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Ade from AfroOdyssey IV: 100 Years Later (Image credit: Huffington Post)
One of the first international reactions to Nigeria President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s same-sex marriage bill was from USA, with Secretary of State John Kerry calling it a ‘dangerous’ restriction of freedom. According to him, "the United States is deeply concerned by Nigeria's enactment of the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act. Beyond even prohibiting same-sex marriage, this law dangerously restricts freedom of assembly, association and expression for all Nigerians.”
Huffingtonpost reports that the aftermath of the law has been noteworthy. There has been a correspondingly dramatically high increase in arrests in the country as dozens of people suspected to be gay have been rounded up and interrogated. There is a possibility of being lynched and beaten to death in the Northern states under the Shariah law.
As AP reports, “Under the Islamic Shariah law that prevails in nine of its 36 states gay people can get lynched and beaten to death, or legally executed by stoning for the offense. Sodomy was already illegal, but the bill signed into law January 7 bans all gay associations and gay marriage, with penalties of up to 14 years' imprisonment for marriage."
Ade is a Nigerian-American artist and a LGBT activist. She has been living in Lagos on a Fulbright scholarship when the law was signed into effect. In her project, AfroOdyssey IV: 100 Years Later, Ade speaks of her perspective as far as the queer life is concerned and how it relates with the religious fanaticism characterized by the Nigerian sociological climate. In her words, "I just completed an experimental short-film entitledAfroOdyssey IV: 100 Years Later, which plays with images, figures and objects that help us critique religion's subtle and/or overt machinations within Nigerian society."
In an interview with Huffingtonpost here, she spoke of her reaction to the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act: “My first reaction to the signing of the bill was pure rage… In the year 2014, Nigeria's 100th birth-year (it was amalgamated in 1914 by the British), this country decided to move backwards in its evolutionary process. What a shame!
Making reference to senator Yerima, she noted that “he same country that just allowed a senator to marry an innocent fourteen year-old girl, has now criminalized homosexuality under the false disguise of same-sex marriage. Whose rights are they planning to go after next?”
Ade feels that the anti-gay law is only the beginning, and she fears that women may be the ultimate victims. “History teaches us that the target criminals next in line are women, after innocent children and gay people. Especially if the Bible and the Koran guide the law. So if you are an unmarried woman, beware! If you are married but have no children, beware! If you have ever cheated on your husband, beware! If you dress a little too sexy, beware! If you have your own opinion about anything as a woman, beware!”
She also commented on the effect the anti-gay bill has had on the gay community. She says that the gay community has gone underground, for fear of irrational violence against them. “Anyone who even looks like he or she may be queer could be subject to violent mob action, talk less of jail,” she said. “There are scary stories coming from Northern and Eastern Nigeria of police targets and gay-lists being used to round up members of the community. We have also heard that people are being arrested in Oyo and Ibadan. Gay people are terrified and thus playing it safe should the same start happening in Lagos.”
Meanwhile, she mentioned that “the Initiative for Equal Rights (TIERS), a human rights organization based in Lagos, has created a 24-hour hotline for people to call into in case of an emergency.”
Now that homosexuals cannot come out in the open for alliance or association, she says that the virtual world is the next frontier for their meetings. “When physical space is threatened, virtual spaces takes over. Virtual sites have become the stage for debate. It is the place where friendships become null and void and when new alliances can be formed.” She noted that although there is no obvious merger of all sub-groups of the gay community with a definite course of action right now, this doesn’t forestall the possibility of its emergence in the succeeding months.
Ade, who “came out of the closet as an adult after being married previously to a man”, says “In America we like to say -- Freedom ain't free! America has many good lessons Nigeria can learn from when it comes to the fight for civil rights. I keep this in mind while I am here. What Nigeria is attempting to do to its people is set the stage for mass incarceration of homosexuals.
Ask yourself -- why wouldn't the government do this, when they have never apologized for the genocide of Biafra? History should not repeat itself. But it seems Nigeria, whether it realizes it or not, has laid the grounds for another disastrous situation which will affect millions of people.”
Sending a direct message to President Goodluck Jonathan, Ade said “You underestimate us. We are a super-connected, dynamic and global force, not just a bunch of helpless individuals living under a hut in a village. You have just poured fuel on top of the already existing anger of an entire generation. It seems your rationalization of this bill went as far as this: "Nigerian Muslims and Christians keep fighting one another. They don't like me. This bill will make everybody like me." What a shame that you chose to use hate as a medium for "uniting" the country. Real leaders, as you yourself heard during Nelson Mandela's funeral, use love and compassion to unite people. Your selfish actions at the expense of innocent people have laid fresh grounds for other forms of hate. Did you realize this when you lifted that poisonous ink pen?”
Full interview here: Huffington Post
