#naija.

Hello,

We’re going to start off strong and kind of controversial 😅.

Under the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act, same-sex marriage and public same-sex relationships carry up to 14 years in prison. In some Sharia-implementing northern states, same-sex acts can carry the death penalty under certain interpretations of Islamic law.

Have you heard of kito? Kito is a form of extortion and violence where people pretend to be LGBT‑friendly and lure actual queer people, then assault, blackmail, or expose them—sometimes even murder them.

I think it was in October that I heard of a man who got kitoed and was pushed off a building. Most times, victims can’t even report to the authorities because they will be arrested.

Banning homosexuality is just creating a market for crime where the criminals are more protected than the victims. Criminalizing identity creates perfect conditions for violence to bloom. Abuse now becomes profitable.

It’s actually sickening that people will go out of their way to harm members of the LGBT community but will turn a blind eye to rapists and pedophiles.

Nigeria and misplaced priorities na 5 and 6.

They are wasting money to create laws that are not needed.

The police treat rape cases and domestic violence like they’re nothing. The perpetrators keep doing it because they know they’ll get away with a slap on the wrist. Laws are meant to protect people from harm, not personal discomfort. Criminalizing identity and failing victims of sexual and domestic violence is morally corrupt.

For a country with rampant insecurity, deeply rooted corruption, poor healthcare, poor education systems, and a struggling economy, I really think Yaoi and Yuri are the least of your problems.

My theory is that things were going bad during the time when homosexuality was officially banned, so the president needed something to raise public morale and get everyone on his side. He banned gayness because Nigeria is a very conservative country, and conservative people—regardless of religion—love their holy books and hate gay people. So he banned homosexuality, and they all praised him for doing the Lord’s work. (This is just an opinion, ohhh. I don’t know what I’m talking about. Please don’t sue me 🙏)

Call me crazy, but religion and law should have nothing to do with each other. Nobody’s religion should be the reason we make laws.

Honestly, all these things are caused by amebo—because what’s your business? People need to realize that their own set of beliefs and opinions don’t apply to or affect other people. The fact that your religion says no doesn’t actually affect anyone apart from you.

Sure, the Bible says (insert homophobic verse here), but you know what the Bible also says? “Thou shall love thy neighbor” (Mark 12:31), “thou shall not kill” (Deuteronomy 5:17), and “thou shall mind thy business” (1 Thessalonians 4:11).

And technically, the Bible doesn’t condemn all of the LGBTQ community. Like asexual people? They’re basically nuns. And Christians are crazy about celibacy, so they’re basically doing the Lord’s work. Even polyamorous people? Solomon was basically one of God’s favorite people, and he had like 700 wives and 300 concubines or something. He had enough women for like three years. He could sleep with another woman every night and not run out for almost half a decade. Didn’t the Bible say something about greed? Like, leave some for the rest of us, bro 🤧.

And besides, Jesus never even spoke on homosexuality—Paul did. You guys are busy focusing on Paul’s opinions and ignoring Jesus’ own words on love and mercy… Y’all make really interesting choices. Paul also said in 1 Corinthians 1:13, “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?”

I joined this church group, yeah? And they had an anonymous night where people sent questions and things they needed advice on to an anonymous website called NGL or something. Then the admin would share it in the group, and we’d talk about it. One girl said that her mum was molesting her and she didn’t know what to do. Everyone in the group was saying things like, “Omg, I can’t believe her mum is a lesbian,” as if her mum was not doing things incomparable to lesbianism. As if a woman molesting her own daughter was the lesser crime there. The woman is a child molester. She’s committing incest. She’s a pedophile. And the only thing they could take away from that poor girl’s story was that the mum was a lesbian 🤦🏾‍♀️. Smh 😒. It’s honestly so disappointing. How can you allow your homophobia to block your moral compass?

This is exactly what happened in the Bible. The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is a favorite for condemning homosexuality. God rains sulphur and brutally destroys an entire civilization because everyone was just sooo gay. Classic.

But if you actually read the Bible, it’s quite obvious that it wasn’t actually about homosexuality at all. The Bible says that the people of Sodom were very wicked, and God destroyed them because of their wickedness and inhospitality. Sure, the men wanted to sleep with the angels, but I think it wasn’t a gay thing—it was more of a power thing. Sexual violence has often been used as a tool of dominance, not desire. They just wanted to humiliate them.

And in the story, there are much worse sins than men sleeping with other men, but nobody ever talks about the fact that Lot literally offered his two virgin daughters to be raped instead. Mind you, he had just met those men that day. He had known them for hours, not days—hours. And he offered his daughters to be gang‑raped by the entire town in place of men he knew literally nothing about. Personally, I think Lot should’ve been destroyed in the fire too. He’s a terrible person, and he’s just as bad as the rapists.

And since we’re on the topic, let’s talk about Lot’s wife. I think it’s very unfair how God turned her into a pillar of salt. Her home, her family and friends, her belongings—everything she had ever known—was being set ablaze by fire raining from the sky. Can you really blame her for wanting to take one last look? I’m just saying, if my entire town was on fire with my family in it, I would look back 🤷🏾‍♀️. She didn’t deserve to die.

And it’s totally fine if you still disagree with homosexuality or the LGBT community as a whole, but you shouldn’t go ahead and pass laws that restrict people from expressing themselves just because you don’t like it. There are religions where people can’t eat pork, but they don’t pass laws that stop other people from eating pork. Fine—you and your community don’t have to accept homosexuality, but don’t force other people to follow those same rules. They are not affecting you in any way. Let people liveeeee 😭😭.

You don’t have to agree with how someone lives their life. You can be as holy as you want, but without compassion, you’ll still enter the hell you’re running from.

1 Corinthians 13:1: “I may be able to speak many different languages that people or angels speak, but that is worth nothing if I do not love other people. I would only be making a loud noise, like someone who hits a metal cymbal.”