Listen, let’s face the stark reality, being gay in Nigeria is an abomination. People don’t tell you to your face…(maybe) but they think it.
Being gay in a country that has a facade of high morality levels is a completely unacceptable phenomenon. It is even considered a crime.
Despite a rapidly failing economy, an obscene level of corruption and the poverty rate in Nigeria, the “gays” somehow take first place when it has to do with a fast paced government response.
In a country like Nigeria with individuals who are super religious and have preconceived notions and cultural ideas about a persons sexuality, being gay is a very daring thing to be. It embodies audacity.
This Is What It Really Means To Be Gay In Nigeria
{Excerpts Culled From The Conversation Uk}
In Nigeria, a gay person when caught in the act can face up to 14 years in prison. This law which has been boldly crafted automatically makes being gay a “crime”.
A gay person in Nigeria who boldly leaves their truth stands a high chance of experiencing constant threats and violence each time they step out of their comfort zones. The Gays and bisexuals are already aware of this fact and so they stilt themselves for these acts of discrimination which they’re bound to experience.
Because of the negativity hurled towards gays in Nigeria, a lot of them have gone to great lengths to conceal their sexual orientation. This is why their are stories of people who get into marriages and eventually cheat or leave their partners for a person of the same sex.
Nigerians also hold the belief that a gay person can be a negative impact on younger generations because you see, it is “something learnt”, “something that can be taught” “something unnatural”.
A majority of Gay individuals in Nigeria have an internalized self hate which stems from consistently being told that they are a “group” meant to be hated. This factors also increases their chances of slipping into depression or wading through deep mental health issues.
There have been very minor research done on gay people in Nigeria and how they manage the constant negative onslaughts.
A research done by the conversation UK has revealed a more personalized experience of gays in Nigeria.
Study And Findings Of Gay And Bisexual Individuals In Nigeria
-Culled From The Conversation Uk
“We asked 89 gay and bisexual Nigerian men to fill in questionnaires that asked them about self-stigma due to being gay and bisexual, quality of life and the coping strategies they used.
We found that the men in our study were more likely to use positive – or helpful – coping strategies rather than negative ones. These included accepting things as they were – in other words they accepted their sexual orientation and adopted a positive attitude towards it. Strategies like this were also associated with better quality of life.
But there were also those in our study who had adopted unhelpful strategies. These included smoking and drinking. These, in turn, were associated with poorer quality of life.
Other studies have shown that higher levels of stress in situations like this were often associated with more mental health problems and poor quality of life.
Our findings, however, weren’t as straightforward. Overall, self-stigma was associated with poor quality of life, but when the level of self-stigma was low, its effects were offset by using positive strategies. However, when the levels of self-stigma were high, the positive strategies could not offset the associated poor quality of life.”
Conclusively, the quality of life of a gay person in Nigeria is greatly reduced. Their stress levels experience alarming increase and they have a greater chance of experiencing depressive episodes.
