Jews and Blacks, this is a distinct group of individuals that have been here since time, and here to stay. saying homosexuality is not in the African culture is just ludicrous.
I don’t lay my hopes for anything meaningful from the current Government or the current socio-economic environment in Nigeria, but I look at the youth and the youngsters, and see how liberal and free thinking they are, and willing to co-exist, and I realise that maybe, 20-30 years down the line, the country may actually become reasonable, am not against religion, but religionisoften times the greatest enemy to progress and renaissance. it has to be well….like someone rightly pointed out, what will you do, if your 17 year old son tells you he’s gay? ttheres absolutely nohing you can do to change that, not all the women in the world, and not your pastor, neither can you beat it out of him. just my 2 pence
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first off, this is a great piece.
questions (from the religious point of view) ;
was soddom and gomorai the only countries with homosexual men and women when it was destroyed?
am pretty sure there were gay men and women among abrahams savants.
was homosexuality the real reason these cities were destroyed? (read these portion of d bible again)
why did Jesus not speak about this issue during His time on earth?
or why is there no records of Him speaking on the issue?
isnt it even remotely possible that the authors/translators of some books in the bible who were inspired by the Holy spirit, altered some portions to suit their personal sentiments which in this case is AKA homophobia? (i may be wrong about this).
that aside, now am wondering, in a county where ill have to use generator 24/7, trek to school, eat rice without meat, have 50 copies of my c.v under my pillow etc then an adult like me will ask another adult to come sit with him and legislate on what i do in my bedroom with another man at the expense of the tax i managed to pay?
isnt our government generally just unfocused?????
so now how i have sex and who i have it with is now an issue to score political point with?
the way nigerians think really amazes me.
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i agree to some of the points u highlighted…but for crying out loud could you stop assuming what the bible didnt say?…if the bible said sodom and gomorah was distroyed cos of it…who then are you to nsinuate otherwise?…i feel u guys feel because christianity is a religion of peace, love and grace you say trash…i stand to defend the bible…i bet you cant make such derogratory statements to the prophet mohammed?
yes we have corruption, yes we have our ills…but do u think there is a nation on this earth that is perfect?…no not even the US.
my point is u have ur opinions and they are yours…but please do not include what wasnt written in the bible
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Teen pregnancy is more acceptable than
being gay and that’s really sad.
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I have to say to you sir,that this is an amazing piece. Concise, articulate, and very intelligent. I’m in awe. If only more people in Nigeria will try to be as rational and as logical, we’d be hopeful. And I want to apologise for my stubborn fellow commentators, who just insist on being disobedient. Even after you told them to leave. They just can’t resist the thrill of listening to their own rants of self-importantance, self-righteousness, religiousness and absolutely ignorant stupidity! Peace sir. God bless you.
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🙂 Thanks a lot!
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“i am not against anybody taking up a sexual nature he or she desires..just do not impose it upon pple that are not comfortable with it.”
Sorry but I hope you know you are asking a human being like you to give up freedom just to make you comfortable. Seems very selfish to me.
Also you mentioned the jews are rich now, well d gays aren’t doing so badly either. I hope you know Tim cook, the ceo of the apple is openly gay.
The attitude Nigerians have towards homosexuals is a result of closed mindedness and lack of challenge. If all the brilliant, successful gay men, women and politicians in this country come out into the light I think the course of the discourse will really change. We can make all the arguments we want online but so long as there is no face to the opperessed class there might be no change.
My main issue with this law is d part where it criminalizes supporting gay rights. That is an exercise in stupidity if ever I saw one. If I said today that I love boko haram and support what they are doing, as the author pointed out, I would be a social outcast but I have broken no law. If I said I killed a man and there is no body I cannot be arrested. If I said I love and support thieves no one can touch me but if I say I support gay people I get 10 years. Does that make sense?
Besides, democracy is centered on debate. After this law is passed any debate becomes a crime. Any law maker that tries to over turn it becomes a criminal. It is extrememly unconsitituional and goes against everything democracy stands for.
Finally I see this law as a new low for the country. We are corrupt and we are inconsistent. Now we can add fascist to the list. This is setting a new precedence for government interference and I can only be consoled by the fact that nigerians generally and our politicians in particular don’t have a strong track record of being calculative and long term focused otherwise I would really worry about the follow up to this after the euphoria of banning the gays has worn off.
Oh and on the comment that same arguments can be made for incest. That is true. We will cross that bridge if we get to it. It makes me uncomfortable to think about it but I keep asking myself, how does it make the other person feel? If the guy killed himself because he made me uncomfortable would I be happy? Can I sacrifice a little comfort for the sake of peace, justice and fairness?
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Thank you so much for this beautiful and educative write up! I would like to give a hot slap to those bunch of lazy peeps in the government that only knows how to loot the Nigerian treasury dry. How does the law translate to food on the table? Job creation? Light or good hospitals? The reason they always chase shadows or pursue things like this is because they reason that the average Nigerian is gullible so they bring issues like this to take the people’s mind off their lackluster performance… Bunch of Hippocrates!
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Why is every “straight, objectively heterosexual” have to include in their supporting speeches that oh I’m straight but I am not offended by the gays. Ok mr & mrs family unit. It’s been said several times your support or denial of said issue doesn’t homosexualize you in anyway, even if you’re in support. No oneis marking attendance of this clause. Brilliant article, but if there were more publications, awareness esque in previous times, the country’s citizens would have had valid cause to hate rather than church pew statements or oh I don’t mind female female sex unlike the gay male. “A rest my case”
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This is very true and correct but its been a long time truth is accepted in the country,not dat i support gay marriages(disgusting) though but whatt †ђξ hell happend to fundamental human rights.this is a great article,thumbs up
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its all good, this gay acceptance movement.
I am just wondering why these same ‘liberal’ folks also criminalise polygamy!!
Can anyone tell me in clear lucid language how and why the same arguments supporting Homosexuality do not apply to polygamy?
since when does it become anyone’s business what consenting adults decide to do with each other in multiples?
Then again, with acceptance of gay relationships and marriages etc, is it not very logical that some gay people will like to be polygamous?
Lets take this further joor
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If you would do some research to enlighten yourself you would see that polygamy is not illegal in places like the usa. Bigamy is what is illegal ( I know u want I ask me the difference buy google is your friend) bigamy is also a crime in nigeria. There are known polygamists in the USA who are even very popular on tv. No one has sent them to prison because it us believed that it is a fundamental human right to be polygamous.
Also all Nigerians who sure that polygamy argument are sexist. If there is to be equality polyandry as well as polygyny should be allowed. (Again google us your friend). But this isn’t the case in nigeria.
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As a gay Nigerian woman, I can honestly say I could care less about Gay marriage. I have yet to meet a Gay Nigerian whose most important worry is gay marriage, frankly we have other issues to worry about like self-acceptance and figuring out how to navigate a world where the majority hates us.We have never asked for marriage, we’re just not there yet, so I do not know where this anti same sex marriage bill stems from, it is just not necessary considering we have other more pertinent issues as a country to worry about. But its not just about marriage is it, anyone in a group advocating or supporting gay rights could face prison sentence, they are stifling any voice gay people might have in the future. How is any of this constitutional? All this does is fuel the homophobia that already exists in the country and I fear this might just be the beginning, how long will it be before same sex relationships will be criminalized, how long will it be before being gay (something that is not a choice) or just knowing someone who is gay becomes a criminal offence like the aggravated Ugandan ”kill the gays” bill. If we go with the generally accepted assumption that about 10% of the population is glbt, in a country of 170 million citizens that is 17 million people, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, friends, neighbours facing criminalisation for something that isn’t a choice
Most comments I’ve read on here while opposing this ridiculous bill have words along the lines of ”i’m not gay and do not accept gays”, a sort of ”hate the sin but not the sinner” mentality. As much as I appreciate that some people are not letting their interpretation of religion, morality, or culture cloud their judgement when it comes to law, it still is bothersome that people feel the need to clarify their sexual orientation and where they stand on homosexuality in general considering how this is blatantly a human rights issue.
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You see you are not even seeing the writing on the wall.
You are so caught up in the whole brouhaha you don’t even SEE!!
You started out your post by saying :”As a gay Nigerian woman”
I don’t think till date i ever met anyone who ever declared, anonymously or not, I AM GAY. not in this country at least. and that Bisi Alimi guy don’t count abeg.
Do you even have any idea how far this society has come for you to straight up say this?
The fact that this is even discussed publicly sef is …….. wow.
Plus you even have straight people saying this and that about gay “rights”. In Nigeria?
Abeg biko, this is a country where heterosexual people still have issues with a man and a woman kissing publicly. you are here expending aggro. has anyone ever stopped you in your bedroom from getting some?
Take a deep breath and step back and actually SEE!!
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And that’s actually a thought. 🙂
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Pardon me but this comments section really does give one concern.
why are the lesbians/pro-lesbian/sympathetic to lesbian group so aggressive?
the fags are not even bothered!!
Come on, chill out. ain’t nuthin wrong with sum lil triple delight sumpin sumpin u know.
you should try it sometime eh.
matter of fact, you can sense the tension in most folks here, man just get laid and get some relief gents and ladies
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Last word, i just wish **some** gay people wouldn’t creep one out as such.
hell some of us are wired hetero too. its in our genes too, and we are REALLY REALLY conditioned in our ideas of who and what constitutes a “man” and a “woman”
I get the creeps when i see male folks who look, act and just are all feminine. make up, wear stiletto heels and shit. seriously.
and females who are all dressed up “male” and are hard etc etc.
matter of fact lets be honest, the moment you mention the word gay that is the picture lots of folks have at the back of their minds. and it does put us off.
heteros don’t walk about aggressively showing hey i’m hetero, why do gay people feel the urge to announce it?
maybe when folks realise mentally that “normal” looking people can be gay, then they might find it easier.
And believe me, you all can shout yourselves hoarse. Ain’t nothing like intellectually rationalising acceptance of gay folks. Thats Pure BS.
thats purely a subject of orientation. how do u expect people who threw away intellect to accept religion to rationalize a very anti-religious issue?
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Just imagine you’re all wrong.. and there is in fact a God, and He happens to actually care about who you have sexual relations with.. Imagine homosexuality is in fact one of those sins that disgust and infuriate Him.. imagine homosexuals are all possessed with evil spirits and are the victims of deep spiritual bondage… imagine there is a devil who is working massively to multiply corruption in the world and take many more humans down the path of eternal perdition.. imagine that you’re all been brain washed by the new age satanic propaganda machine to exchange the truth of God for a lie.. imagine that if indeed there is a God who created man, and saw the need to create a partner with a different physical/emotional/genetic structure for him, He would have enough integrity not to create anyone gay, and then forbid homosexuality.. Imagine that truly we’re in the last days when men will not want to hear the truth and will insist on their own way, when sin will be greatly multiplied, thus speeding up the catastrophes that will culminate in the end of the world.. Imagine that there is indeed a heaven and a hell, that a rapture might actually happen some day and that you might actually find yourself facing God’s judgement seat.. Just imagine the concept of genetic homosexuality is actually part of satan’s agenda to keep homosexuals from knowing the truth that would eventually set them free..
Just imagine.. what if you’re wrong and the faith based anti gay advocates are the ones actually telling the truth.. Imagine all the lives you would have ruined so carelessly.. Imagine if indeed these words are true.. that there are many things that can cause people to sin and depart from righteousness, but it’ll be terrible for him by whom such offences come..
Just Imagine, you have unknowingly been one of satan’s weapons of mass destruction, adding to the numbers of multitudes he’s sending to hell by supporting and advocating homosexuality..
(By this time some of you are fuming and ready to blow, while others are hissing and some scratching non existent itches).. just imagine!
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Just imagine Jesus read your comment. Just imagine his sadness that instead of the world persecuting Christians, “Christians” now persecute the world. 🙂
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Just imagine He read your article.. Just imagine how sad he would be that you value friendship with the world and being politically correct above standing up for the truth expressed in His word.. Imagine He’s not a liberal, and that everything He says is sin is actually a sin in His eyes.. If being anti gay is persecuting the world, then Jesus Himself is the greatest persecutor for being anti sin.. God Himself is the biggest persecutor by insisting on a judgement day.. why cant He just let the humans be and quit asking them to change or get saved or love each other, or quit stealing, coveting etc.. Why cant He just stick to His heaven and stop acting like He has a right to give us commandments or principles to live by.. after all, we are gods of ourselves and can do whatever we feel like.. have sex with animals and babies if we like without those nosey christians telling us its not morally right.. right??
The world is just so persecuted by the christians.. LOL
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“And he said unto them: go ye into the world with guns and handcuffs and arrest and lock up those that hear not my words.” 🙂 The point of this article is neither pro-gay or anti-gay. It is oppression and intimidation.
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wrong…just imagine how myopic your statement is. go to the US, Christians are a minority. the conservatives and evangelicals in the US are the persecuted. check your facts please…or do you want to use nigeria as a case study?…where islam is the religion that persecute Christians?. your last quote is just horrible. the law is to serve a deterrent!!!. like i said in earlier posts….go to a country and take up citizenship were u as being gay would be tolerated!. from what i heard there is now a provision in the constitution for u to renounce your nigerian citizenship….i,ll kindly advice dt just incase you havin thoughts.
the easy thing now for gays id to declare their preference , but they forget countries like the US AND THE uk would not in allow them entry cus of their sexuality.
my conclusion, those that profess and support gay rights to marriage..are doing so for economic reasons. and thats just it!
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…and am not hateful or vengeful, as a matter of fact the statement …what will jesus do comes to my mind. i would love them to know what God says about it….i do not support violence against them.
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Reblogged this on MY MIND SNAPS and commented:
Very insightful
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Well,I tried to read all d comments,loved some,dnt particularly care for some…now dis is my little contribution…..for ppl dat insist they r nt gay,can never be gay I dnt even think u hv points pls…….ur eiher here or there.u keep harping on d fact dat gays shud be allowed to hv rships n be happy,”they r nt pushing for marriage”…lol,lol,lol…dats hw it starts,they jst want to hold hands n next thing they want to cm to my cathedral to get married.I rembr hw I argued wit my colleagues abt d bill…hated it!!!!still hate it.dats d worst approach to d whole homosexuality issue.I hv a sneeky feeling dat most ppl commenting here n supporting homosexuality r jst bunch of eager intellects looking for arguments jst for fun…..pls think,guys we r Africans,yep wev adopted western culture good n bad..but plsssssss,hw many of u will let a former gay man marry ur daughter,if he comes out n says he’s gay??.am nt without sin,but will conciously limit my sins cos I respect God,n one way of doing dat is for me to conciously remain straight,atleast one sin down right???I dnt support homosexuality,infact I love being liberal,am referred to as smone dat usually woudnt hv minded dis whole gay issue,but my conscience won’t let me….am sorry guys.
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Ever read articles from terrorist groups ??? they also write beautiful articles but make ignoble sense too. Sound English with nice assemblage of your stances, but you could have also deployed your energy to those areas you and your proponents consider important to our society…Electricity, Infrastructure, Corruption etc. Writing on issues like this is like trailing the footprints of your accused politicians who focused on trivial though tacitly resolved issues like homosexuality; rather than finding ways of boosting our economy.
You first announced your bigotry when you narrowed down your audience class to a few group of persons thereby; shutting down the viewpoints of antagonists.
A liberal mind, as you think yourself to be one, considers how others are affected positively or negatively without prejudice or being preponderated by any emotional or sentimental interest until a mid-point is arrived at…what we call a fair hearing – hearing from both sides. Understand this, in the same way a homosexual person feels when deprived some level of legal endorsement to practice his lifestyle is also the way a homophobic feels when “gay rights” (yes in quote, gays were not deprived of their rights after all) are granted.
Laws are generally made in the interest of: the majority, cultural values of a society, moral preservation and prudence, etc. This means that: our marriage law, having weighed all ethical requirements, have come up with an endorsement for one man one wife family system against which, is illegal.
Polygamy for instance, although being an African tradition, lacks merits of our legal endorsement. Our law refuses individuals the right to marry as many wives as they wish and citizens abide by it. It is not as if polygamy in itself is harmful but it is just that monogamy is our law. On the other hand, kleptomania, although being a lifestyle (like homosexuality) lacks merits of any legal endorsement as there is no country in the world that its jury acquits robbery on the grounds of kleptomania.
So, let us all direct our abilities to more practical matters than mere issues like homosexuality.
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‘our’ marriage law is hardly ‘our’ law bro, polygamy is not in ‘our’ law because it is not really ‘our’ law. Plus, have you ever heard of anyone being convicted for being a kleptomaniac? People are convicted for theft, which is not permitted by law. But the same law also grants defense to criminal responsibility and psychological considerations do get to be considered and in saner climes, if you have a psychiatric condition, you get a different shake of d law, a more lenient shake.
We all cry democracy in this parts, but we really dont have an inkling what the term means, more practical issues indeed
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Well written Ayo… Absolutely agree with you . I would however say this new irrational piece of legislation is actually a reaction to the pro-gay movements being experienced in the Western Societies. In a sense I would suggest the legislation is just as flawed and irrational as those that add a legal stamp to gay marriage. The big crime here is not the rights or wrong of this issue but the time and resources legislative bodies worldwide have dedicated to such a none issue.
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Brilliant write-up, excellent presentation of points. Need I say more?. Bravo!
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reading comments this morning, i am amazed at how short sighted most
nigerians are and how low our mindset can be, no
wonder our politicians can come into power, use
our heads, fuck things up and we wont take any
pro active step against it, instead we will rather
busy ourselves with unimportant issues. now am
confused, are we moving forward, backward or we
just are not moving at all??? Nigerians need to
grow up!!! things change, people change, our
environment changes, times are chaging fast, the
world is moving fast, and if we want to remain a
country we need to step up, grow up and move
on!!!!
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Pingback: WITH APOLOGIES TO MY GAY FRIENDS | AN EPISTLE BY AYO SOGUNRO | Ayo Sogunro's Chaise
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The premise and logic of this argument is sound and can hardly be faulted, though some of the examples and conclusions reached may be a little bit far-fetched.
Nothwithstanding, the conclusion may well be in the political argument. Diversionary tactics in the history of Nigerian politics are yet to fail the uncouth elements we have as politicians.
But while the question begs, I don’t blame the politicians, I blame Nigerians, you and I, who fall for the same trick over and again.
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Pingback: Why You Should Be Worried About Nigeria’s Anti-gay Laws | Atheism Africa
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The crux of this matter is that we are yet to realise that no law functions in Nigeria or at best operates on the less privilege and I really do not think the less privilege in our society involves in homosexuality.
Nice and beautifully coined article and consequent comments. Very interesting to read this holiday.
Nigeria is just full of ills and can no less be described as a laboratory, CBN and the financial system, for example. So, let’s see how the regulation of certain human actions is going to work.
A point to note however, is that religion and culture can not be dismembered, much respect to the analogies on this subjects-matter.
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Reblogged this on The Grand Debate.
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what happen to the natural law of reproduction? And why we were things made in pairs either by creation or evolution?. i think the act of same sex sexual relationship or marriage is western second coming of colonization.
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Ignorance at its best!
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Ayo has written a very brilliant piece, but I think there’s a little misunderstanding. From my understanding the legislation only punishes SAME-SEX Marriage and not gayness. Marriage by definition is between a male and female, and it should be left so. Gays have been around for a long time in Nigeria and nobody has been arrested for being gay. But same sex marriage is not a right in my opinion, just as I don’t have the right to give out my underaged daughter in marriage, or sleep with my daughter, or even commit suicide. If we say same sex marriage is a right, then the above should also be considered rights cos its my life right? So I can decide to commit suicide as a matter of choice….?
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Reblogged this on Jane Talks Code.
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Very interesting arguments here and particularly those that say legislation should be left out of gay marriage as it is a moral issue which appears to be subjective.
The only comment I will make is that since incest is a moral issue, is it wrong for there to be a legislation against it. After all, incest can be between two consenting adults without physical harm to either or 3rd parties. How would the world look without some restriction against incestous relationships between mother and son or father and daughter. Maybe we could even have gay incestous relationships I,e father and won but since it is between consenting adults then there would be no need to legislate.
This is the danger I see in trying to separate legislation from morals and ethics. There has always been a relationship and these morals are what keep the fabric of society together. Without these controls we are bound to accept just about anything.
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Brilliant.
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REASON AND LOGIC FOR LGBT FROM HELLL…..SUBTLE WAYS TO DESTROY A GENERATION IN THE NAME OF LIBERALITY….
ASK YOURSELF THE PURPOSE THE CREATOR HAD IN MIND BEFORE CREATING THE MAN AND WOMAN.
IN THE NAME OF POLITICAL CORRECTNESS YOU COME ON HERE TO WRITE RUBBISH…YOU HAVE DONE WELL FOR YOUR WESTERN FUNDERS….
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Reblogged this on rants and raves of a kenyan gay man and commented:
One of the best articles I have seen in regard to what we have seen in Nigeria and may happen in Uganda if Museveni signs the bill
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Pingback: WHAT I THINK OF THIS QUEER LAW | Ramblings of a Coffa
For those saying god only created male and female, who created those who are both male and female, or neither male nor female? Just google ‘hermaphroditism’, ‘pseudohermaphroditism’ and ‘intersex’. Who should they mate with??? So you are happy for them to be jailed, right???
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Thank you Ayo. Thank you. Shared!
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And the arguments keep going on. And thing keep getting worse.
That the world is made up of people with varying degrees of beliefs to start with….and that’s where this actually ends.
Crazy times we are in. And it’s getting crazier by the day.
Who/What will restore order/sanity?
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Your writeup if good. Educating but could you please define marriage?
Nobody says that the anomalies in some parts of Nigeria is good, but let us see this anti gay law to wake all. Such up. Deep down we all know that homosexuality is quire but try to negotiate in a bid to be fair to them. Nooooo.
It’s a treat to human continuity and the least these guys can do is to get advice or conversion therapy. Most people are gays today be cos of emulation and the tested it. They were not born so. So when Nigerians go gay haywire, how can we produce?
Yes it’s good to borrow culture but if and only if it makes us better people. Why don’t we borrow from within, the culture that allows a man loan his wife to a visitor?
Be cos it’s absurd right?
That’s how we shouldn’t borrow gayizm pls.
Or better still we can allow them to marry and bear their own children instead of once born of mixed marriages. They should also not adopt children since they feel it’s okay, with like sexes.
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I totally disagree with you. Homosexuality is a matter of choice and choice happens to be the greatest power nature bequitted to man. Hence, hetrosexuality also is a matter of choice but it conforms to d orderly order of procreation and reproduction. Have you seen or heard of a gay dog or cat or any other animal of whatever sort? You said a sociology student will tell you “culture is in a state of flux” but is doesn’t give u d perusal to acquire anti societal behaviour. No doubt culture is dynamic, but we have to adopt cultures that will make us not mere us. Inessence is good to learn other people’s culture especially their science, technology , fashion etc but not Homosexualism.
On the legislation against homosexualism, I believe government is trying to entrench some level of morality . Corruption, terrorism, homosexualism , robbery etc are all societal ills.
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I hope u are ignoring the fact that democracy is a game of number.The gay law went through many processes but rejected by majority.Wld u stay with a lesbian wife?
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The author intelligently displayed his lgnorance
of the issue. he claim to portray dispassionate
view, but he tactically support gay. mr author,
do you mean is right for you to marry your
daughter or mother if you choose to as
expression of your human right. to me you you
are looking for relevance before the West.
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Any aberration to the natural is barbaric and sinister. Propagating the unnatural is abysmally uncomprehendable. i am still and would still remain a stalwart of Romans 1: 26-27.
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It hurts that after so much studies you have you still write without wisdom.if your mum and dad where homosexuals you wnt be here writing with there blood flowing through you,
My friend you either stand for something or fall for everything
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The greatest enemy of science has always been religion; throughout history, what we now accept as fact was criminalized by the church and society simply because they seemed unnatural.
I am a student of science and I watch documentaries with fervor; and more than 100 species engage in homosexual behaviour (including some species of monkeys, our “closest” relatives).
That being said, I am a christian and I am as straight as can be; I do not support homosexuality in humans but I would never be homophobic, hate is contrary to who I am.
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I want to ask a question please Mr. Ayo…as mammals, is there anything like gay dogs,cats,rats etc? Why is it that the human race is the only group of mammals that have this gay issues? If its a lifestyle then it should be done discreetly and not associated with marriage which is an institution between man and woman.
What is going on in this gaddam world,people are hungry,the healthcare system,power sector,education, etc is in shambles and we are here debating about gay rights..you should channel your brilliant essay skills towards those issues that affect us as a nation.
I think we are still suffering from neo colonialism and western indoctrination. Gay right only will succeed in a country where they have minimal social problems.like USA,UK etc.not in a country where the rich are getting richer, while the poor are getting poorer.
I’m not mad at you bro, I respect your wonderful essay but lets keep this gay issue on the side and deal with the important things that matter. As far as I’m concerned this is not an issue and lets stop making it look like one because Nigeria is a country that still believes in jungle justice…even the government approves it,what about the masses?
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http://listverse.com/2013/04/20/10-animals-that-practice-homosexuality/
I know the next question would be, are we now the same thing as animals? Really people need to read a little more in this country. Then again, please always remember…google is your friend.
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@Jerry: there are many homosexual animals but there is not a single homosexual family existing in the wild. Even animals are smarter than all gay, transgender, lesbian humans on this. *Britain is carrying out animal abuse, they are homosexualising a penguin family in a zoo*
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@segun: We are not animals. Yes, i know about the evodelusionary theory.
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The sweetest thing God has ever created on this earth is virgina..no sugar no salt but sweeter than honey..lol
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Ayo…yeah yeah yeah!!! I agree with you on rejection of -legal discrimination of homosexuals etc…. But I see a ‘no smoke without fire situation’…. Just a question or two. if the Nigerian law already invalidates gay marriage:
Qn 1. what should happen if citizens contravene that law?
Qn 2. of what use is an invalidating law if people can publicly contravene it and declare publicly that such law has no power over them?
I really do not hate ‘the homosexual’ as a person… a fellow human being like me. the smoke without fire situation is what I see here… western nations want to impose this ideology on us and even go to the extent of sponsoring and even threatening ‘lesser’ nations. the legislators are wont to make a Nigerian position on this. the other aspect is based on the second question above…. the law already invalidates this and there are people who have publicly challenged this law …. hinging themselves on western back up…. like you said culture changes with time. And I say… such people made an epistemological jump cos Nigeria is not yet Canada…. no one will be talking criminal if the patience rule was followed…. again I personally feel for homosexuals ….particularly those who insist it came natural to them. But I see any form of gay marriage as invalid.
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This story from tribune newspaper shows how ignorance can lead to fear and murder.
http://www.tribune.com.ng/news2013/index.php/en/component/k2/item/7963-man-harassed-for-having-female-organs
Between 6-8weeks of gestation, a pair of ovotestes develop in the abdomen and over the following weeks, these differentiate into either ovaries or testes. Also 2 pairs of ducts (male and female) develop on either side, which respectively ultimately become the tubes, spermatic ducts, etc in the male; and the Fallopian tubes, womb and inner two-thirds of the vagina in the female.
Externally, between 8-10 weeks, an ‘oval opening’ structure develops, with a ‘tip’ in front. This oval opening eventually closes in the male to form the scrotum and penis (you can check out the line underneath yours, that shows where it fused), while the ‘tip’ becomes the glans (head) of the penis. In the female, the opening stays open to eventually become the labia, the opening and outer one-thirds of the vagina, while the tip becomes the clitoris.
In males, each ovotestis differentiates into a testis, which then descends from the abdomen into the scrotum around the time of birth. In females, each ovotestis differentiates into an ovary, and remains in the abdomen.
So all the component parts would rotate, twist, move and fuse appropriately to form the reproductive (and parts of the urinary) system of the appropriate sex, while the parts belonging to the opposite sex would eventually degenerate. All these must occur SEQUENTIALLY, with PRECISE timing; if anyone ‘miscalculates’ or ‘misses the bus’, na ‘yawa’ be that.
All these processes depend on the complex interplay of genes on the X and Y chromosomes, genes on other chromosomes, different hormones and factors. Also, certain medications, hormone-producing tumours, etc, can affect the differentiation of the genitalia.
At conception, a male is ‘usually’ genetically 46,XY and a female 46,XX. However, chromosomal errors around conception or later (the vast majority get naturally expelled in early pregnancy = miscarriage, but a few do persist to full term), could lead to 45,X; 47,XXY, or ‘combinations’ like 45,X/46,XY or 45,X/46,XY/47,XYY, etc. such that you can’ t be exactly sure what genetic sex the person is. Apart from these, 46,XY is not always = male, if the important gene on the Y chromosome is missing (so may end up having ovaries and other female parts), by the same token, 46,XX is not always = female (as may end up with testes and other male parts).
Anyway, ‘true hermaphrodites’ are usually genetically ‘combined’ XX/XY, may have a pair of ovotestes, or a pair each of ovaries and testes, or other combinations; while their external genitalia may be ambiguous, male, female or both. ‘Male pseudohermaphrodites’ are usually genetically XY, have testes in their abdomen (or anywhere in the path of descent) with a vagina. ‘Female pseudohermaphrodites’ usually are XX, have ovaries, with partly fused labia and rudimentary penis/ enlarged clitoris. So, no matter how you look at it, all these people are either NEITHER MALE NOR FEMALE or BOTH MALE AND FEMALE AT THE SAME TIME! So who should they marry or have sex with, male or female? Regardless, WHICHEVER they choose to do this with, would be THE ‘WRONG’ ONE, as that would make them technically homo-/bi-sexual.
When diagnosed in infancy or early childhood, it is a bit easier, the parents and doctors decide (rightly or wrongly), and the child is assigned a particular sex, and is raised appropriately (but may still grow up to become of the opposite sex, resulting in confusion). When diagnosed in adolescence or adulthood however, it is much more complicated, and decision is based on what sex the individual was raised as, what sex they prefer or identify with, and what organs are available to work with (some would need to be refashioned, trimmed, or removed; and hormone treatment would be required). The decision has absolutely nothing to do with ‘genetic sex’ in most cases, but the sex that would result in the least emotional turmoil and the best chance of a ‘close to normal life’. Generally, it involves massive amounts of work involving different specialist teams and family working together with the individual, whose life (tumultuous from the outset) would never remain the same.
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LGBTQIA
This acronym (usually) stands for:
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual.
These all have one thing in common: they do not fit neatly into your everyday constructs of acceptable humanity. And, why must everyone fit into others’ descriptive categories? Why can’t people just be ‘human’ and allow others be human too? Unfortunately, most people have absolutely no idea what they are talking about, and have never bothered to know, because ignorance is a perfect excuse to condemn and demonise others, usually hiding under the guise of religion.
As far as intersex/transgender conditions are concerned, they are largely due to ‘errors’ occurring during intra-uterine life, which usually are obvious at birth and become even more obvious at puberty. With the extremely complex billions of interconnected processes involved in gametogenesis (sperm and egg formation), fertilisation, embryonic and foetal development, things sometimes do go wrong; like in this Tribune story above.
Errors can show up in ANY SYSTEM in the human body, and they are NOT UNCOMMON!
Of course, not every ‘intersex’ is plainly obvious, because some people who are ‘genetically male’ (XY) end up with a normal-looking female body, and even they themselves would not realise this! By the same token, a ‘genetically female’ (XX) individual may have a normal-looking male body, so even the concept of ‘genetic sex’ thus becomes meaningless! Some people actually only find out during chromosomal studies (which actually may not even tell the whole story); and these days, it is possible to get a report of your own genetic blueprint (many people would understandably rather not find out what lurks secretly in their genetic codes – it might be quite unsettling to discover you are not fully of the sex you always took for granted that you are!)
Hormones and other factors act on the brain at critical periods during intrauterine development to bring about a ‘male-type’ or ‘female-type’ brain, etc, and their effects are usually lifelong. These (together with all the factors discussed above) may constitute biological factors. Psychological and social factors then come into play to determine its eventual expression.
Even in individuals who are not ‘obviously intersex’, such factors as these (and several others) may also determine how male or female the person feels (gender identity), or which sex the person is naturally attracted to (sexual orientation).
Gender identity, simply put, is the sense of ‘maleness’, ‘femaleness’ or otherwise, that is felt by a person. The child would tell you once old enough to appreciate the concept of boy/girl and to communicate, from as early as 2-3years of age, and this usually remains so throughout life.
Sexual orientation essentially has to do with the sex one is naturally attracted to. This also becomes obvious by the time the child is old enough to be capable of developing attraction to others, which might be as early as 8 years (or earlier). As the child gets older, sexual fantasies, and finally, sexual urges/activity would follow in that order at the appropriate time. So, people may be described as having a heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual or asexual (no sexual interest) orientation.
There is really no need to split hairs about it; the question should be, are we saying that intersex/transgendered individuals be abstinent all their lives, not having romantic relationships/sex simply because whoever they mate with would be the wrong sex (making them homo-/bisexual? We have no right to say this unless the rest of us embrace life-long abstinence/relationship denial as well. If you agree that it shouldn’t be an issue for them, then it means it shouldn’t also be an issue for the rest of us, unless we have 2 different sets of rules!
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Sexual orientation does not exist. Heterosexuality is default, homosexuality is the alteration (trans) and suppression (homo) of the default mode due to societal influences. I hope you know what default is.
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Hermaphroditism is in a class of its own.
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The thrust of Ayo Sogunro’s article is that homosexuals do not infringe on the rights of other people and that homosexuality does not affect the state. Those assertions are totally wrong and ignorant. If Mr Sogunro had bothered to do his research very well, he would have discovered otherwise. Perhaps he made this discovery but decided to ignore it.
In any case, we need to get the facts straight.
Homosexual behavior not only seriously harms homosexuals individually, it harms society also. Let’s start by looking at the health of people who engage in homosexual behavior:
People who practice homosexuality experience higher rates of many diseases, including:
Human Papillomavirus (HPV)
Hepatitis A, B and C
Gonorrhea
Syphillis
Gay Bowel syndrome
HIV/AIDS
Bacterial vaginosis
People who practice homosexuality have higher rates of:
Alcohol abuse
Drug abuse
Nicotine dependence
Depression
Suicide
Domestic violence (20 times more common than among heterosexuals)
Ah, but maybe these problems are the result of society’s discrimination against homosexual people. Not true. If we look at places in which homosexuality is accepted, such as The Netherlands (gay marriage is legal there) and San Francisco, we find that the greater the acceptance of homosexual behavior, the higher the rate of the above negative consequences. Accepting homosexual behavior makes it worse!
What about the effect of homosexual behavior on society?
In addition to a domestic violence rate that is 20 times higher than among heterosexuals, these are some of the negative effects homosexuality has on society:
Higher rates of child molestation*
(Nearly 1/3 of the child abuse cases are homosexual in nature, and homosexuals are only 3% of the population.)
Daughters of lesbian “parents” are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior and experience the consequences of that behavior.
In areas in which homosexual marriage has become accepted (The Netherlands and areas of Scandinavia, for example), the fundamental building block of society–the family–has fallen apart. In some of these areas as many as 80% of the children are born outside of a family.
Children of homosexual “parents” do the worst in 9 of 13 academic categories when compared with both married heterosexual couples and cohabiting couples.
Homosexual behavior is linked with higher rates of promiscuity, physical disease, mental illness, substance abuse, child sexual abuse and domestic violence–all things that impact society negatively. Don’t try to say homosexual behavior doesn’t hurt society–it is a major force that tears down society and harms children.
Therefore, the Government is right to legislate against same sex marriage in order to save the society.
For more information I invite you to read a online paper titled: What’s Wrong With Letting Same-Sex Couples Marry? http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=if03h01 (Most of the information here comes from that paper, which includes scientific references to the source documents).
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first of all, the site you quoted is an extremely biased organisation and the statistics are far from accurate. but even it if it isn’t all i can glean from it is that homosexuals are people too. that is they are not perfect.
the world is a scary scary place. even if you tried all you can bad things would still happen? children are molested by priests (who are not openly homosexual), their uncles (who have wives and children), the teachers etc. women are beaten by their husbands on the daily, injection drug users are spreading diseases like wild fire… bad things happen. don’t blame it on the gays.
you make a good argument but i’m sorry it is not good enough. if banning homosexuality will end HIV, domestic abuse, and child abuse then I will support it too. but it won’t. you cannot ban human nature and you cannot deprive one portion of the human beings of the rights you freely exploit simply because you can. if all gays were banned will straight men become 100% faithful to their wives? will they stop beating their wives and mistresses? will children stop getting abused? no. so lets fix that. lets let go of all this hate and ignorance. open our minds and start to build a better world.
By the way Nigeria has the 2nd largest population of people living with HIV in the world not the Netherlands or Scandinavia so I don’t know what you are talking about.
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NO ROOM FOR HOMOSEXUALITY IN NIGERIA. QED
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A wonderful, clear and principled article. I only wish more people would have taken note of it earlier – before it was signed into law. Now we have a rearguard action to fight….
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Mr Ayo Sogunro, You are no doubt an intellectual of note. Alas !!! you are totally out of tune this time. There can be no defense for same sex union in our society. God so much abhorred it He erased Sodom and Gomorrah from the face of the earth. criminalizing it is the best thing our legislators have done to shield us from the imminent wroth of God. Please rethink on your position and get your followers to tow the line of God. There must be no compromises. Nigeria is God’s own country. Never mind the impostors.
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you are dead wrong. There is no God in the first place. keep religion out of this
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You are the wrong one. You are showing your ignorance and have obviously been blinded to the truth. There is no scientific evidence to support you claim of there being no God and don’t give me that BS about God not being detected as:
1) God cannot be detected by science.
2) there is no research being done by scientists with your mindset to find God.
3) scientists with your mindset use religion to make their claims.
P.S. Atheism is a religion. You can educate yourself on the meanings of religion at oxforddictionaries.com.
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This is the day that I have always feared when Education, Exposure and too much Westernisation will make people be so open minded that their brains will practically fall out. In our bid to appear like libertarians, as pumped into our thoughts by America, we have ended up opening our minds and thoughts so much to some coined foreign “acts” that since it’s a free world, we can accept some norms without looking at the future consequences. And we are still missing the point. The bedrock of Africa as a whole is our CULTURE & RELIGION. These two frowns at homo sexuality. Have you looked towards the future when homosexuality will be an accepted norm and you look around and you see Gay strip joint, gay institutions, gay churches, public display of affection by gay people, public show where men will eye men lustfully in public and women will eye women lustfully in public while passer-bys look on? A day when your child will bring home same sex and let you know “this is who I want to spend the rest of my life with”? If homosexuality is all about same sex relationship, why does one partner act like a girl and the other takes on the act and role of a guy? The thought alone is not only sickening but alarming. The things we accept as regular practice sin Nigeria due to over exposure and due to our acceptance of everything western is hilarious. I need us to ponder over some simple thoughts: Why does America and Europe have polygamy as a criminal act? Why aren’t Americans fighting to remove that from the criminal law? Why are we not saying it’s nobody’s business if a man decides to marry another wife since it’s his private affairs? If they criminalise polygamy and we are fine with it in our culture and no human right activist here in Nigeria is fighting for equality and freedom to life over there in America, then why are we as Nigerians blind not to accept that the government has considered homosexuality a criminal act and will attract some sentence without quoting too much philosophical references? Must we copy, paste & imbibe everything western that happens to make CNN news at all times? Yes, many may say homosexuality has always existed BUT IN PRIVACY AND IN THE DARK. When you decide to publicize, justify and legalise weird secret pleasures that redefine the term “immoral acts”, YES, a country has the right to decide what will benefit its citizens and what will not. Just like a CEO of a company, your directors and managers may have opinions and thoughts but at the end of the day, it’s still your call as the CEO. GEJ has made the right choice for once and many of us are solidly behind him to protect our heritage and foundation from too much education and westernisation.
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Reblogged this on ginasbedtimestories's Blog.
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I do agree with you, victimization of a minority for their lifestyle, and ignoring the glaring hurdles like movements slaughtering humans, high rate of corruption etc… is totally ridiculous.
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My fears are not for this group of people but for own continuity. How will the population of humanity look like in the next 200 years? Does that don’t bother you? Procreation is about to be in danger. I can see human extinction heading our way.
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The way intelligent Nigerians try to sway us to believe in whatever they belief in, I pray we don’t come to a point where Hitler-type belief would be disseminated as “beautiful”. People should know that not all of us can get carried away with hard-thought intelligent looking pieces.
Thank God, we have well functioning brains too and the word of God-the Bible- to guide us.
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Gay people can carry on with their activities in the western world which supports their (to most Africans) seriously warped values. What the Nigerian anti-gay marriage law is saying is that, here, we don’t want it. Even in the western world, not everyone supports gay marriage. Indeed, a great number of people do not, but they have been cowed into silence through constant persecution. I have friends in the USA and the UK who say the mere hinting of an unfavorable opinion towards gays is enough to make one lose his or her job. Well, here in Nigeria, the vast majority of our people say NO to it. We have a right to do so. And so, using exactly the same logic by which those who disagree with the idea of gay marriage are criminalized abroad, those who support it here in Nigeria must tow the line of the majority, or go join those of like minds abroad. It is not a question of letting everyone have his choice in everything. Whatever we do influences other people, especially young people, and yes, we do have in mind a program of education for our youth that includes upholding traditional marriage. It is all about safeguarding morality. Keep in mind, also, that homosexuality has been associated with decadence in civilizations, (the biblical) Sodom and Gomora, Rome, Egypt, etc. It is a symptom of degeneracy and marks the beginning of the end of a civilization. And if you care to understand better just what society gains by suppressing it, reflect a little on how, should it become widespread among the people, humanity’s very survival will be under serious threat.
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A friend invited me to read this article because of my strong opinion about the anti-LGBT law legalised in Nigeria on my facebook wall (if you care to read it https://www.facebook.com/notes/atoloye-folahan/mustnt-we/688004004585552 ) and I must say Ayo has really tried in his article.
However, I would say ayo sadly started his article trying so hard to wade off people with strong opinion, knowing fully well that more than 90% of Africans (genuine ones) are against the act of homosexuality because of its unnatural tendencies.
However, I will use the 5 cardinal points you used to justify your sitting on the fence in this article to quickly point out the loopholes herein.
1) The first one is the Legal argument where you started that an ‘average’ student of law (meaning anti-gay propagators are below average) would understand the difference between civil and criminal law. You went further to say that criminalising gay act or deeds is like criminalising what is already invalid! However in your bid to hoodwink us with your legal terms (hopefully you are not a lawyer), you made a big error; making of law, acts, decree is done by legislatures (in Nigeria’s case it’s done by over 2,000 legistures, federal and state apparatus) and signed by a president. With the speed the law was enacted in Nigeria and signed into law as well as accepted by many, it means one thing; LEGAL or NOT, what is not ours is simply not ours. We know our legislatures stay for decades before one law is passed, yet this one went with the speed of a rocket.
2) Moral Argument: you tried to paint the picture that all homophobic idiots are simply doubting their own sexuality that is why they point finger. You also quoted Jesus saying “he who is without sin should cast the first stone”. First and foremost, its funny how you think quoting Jesus will help you justify your point. One, you simply quoted where suited you and you thereby quoted Jesus out of context. Jesus was about to be robed into consenting to murder, He understood their motives hence he knew mob justice was not right and did (said) what was right. Where was the man the woman committed the adultery with? Why is it that the woman alone was about to be given jungle justice? I have a few gay friends, I have not said because of the law I will rat them out or hate them, as a matter of fact, I love them but hate their actions, just like i hate the things i do that i consider wrong and sinful in nature. I wont come out and hope one day the government will create a law that will put up a law that protect an adulterer because some sect of people have the craving for it. I asked a question in my article; what would we do when a law is enacted that allows people to sleep with and marry animals? Beastiality? Ofcourse we will have people like Ayo who would still say its their right and as such must be allowed to practise such since it will be in their private confines.
3) Cultural Argument: I know of cultures that give their wives to strangers for sex in Benue, the ones that allow ladies walk naked in some sort of rites but I am yet to see the one that marries women away to other women like Ayo stated. Please get your facts right, explain further where and which people, tribe and race in Africa that traditionally marries off a woman to another woman? therefore, if we can’t sell off our crude tradition to the western world like polygamy and given off our wives for a strangers pleasure, why should they in whatever facade try to sell off their sick tradition (or culture to Africans, shoving it down our throat?) to us?
4) Religious Argument: it is apparent Ayo is delusional in this stead! you point is that we should take all the laws in the bible and Quran without sifting even though these holy books have been written over 2,000 years ago. That is like saying loading the raw crude oil into your car just because you heard premium spirit is gotten from crude oil. Things may change but the word of God remains the same. Read 2nd Timothy 3:1-5, maybe you can really understand the problem with this generation.
5) Political Argument: You stated that with or without gays, my bank account hasn’t diminished. I’m so sorry for that statement on your behalf. As africans, we are very communual, we look out for each other, correcting and helping each other. Once we see what is wrong, we dont hold back. As such, we can’t see our brothers or sister acting the aberration and sit back and just watch. We all know the government are bad, corrupt and looters, we wish there’s something we can do to quickly make a law as fast as the anti-LGBT law criminalising their own acts too but before then, it is in the government’s prerogative to put into law what its citizen (majority) deem unhuman, unnatural and morally bankrupt. Banning LGBT is not in the least of 2013 or 2014 resolutions because if we lose our humanity, we lose any reason to fight for borderline reasoning.
In conclusion, you made it look like you were sitting on the bench in your write-up but all you did was speak on behalf of any and every gay person. Let me make it straight and what I expect people to really say or write about is the tendencies for discrimination which the law can realistically foster. We must make the people realise that gay’s are humans too, they should so be treated first before any law comes into action. They must not be discriminated, they must be helped in what ever way because in my opinion their brain is just twisted. If they can be mentally checked, they can return to normal. Thanks
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I like the points u raised, but there is no culture or tribe in this country that is permissive of a man gifting his guest of his wife
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Reblogged this on Embakasi Reloaded.
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I have read so many articles concerning the blogger
lovers except this paragraph is genuinely a pleasant
piece of writing, keep it up.
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You should be ashamed of yourself. The only reason you claimed that article is biased is because it told the truth (aka hate crime in US) and since it doesn’t support your agenda, you have no remorse.
Check the the internet yourself. Even the CDC supports to the letter, everything that was stated above on the consequences of homosexualism and even recognizes 70% of children are better off in biologically correct families.
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Oops, the above reply was for [him @ Jan 17, 2014 at 5:25pm]
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Hmm… I did not give much thought to the issue of homosexuality in Nigeria until the passage of the Same-sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act 2013. In my opinion, both the Act and all other antigay laws in Nigeria are unconstitutional and in breach of the fundamental rights of homosexuals. Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to challenge the validty of Nigeria’s antigay legislations in court. In all the ,cases I have heard and had, the participants are not consenting adults – it is either t he ‘victim’ is a minor or an unwilling adult. This makes them basically cases of rape, attempted rape, and indecent assault in the borrowed robe of unatural offence or sodomy.
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Is that the only biblical verses u know? Let me enlighten u “Genesis chapter 19 records the two angels, disguised as human men, visiting Sodom and Gomorrah. “Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom — both young and old — surrounded the house. They called to Lot, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.'” The angels then proceed to blind all the men of Sodom and Gomorrah and urge Lot and his family to flee from the cities to escape the wrath that God was about to deliver” not just Nigeria but the bible codemnes it
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“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
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Great comments!but I want to ask, please, should these gays and lesbians be given the right to adopt?
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