To wrap up pride month in this final week, Elvis Osifo, through this Op-ed, explores how members of the Queer community in Nigeria are commemorating pride month.
If you are a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, you are aware that June is a crucial month. If you are familiar with your past, you will recognize the significance and impact of honouring it — Pride. It’s been a long time since the Stonewall riots of 1969, when sheroes such as Marsha P Johnson, Stormé DeLarverie, and Sylvia Rivera, among others, championed the fight-back against the police, resulting in protests against institutions that sought to appropriate, repress, and even shut down the LGBTQIA+ community.
Since then, the month of June has been designated to celebrate love, freedom, visibility, and inclusivity, which is what pride is all about: people coming out to say, “We Are Here” and “We Deserve A Seat At The Table.”
It began in New York City and has since grown into a worldwide event.
This year’s march and parade will mark 53 years of Pride celebrations in the United States, and five decades of Pride celebrations in the United Kingdom amongs others. With the SSMPA still going on, Africa, and Nigeria as we know it, is still very much an illiberal state, and she isn’t exactly hyped about observing the celebration. However, a few queer Nigerians are refusing to let their authenticity and queerness be suffocated by the reality of their place or environment.
We spoke with twelve (12) queer Nigerians who are proud of their identities and sexualities, and have made a pact with themselves not to loudly celebrate — because carrying a rainbow flag or trans-coloured body paint through the streets of Lagos, or any other major state in the country, while displaying same-sex PDA, as in major marches and parades, is suicidal and illegal — but to quietly commemorate the cultural phenomenon.
LIBER
What’s your identity and your sexuality?
“I am a non binary-agender, my pronouns are they/them, and I’m Pansexual or just queer. It’s sorta complicated”
How are you commemorating Pride?
“I’ll be attending a couple of events and just living authentically”
DAVINA
What’s your identity and your sexuality?
“I identify as Otutu ze! Lol, I’m just kidding. I am a Bisexual Woman, and my pronouns are she/her”
How are you commemorating Pride?
“Since I’m not around people I can freely express myself to, I just read sometimes on the history of gay celebrities, watch gay movies and stuff…not much, unfortunately”
STEPHANIE
What’s your identity and your sexuality?
“I am a Woman, my pronouns are she/her, and I am a Lesbian”
How are you commemorating Pride?
“I’m looking out for a couple of parties”
AUDREY
What’s your identity and your sexuality?
“I am a Woman, my pronouns are she/her, and I am a Lesbian”
How are you commemorating Pride?
“You’re asking me if I’m celebrating Pride in this detty Lagos. God no lol. For pride, I am trying to get my finances right. I’m a capitalism slave. I wake up, and I slave.”
UKEM
What’s your identity and your sexuality?
“I am a Man, my pronouns are he/him, and I am Gay”
How are you commemorating Pride?
“Involvement as much as possible in discussions that seek to enlighten and educate on discrimination of LGBT minorities, open to participating in community fora and parties, as the case may be, also finally binge-watching every gay movie I can lay my hands on”
JEFF
What’s your identity and your sexuality?
“I am a Man, my pronouns are he/him, and I am Gay”
How are you commemorating Pride?
“I’m not sure I’m allowed to celebrate pride here yet, nor post about it. However, I am going to like and comment on queer content I see online”
FEJIRO
What’s your identity and your sexuality?
“I am a Bisexual Woman, and my pronouns are she/her.”
How are you commemorating Pride?
“Volunteering to an LGTBQ+ nonprofit around me”
PRECIOUS
What’s your identity and your sexuality?
“I identify as the shit! Lmao, I’m just kidding. I’m a Bisexual Woman, and my pronouns are she/her.”
How are you commemorating Pride?
“Just really grounding and educating myself on queer, and queer-related stuff”
RACHEL
What’s your identity and your sexuality?
“I am queer and my pronouns are her/they”
How are you commemorating Pride?
“I’m connecting with the community here, reading books on queer life in Nigeria and getting to know about pride history.”
VEE
What’s your identity and your sexuality?
“I am a Bisexual Woman, my pronouns are they/them,”
How are you commemorating Pride?
“Lol, will it sound weird if I say I have attended and plan to attend tons of queer parties this month?…. I actually wear my queerness on my sleeve, it’s hard not to notice.”
AMBROSE
What’s your identity and your sexuality?
“I am a Man, my pronouns are he/him, and I am very much Gay”
How are you commemorating Pride?
“Spending it with a couple of queer friends and just being around people like myself. Using the month to also only watch queer shows, because why not?”
DAWN
What’s your identity and your sexuality?
“I am a Man, my pronouns are he/him, and I am a homosexual Gay boy lol”
How are you commemorating Pride?
“I’m attending a pride event in Lagos. And, I’ve been looking forward to it. I’d be working on some looks for myself and a few friends going by the theme of the event.”