On Nigerian queer rights advocacy and “saying it”

Abstract

Homosexuality is still generally considered un-African, unacceptable and criminal in most African states. In Nigeria, this translates into incidents of criminalisation, violence and other forms of human rights violation targeted at sexual minorities. The agitation towards sexual minorities in Nigeria is as much an attitudinal as it is a legal problem, and the factors that feed negative attitudes towards homosexuals equally enable practices such as gender-based violence. This article engages with the advocacy being done to address the human rights of sexual minorities in Nigeria, seeking to make a case for indigenisation and for engaging with the use of narratives and storytelling as a tool to complement the ongoing work. This article also seeks to make a case for engaging with the principle of the inseparability of the struggle to advance the rights of sexual minorities in Nigeria.