Over the last 10 years, we have had a handful of queer-focused Nigerian-run media experiments. The longest-running and most successful iteration of this has been the often divisive but generally accepted Kito Diaries, started in 2014, in response to the Same-Sex Prohibition Bill to provide valuable information for queer persons on how to stay safe following the upsurge of targeted criminality at the demographic. It eventually grew to become a community-driven platform with active users who contributed stories, information and occasionally, finances towards the sustenance of the platform.

Since then, other platforms have risen, like the TIERs-sponsored Safer Nudes, the Gen-Z- focused Dear Queers and the pioneer podcast, the Pride Diaries. All have managed some measure of success in branching outside of their niches, but none have been able to draw a community around themselves quite like Kito Diaries. There are many reasons for this, Kito Diaries had the momentum and urgency of the SSMPB behind it, a powerful catalyst that forced young people to seek out spaces where they could feel safe and normal, and find others who shared their stories. It was also more accessible than its successors, its stories and themes were universal. However, as time has passed, the conversation around queerness has evolved enough to warrant a different, more expansive approach to engaging these discussions. Enter ‘QueerCity’.

Run by the Queer Nerd, QueerCity offers a more nuanced approach to the contemporary problems that young queer people are forced to contend with as they navigate the duality of a world where social media offers unprecedented access, but access that is tempered by the bigotry and dangers that exist for queer people in Nigeria. Now in its 10th month, QueerCity has covered the spectrum of queer identity and seems to be going strong. Now, podcasting can be quite restrictive for reaching mass audiences, but many queer people are generally forced to embrace new technology with more urgency than cis people so it stands to reason that the podcast will find its audience and grow with it.

Edwin Okolo

Edwin Okolo is an author and journalist who has worked with YNaija, TheNativemag and the Naked Convos.