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Resisting Anti-Gay Laws through Media Advocacy and Online Communities of Meanings: A Study on Nigerian Homosexuals

Endong, Floribert Patrick Calvain
Vareba, Anthony Leva
Resisting Anti-Gay Laws through Media Advocacy

Abstract
The systematic demonization and criminalization of homosexuality in Nigeria have exacerbated homophobia in the Nigerian society. Such a scenario has immensely been reported by mostly western or west-based scholars and exploited as another argument to tarnish the image of Nigeria in the international scene. A detail which has virtually not caught the attention of most scholars is the ensemble of efforts by indigenous social forces such as the Nigerian civil society (NGOs and human right activists) in view of resisting the Nigerian anti-gay dispensation and defending the rights of LGBT persons in the country. This paper opts to fill this gap. It reviews various advocacy initiatives conceived by the Nigerian civil society and geared towards pushing LGBT rights in Nigeria. It particularly explores this stakeholder’s mobilization of media advocacy and the social media to mediate the plight of Nigerian homosexuals and raise awareness about the human rights of LGBT persons in the country. It argues that though tremendous, these advocacy initiatives are yet to produce very consequential fruits. Minds are still slow to change meanwhile conservative/ traditionalist myths continue to govern and dominate in the Nigerian public opinion. All these tend to suggest that homosexuality still has a long way to go for it to be fully accommodated in the Nigerian social system as well as to be ultimately decriminalized.
Keywords: Media advocacy, LGBT Right Movement, Homosexuality, Social Media, Online Communities
  1. Introduction
As a contentious phenomenon, African homosexuality has left no contemporary school of thought indifferent in the Dark Continent. In Nigeria particularly, the phenomenon has progressively metamorphosed into homophobia. Indeed, homosexuality is mainly demonized in the country’s political and social spheres, on bases which range from culturalist arguments (cultural purism) to biblical injunctions or postulations. Similarly to most African countries, the Nigerian Government has enacted laws which severely criminalize the phenomenon, sentencing to 14 years of imprisonment any convicted case of homosexuality and to 10 years imprisonment any person who assists a marriage between homosexual persons. The Nigerian law equally represses same sex unions, membership in gay group as well as public display of same-sex relationship. Furthermore, the law fervently exhorts the populace to report any suspected case of homosexuality to the cops. Such a visibly “harsh” dispensation has literally exacerbated the stigmatization and ostracism of the gay community as well as has exposed them (the gay fold) to such risks as blackmail, extortions, public humiliation or lynching. In addition to this, the anti-gay dispensation has systematically slowed and handicapped advocacy or activism for the phenomenon (African homosexuality). Such a negative impact of the anti-gay laws is felt particularly in the mainstream media, which are driven by a relatively homophobic code (see Article 3.7.5 of the 2010 Nigerian Broadcasting Code). In such an environment, freedom of expression is violated and pro-gay activism is made to basically be underground or clandestine. The international civil rights observatory body Human Right Watch (HRW) actually predicted such a scenario in 2011 – when the legislation was still in gestation. Human Right Watch succinctly foresaw that: “the bill will expand Nigeria‘s already draconian punishments for consensual same-sex conduct and set a precedent that would threaten all Nigerians‘ rights to privacy, equality, free expression, association and to be free from discrimination” (cited in Adebayo 2012:58).
The Nigerian (anti-gay) laws actually violate a wide range of civil rights. They create a climate of intimidation and fear which is un-friendly to media advocacy and activism for LGBT rights. The laws also threaten self-expression by LGBT people and their allies; and systematically hinder the expression of support for LGBTI human rights. Furthermore, the laws indirectly affect Nigeria’s literary, artistic, and cultural communities as they put LGBT writers and artists at risk of criminal prosecution and violent physical attack, as well as limits their ability to publish and distribute their works in the Nigerian territory.  Additionally, the law threatens freedom of expression thereby eroding the strength of Nigerian democracy.
In reaction to this situation, a number of western democracies led by the USA have embarked on a series of both diplomatic and subtly “aggressive” approaches aimed at advocating the decriminalization of homosexuality in the country. In the process, these western countries have mounted multifaceted pressure on the Nigerian Government in a bid  to ultimately compel it to recognize LGBT rights as human rights. In so doing, they even sometimes threatened to discontinue their cooperation especially their financial aid. These exogenous pro-gay efforts have been complemented or supplemented by indigenous struggles by some LGBT rights activists, NGOs, and “charismatic” and courageous LGBT Nigerians (notably Reverend Rowland Jide Macauley, Davis Mac-Iyalla, Bisi Alimi, Ade Adeniji and Yemisi Ilesanmi among others).  Despite these pressures and threats, the Nigerian society is still terribly homophobic and the country persists in its criminalization philosophy, brandishing culturalist and moralist arguments. As succinctly put by David Mark (2014) (the leader of Nigerian Senate and the man responsible for the same-sex marriage prohibition Act), the anti-gay dispensation will “prove to the rest of the world, who are advocates of this unnatural way [homosexuality] that Nigerians promote and respect sanity, morality and homosexuality”.
The criminalization of homosexuality and western countries’ pressure in favor of the LGBT movement are fueling a hot and delicate debate involving cardinal social and political forces including the media of mass communication. Going from this premise, homosexuality (as a sexual orientation) and LGBT rights movement (as a human right philosophy and arguably presented as a facet of westernization/cultural imperialism) have become the subjects of passionate debate in the social networks in Nigeria. This debate involves serious interactions between Nigerian bloggers or web journalists – among which should be counted a myriad of LGBT persons and sympathizers – and their fans/readers. Indeed, the social networks have created a fertile forum for discussion and negotiations on African homosexuality and the LGBT right movement. They have, in various ways, immensely facilitated pro-gay expressions by Nigerians and advocacy for the LGBT right movement. Such an advocacy and activism are virtually more complicated – if not somehow stultified – in the mainstream media, given the fact that the industry is naturally governed by a homophobic media law (the Nigerian Broadcasting Code 2010). One way in which this advocacy has been made possible is the creation of online communities by gays, through interactions on facebook, Twiter, relevant and tactically conceived web sites and blogs among other instrumentalities. This paper critically examines the various strategies LGBT activists and pro-gay Nigerians employed to engineer advocacy efforts in favor of the gay-proselytism. It particularly analyses how the social networks are mobilized by the gay community as a strategic weapon to describe their plight, mount an advocacy for the LGBT right movement in Nigeria and resist or react to a dispensation which is highly unfavorable/ asphyxiating to them.
  1. Theoretical Framework
This paper is anchored on two principal theories namely (i) the media advocacy theory and (ii) the ideology and hegemony theory.
The Media Advocacy Theory: Before diving into an explanation of this theory it will be important to define the term advocacy. Advocacy is a process whereby individuals, groups or other social forces embark on activities geared towards influencing public policy and interest. One could also apprehend advocacy as a situation where an individual or group aims at resource allocation decision in a socio-political system. Such an initiative could be motivated by moral ethical or faith principles aimed at protecting an asset or interest. Advocacy may be reflected in media campaigns, public speaking commissioning and publishing research or poll. Media advocacy theory therefore stipulates that the media have great potentials to serve as platforms where series of actions could be taken and vital issues highlighted, to change the “what is” (socio-political dysnomia) into a “what should be” (an ideal situation), as a decent social value.
            The mass media are seen as constituting a veritable platform to advance a common cause because of their pivotal role in the society. Information and communication are fundamentals in contemporary societies. As a unique feature of society, mass media development has orchestrated an increase in scale and complexity of societal activities. The technological innovations in information and communication technologies have set the pace for more aggressive media advocacy in Nigeria and the world in general. This paradigm shift is manifested in information accessibility with the emerging new media and internet technologies. Media advocacy can be as a counter voice of discrimination against homosexuals in all facets of our country Nigeria and the globe.
The ideology and Hegemony Theory: Gramsci’s (1971) theory of hegemony borders on power relation between constitutive classes in a given society. As a framework often considered in cultural studies, hegemony seeks to describe the ability of the dominant class in a given society to exercise social and cultural leadership by worn consent (the consent of the minority or less dominant class) rather than by direct coercion. Such a leadership helps the dominant class (otherwise called power bloc) to maintain its power over the political, economic and cultural direction of the nation. In a situation of hegemonic control, power is secured by the dominant class not by forcing the weaker class against its own will or judgment to concede power to the already-powerful, but by winning the consent of the latter through multiple and complex ways of naturalizing its leadership and of rendering it a form of common sense. Naturalizing its leadership actually entails mobilizing ways of popularizing class ideology and making it be regarded by the weaker class as fair and unarguable. As explained by O’Sullivan (1996:103-104),
The upshot [in a context of hegemonic control] is that power can be exercised not as force but as “authority” and “cultural” aspects of life are depoliticized. Those strategies for making sense of one’s self and the world that are most easily available and officially encouraged appear not as strategies but as natural (unarguable) proprieties of “human nature”. Alternative strategies – based on oppositional politics or counter – hegemonic consciousness – not only appear as “unofficial” in the context, but also are likely to be represented as literally non-sense, impossible to imagine, incapable of being represented.
To therefore be effective, hegemonic-control operates in the realm of consciousness and representation. Its success highly depends on the power bloc’s capacity to employ the ideological state apparatuses to define, establish and put into circulation the totality of social, cultural and individual experiences. These ideological state apparatuses include institutions such as the law, the educational system, the media, religious dogmas and the family. Such institutions represent prolific tools for the production of meaning, knowledge and sense. They actually organize and (re)produce individual and social consciousness and their capacity to effectively function as such lies primarily on the myth which present them as being impartial, neutral and representative of everybody, irrespective of age, gender, race or class. However, hegemonic control is never total or perfect as there will always emerge conflicts of interest between classes as well as concurrent forms of consciousness and representations driven by counter hegemonic forces. The struggle between hegemonic and counter-hegemonic forms of consciousness is captured in the (more or less inter-related) phenomena of representation, re-representation, misrepresentation, corrective representation etc, often observed in the mass media and in the other sensitive social institutions.
  1. Anti-Gay Laws as a Fruit of Nigeria’s Conservatism and Religiosity
Nigerians’ views on sexuality have dominantly been influenced by religion (particularly Christianity and Islam) and traditionalism. So too has a good number of national socio-political projects – notable the Nigerian Cultural Policy and Constitution – been informed by the culturalist and religious dogmas/rhetoric. This, by the way, is unsurprising for a society branded very conservatist and “morally inclined”. In effect, according to most interpretations of the Bible, homosexuality is a satanic and glaringly deviant sexuality. It is an unnatural way, a serious felony against God. The verses often brandished to buttress this religious argument include Genesis 19:1-13, Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13, Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 1:26-27, 1 Timothy 1:8-11 and Jude 6-7. However the tendency to anchor anti-gay discourse on biblical injunctions has not been the sole preserve of homophobia advocates. As we shall see in subsequent section of this paper, some pro-gay sentiments have been grounded on biblical exhortations addressed to fallible men not to judge and condemn their neighbors. All these facts tend to confirm Johnson’s (2011:2) remark that on matters of Christian construction of homosexuality, “biblical texts never speak for themselves; they always need interpretation. Indeed, texts don’t speak at all. But people do speak, and people of faith often speak with biblical texts. How people speak with biblical texts is informed to a large degree by their cultural contexts and social histories”.
One of the strongest theories brandished to justify the enactment of anti-gay laws is the presumed “un-nigerianess” of homosexuality. This is visibly in line with the general move by most African leaders to reject gayism/gayness and lesbianism on ground that they are un-African sexualities and extremely poisonous cultural values exported by the west. Senator David Mark (2014) for instance, categorically classified homosexuality among western values that are inacceptable in the Nigerian society. In his words, “there are many good values we [Nigerians] can copy from other societies but certainly not this one [homosexuality]”. Decriminalizing homosexuality in Nigeria could therefore be equated to creating conditions favorable for an acute westernization of Nigeria. It will more especially be viewed as encouraging cultural pollution in the country. However, critics such as Tamale (2013) opine that “the sad, tired but widely accepted myth that homosexuality is un-African has been valorized and erected on the altar of falsehood time after time”. In effect, recent research in anthropology has evidenced the existence of homosexual practices in some African cultures (Okanlawon 2014; Stewart 2014; Zabus 2015; Paulat 2015). In the Nigerian context, this scenario is illustrated by the ‘yan idaudu’ people of Northern Nigeria who, since the pre-colonial people were gender non-conformist and clandestinely indulged  in same-sex sexual intercourse. And because the theoretically conform to the traditional system by getting married and making children, they were not seen as a menace in their societies and were therefore not stigmatized and discriminated against.
A number of critics and political analysts have associated African leaders’ rigid crusade against homosexuality to a populist tendency and a smart strategy to win the sympathy and eventually the votes of masses. In effect, homosexuality is still very unpopular in most African societies including Nigeria. With this, a politician who manifests pro-homosexuality feelings – especially publicly – is, in theory, running the risk of losing his popularity.  In line with this, Tamale (2013) associates most African presidents’ anti-gay actions to political ploys often ahead of presidential elections or political campaigns. Such ploys also enable them divert the attention of masses from thorny socio-economic problems such as unemployment, poverty, inflation, corruption among others. African political leaders and legislators therefore easily succumb to populist pressures and condemn an otherwise law-abiding sexual minority to a variety of injustices namely maximum sentences.
Tamale’s allusions may not be that far from the situation in Nigeria and other anti-gay African countries, in which politicians – sometimes “hypocritically” – endorse the prevailing philosophy of homophobia to please and pacify a population extremely afflicted by a host of socio-political and economic problems. The least one could say is that Nigerian politicians’ criminalization of homosexuality and resistance to the pro-gay proselytism of the west is greeted with phenomenal acclaims. A number of polls have clearly demonstrated this tendency. According to a 2014 public opinion poll conducted by a Ga­llup-affiliated polling firm, 87 percent of Nigerians s­upport the ban on same sex relationshi­p meanwhile, 8 in 10 believe gay people should ­not be permitted equal rights (Ugwu 2015). Similar results were obtained by a 2013 survey conducted by NOI Poll which indicated that 92% of the Nigerian populace support the anti-gay legislation prevailing in the country (TIERS 2014).
  1. Resisting Anti-Gay Laws and a Homophobic Milieu Through Media Advocacy
The homophobic nature of the Nigerian society has not totally frozen and incapacitated pro-gay proselytism by both exogenous and indigenous activists. A number of outstanding initiatives have been engineered by particular NGOs, activists and distinguished homosexual persons to attempt to orchestrate a change of mind and break both the status quo and the silence about the LGBT community’s experience – which strongly identify itself positively, as a strategy to resist stigmatization and ostracism. A number of highly dedicated NGOs such as the International Centre for Sexual Reproductive Rights (INCRESE), The Initiative for Equal Rights (TIERs), the International Centre on Advocacy for the Right to Health and Equal Rights (WHER) and House of Rainbow among others, frequently embark on multifaceted activism, offering a wide range of services – legal, medical and orientation assistance – to LGBT persons in Nigeria. Notwithstanding the homophobic discourse and rhetoric constructed by conservative Christian churches and other religious opinion leaders, the LGBT initiative House of Rainbow has designed “original spiritual” activities and programs to enable the LGBT persons reconcile their sexuality and their religious convictions. As enthised by Reverend Rowland Olajide Macaulay (the founder of the initiative), his church is “a voice of the younger generation of citizens, activists and diaspora, and our collective belief in a more progressive Nigeria […] Religion is a backbone to life in Nigeria, so, we all want to go to church. But we don’t want to lie to God about who we are” (cited in Vanguard 2015). House of Rainbow has equally been providing regular educational resources and assistance to the LGBT persons and has been organizing conferences and orientation seminars on human rights.
Similarly to Macaulay’s initiative, INCRESE and TIERs are noted for their efforts in building alliances with pro-LGBT right partners such as diplomatic missions present in Nigeria, legal services, human right activists and relevant donors among other advocates, in view of supporting LGBT rights in the country. In line with this, a number of Nigerian activists have been advocating for LGBT right by making a case for the movement at public hearings of anti-gay bills. As noted by Okanlanwon (2011), such occasions have been fertile forums for these advocates to remind Nigerians of the historical tolerance for sexual diversity in the Nigerian Federation. Unfortunately, given the prevalence of homophobia in the Nigerian political class, their advocacy often tends to be “sermon delivered to deaf ears or to the desert”. The Nigerian tabloid Vanguard (2015) makes allusion to such a scenario when it recounts the unsuccessful attempt by a female LGBT right activist (Chinwe) whose argumentation at such public hearing was a veritable fiasco.
At the public hearing in Benin, Edo State, the self confessed Lesbian (Chinwe) wept profusely before the gathering why homosexuality should be enshrined in Nigeria’s constitution as a way of life and an infringement of their (homosexuals) fundamental human rights if their agitation is treated with levity.
Nigerians marveled at the impudence and shamelessness of her face saving remarks. They variably winced under the biting sarcasm her comments elicited. But the last sentence, they found very exasperating as villainous tongues of women in the vicinity lashed out with a sting that was too painful for her [Chinwe] to bear. (Vanguard 2015)
The reigning philosophy of homophobia notwithstanding, the advocacy for LGBT rights continues, sometimes underground and driven by clandestine LGBT networks existing all over the Nigerian territory, including the strongly conservative North where sharia laws are implemented. Through these clandestine networks, LGBT persons tactfully organize gatherings – notably gay parties and other recreational ceremonies – during which they socialize, network and exchange ideas. The design of such clandestine activities has equally engendered the coinages/conception of specific codes, forms of argot and sexual slangs in Nigerian indigenous languages, understood exclusively by initiated gay people. A good example is SAGBA which means the struggle.
A prominent feature of LGBT persons’ resistance to anti-gay proselytism in Nigeria has been media advocacy. Nigerian elite newspapers (such as ThisDay, Vanguard) and audio visual media outlets (such as the Nigerian Television Authority [NTA]) have respectively devoted news wholes and air time (articles and edition of media programs) to describing the plight of Nigerian homosexuals. In such articles and audio-visual media programs, some courageous LGBT persons such as Reverend Rowland Olajide Macaulay, Yemisi Ilesanmi and Bisi Alimi have been objectively interviewed and made to indirectly defend the LGBT right movement in Nigeria. Such programs have actually helped public opinion to associate Nigerian faces to the LGBT rights idiom and systematically challenge the myriad of myths which arguably categorize homosexuality as a western cultural value or a western social malaise. Additionally, some Nigerian LGBT groups have produced thought-provoking documentaries – notably “Veil of Silence” and “SAGBA” to raise awareness about their human right situation and their day to day struggles. Such resistance efforts are complemented by a number of books written by such NGOs as TIERs and INCRESE (Unspoken Rights and Sexual Diversity and Human Rights in Nigeria). In addition to this, INCRESE has continuously built solid alliances with journalists and reporters, aimed at sensitizing the personnel of various media outlets and encouraging responsible and ethical journalism. This initiative has been ultimately aimed at resisting the recurrent negative framing of the LGBT persons in the media and combat social injustices against the LGBT communities.
The use by LBGT right activists particularly of the audio-visual media could be said to be a glaring defiance of media laws which, as earlier highlighted, are homophobic. It is important here, to underscore the fact that in its chapter 3 devoted to program standards, the Nigerian Broadcasting Code (2010) provides a set of principles to clarify media professionals on morality and decency. It states that “sex-related acts such as adultery, prostitution, rape, bestiality, homosexuality, lesbianism, incest, etc, which are considered bad, shall not be presented, except as destructive practices to be avoided or denounced” (Article 3.7.5.). The pro-gay activism through the audio visual media has therefore been clear defeating of these principles.
  1. Nigerians Use of the Social Networks for LGBT Right Activism
The social networks have constituted a fertile platform for overt discussions on sensitive and delicate topics such as sex, politics and religion. Given their post-modern nature and the possibilities they offer for anonymity and unaccountability, a good number of communicators have preferred utilizing them for expressions on topics popularly considered taboos. In line with this, the social media have become a site of passionate debate and provocative or un-catholic expressions on homosexuality and a working weapon for the LGBT right movement in the world in general and in Nigeria in particular. No doubt a good number of LGBT persons and LGBT right advocates have quickly explored them for activism and advocacy. In effect a multitude of web sites and blogs have purposively been designed to raise awareness on the plight of homosexuals in Nigeria as well as their human right situation. Prominent Nigerian activists in the diaspora notably Yemisi Ilesanmi and Davis Mac-Iyalla often mobilize these media to hold heated debate on the plight of homosexuals in Nigeria. Such debates are staged on facebook, 2go and Black Berry Messengers (BBM) among others. Similarly, a number of Nigerian human right activists and pro-gay citizen journalists make it a duty to post pro-homosexuality articles on their blogs or published such articles in densely visited sites. In a study devoted to Nigerian web journalists and citizen journalists’ framing of the LGBT movement in Nigeria, Endong (2015) found that over 35.08% of the total number of articles considered for his study presented pro-gay sentiments, advocating a constitutional revision of queers’ status in Nigeria and an evolution of mentalities and social attitudes towards the LGBT folk. However, despite this trend, the study underscored that the anti-gay sentiments still dominated the contents of the articles, with a percentage of 54.38. Endong therefore concluded that the findings constitute an irrefutable evidence that “Nigerian bloggers and web journalists are more conservatist than liberal. They actually relay discriminatory and trivial arguments and discourses constructed by the Nigerian society on the queers”.
 As typical interactive spaces, Facebook and 2go seems to be a major attraction for communities of LGBT persons. In effect, special rooms tagged “lesbian room” do exist on 2go while an avalanche of pages on Facebook permit liberal interactions between members of the Nigerian LGBT community. Indeed, on Facebook, there exist pages such as “Lesbians group for sex alone”, “20’s and 30’s social lesbians group”, “call girl group-for lesbians only”, “spiritual lesbians” among others which are forums for intimate chats and socialization. A good section of the Nigerian public opinion believes that most LGBT persons used these avenues basically for clandestine amorous relationship, sexual harassment as well as for the nurturing of homosexual tendencies in vulnerable heterosexual Nigerians. In line with this, Vanguard (2015) laments that the social media are no longer innocuous as they have been systematically “hijacked for perverted purposes by unscrupulous individuals, especially those who are using it as tools for propagating sexual perversions”. Such observations simply relay the homophobic discourse endorsed in the political and social spheres of the country.
As earlier alluded to, the social media constitute a battle field where pro-gay activism/proselytism and the anti-gay evangelization seriously conflict. This is to say that LGBT right activists are confronted to a heavy psychological and cultural noise from conservatist/traditionalist bloggers, web journalists and users of the social network. This is clearly evidenced by the fact that, in most cases, the reaction of “presumed” Nigerians to most pro-gay online articles are dominantly negative. Such pro-gay articles are equally most often not commented or supported by other homosexuals or sympathizers. In such a context, making a case for LGBT movement in Nigeria is not always easy. Such an initiative demands endurance and tact. A number of Nigerian human right activists are conscious of this fact. They are making some efforts through media advocacy and the social networks to raise awareness about the human right situation of LGBT person in Nigeria. However, their efforts seem, for the moment to yield only patchy fruits, as homophobia still reign in Nigeria, as illustrated by Nigerian politicians’ and population’s views which are still unarguably in support of the criminalization of homosexuality.
  1. Conclusion
This paper has explored some of the efforts and initiatives carried out by NGOs and LGBT right activists in Nigeria to challenge the homophobic Nigerian society and the criminalization of homosexuality. Such a focus aimed at redressing the wide scholarship which tended to exclusively draw attention to the deleterious effects and implications of anti-gay laws in Nigeria, while remaining blind or ignorant of the tremendous efforts Nigerian activists towards ameliorating the situation of LGBT persons in the country. The paper critically reviewed the culturalist and religious arguments presented by the Nigerian politicians and opinion leaders to justify these anti-gay dispensation. It associated such a paradigm (the anti-gay laws) to disputed (and relatively arguable) interpretations of biblical scriptures on one hand and political strategies which hope to be in line with populist philosophy on the other hand.
The paper enumerated the efforts of such NGOs as TIERs, INCRESE, WHER, House of Rainbow among others, which, despite the prevailing philosophy of homophobia, have endeavored to be “positively deviant” serving as an antithetical force to correct violations of human rights in the country. This NGOs’ activism is seem in the legal, health, and orientation/counseling assistance which they provide to the Nigerian LGBT persons. Also documented in the paper are the initiatives of prominent LGBT persons such as Reverend Rowland Olajide Macaulay, Yemisi Ilesanmi, Davis Mac-Iyalla among others whose interventions through the media (in interviews) have enabled indirect advocacy for LGBT rights and permitted to associates Nigerian faces to the phenomenon of homosexuality. Such a thing permits to challenge myths which associate homosexuality to an exclusively western cultural value or social malady.
The social networks have also provided a fertile forum for discussion on homosexuality and advocacy for the decriminalization of homosexuality in Nigeria. Web sites and blogs have been designed by both LGBT right activists and LGBT persons (particularly in the diaspora to resist the Nigerian anti-gay dispensation and proliferation of homophobic sentiments in the Nigerian society. Despite all these efforts by NGOs, LGBT right activists and LGTB persons, anti-gay sentiments are still dominant in all the spheres of the Nigerian society. It is safe to argue and conclude that homosexuality and LGBT rights still have a long way to go for it to be accommodated in the Nigerian society.
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