Nigerian Vox Pop site, Batta Box is known for tackling a number of controversial issues, often usually revolving around sex and sexuality. Recently they put out a new ‘documentary’ video where they interview young homosexual men about their “journey in homosexuality”.

Considering the ‘shock and awe’ tactics with which vox pop sites in Nigeria handle sex and sexuality, we are actually impressed that Batta Box treated this issue with some respect. The men interviewed were allowed to hide their identities and while the questions asked of them were crude, they at least were enlightening.

However, Batta Box’s interview continues to perpetuate the stereotype that LGBT persons are predominantly gay men, even though in the interview they mention intersex persons, lesbians and transgender persons. Also the questions asked of them were questions that frame their sexualities as something that they fell into rather than who they are as persons.

No one asks straight people when they first realised they were ‘straight’, because no one sees their sexual awakening as deviant. Also, why does it matter when the persons being interviewed first became sexually active?

It is important that when LGBT persons get interviewed, it is done by someone who is not just sympathetic to their cause, but someone who has also put in work educate themselves on what is acceptable and not acceptable to ask of an LGBT person.

The lives of LGBT persons are hard enough, the last thing they need to further complicate their lives is a tone deaf ‘documentary’.

Watch the video here: