As you already know, Amina Mohammed is the Deputy-Secretary General for the United Nations, a high-profile position that inherently entails she upholds the equality and rights of all human beings, irrespective of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion and whatnot. Over the weekend, which marked the end of Pride, Mohammed tweeted a message asking that we all stand up for human rights, especially towards LGBTQ people who still face abuse, violence, isolation and marginalisation.
Let’s #Standup4HumanRights to #LeaveNoOneBehind & ensure a life of dignity for all. #Pride #AcceptanceMatters pic.twitter.com/lDp09Dg9dg
— Amina J Mohammed (@AminaJMohammed) June 29, 2019
Predictably, homophobic Nigerians seethed with disgusting approval and went into a seizure, coming up with the arguments like Mohammed is a Muslim and homosexuality is forbidden in the Quaran and blah blah blah. Another age-old retort is the question of why homosexuality is being ”shoved down” their throats, and that collective acceptance of this ”anomaly” will be a portal for paedophilia to come in.
All nonsense, of course. But it was enjoyable to see homophobes losing their minds and as much as I hate to sound like a broken record, I think it’s worth mentioning that no one is trying to force anyone to be gay. Heterosexuality has been the default sexual orientation portrayed in the media and pop culture, and LGBTQ people have had to consume mainstream media with straight people kissing and having sex. To be petty, if anyone is to be accused of imposing their sexuality on others, it’s straight people.
With Botswana recently decriminalising homosexuality, and other countries like Brazil making homophobia a punishable offence, the world, though moving at a glacial pace, is becoming LGBTQ-tolerant. At some point, Nigeria would have to catch up.
When Bernard Dayo isn’t writing about pop culture, he’s watching horror movies and reading comics and trying to pretend his addiction to Netflix isn’t a serious condition.
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