It is no longer news that Nigeria’s president, Goodluck Jonathan, has signed the ‘Jail the Gays’ bill into law. The Same Sex Marriage Prohibition law stipulates a 14 years jail term for same-sex marriage and 10 years imprisonment for public show of same-sex affection. The legislation stipulates a 10 year imprisonment for anyone who aids, abets or witness same sex relationship or marriage. The law also imposes a 10 year jail term on human rights defenders who advocate for LGBT rights or hold meetings to promote LGBT rights.

Ever since the news broke, homophobic Nigerians have been celebrating the so called ‘bravery’ of their clueless president, for what they see as ‘standing up to the western imperialists’, whom they alleged want to impose the ‘gay agenda’ on Africans. Many of those homophobes especially religious Nigerians, have been coming up with some of the most ridiculous excuses for supporting the ‘Jail the Gays’ law. Of course, there can be no reasonable excuse to support 14 years imprisonment based on sexual orientation or for holding meetings to discuss the human rights of Minorities.

No reasonable, rational and decent person would support depriving any human of their basic human rights including the Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Association and Freedom from discrimination, Freedom from torture, Right to privacy and Right to found a family. It is not surprising that some of those anti-LGBT remarks are not just ridiculous; they are plain stupid, bigoted and have ignorance at their very heart.

I will address some of those remarks under different posts which I will catalogue under the title and tag ‘Stupid, homophobic arguments in support of Nigeria’s ‘Jail the Gays bill’. I will kick-start this with the comment below which unfortunately was made by my good friend and comrade. This particular self-righteous indignation has been rearing its ugly head in many discussions. It has been raised by those who think it justifies signing the ‘Jail the gays’ bill. So let’s tackle it.

THE US AND UN SHOULD SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!! WHY DONT THEY ALLOW THOSE WHO WANT TO BE POLYGAMOUS, HAVE THEIR RIGHTS IN THEIR OWN VILLAGE?

1- I am assuming this is a cultural comparison because of the reference to polygamy. If you are making a “Homosexuality is not in our culture’ argument, it would do you a lot of good to read up on sexual orientation, the history of various African societies who had native names for homosexuals and many of whom actually lived in peace with homosexuals before the white colonialists came with their foreign religion and sodomy laws.

Above all, it would be good for you and all others who make this cultural argument to understand that culture is fluid, dynamic and it changes. Culture is a way of life and you cannot force anyone to live their lives the same way their ancestors did. Your pristine shirt, suits and tie are not part of pre-colonial African culture, as are your wigs, champagne and that Chinese food you order to impress. No one is criminalizing you for not wearing what your ancestors wore, for not drinking same ‘burukutu’ as your ancestors or for not eating what your ancestors ate.

Some of the things that could be called cultural like Female genital mutilation, forced marriages and depriving women of the right to own land have been abrogated. It would be very stupid to scream “Don’t stop the killing of twins in Calabar, it is our culture! Believe me; it is also stupefyingly ridiculous when you use the cultural argument to justify criminalizing gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transsexuals.

We are all creators of culture; therefore the cultural argument is null and void from the very beginning. This was addressed in my blog post Debunking the myths: Is Homosexuality, Bisexuality or Transsexualism Un-African or Unnatural? and also discussed in my book “Freedom to Love For All” Homosexuality is not Un-African.

2- Polygamy is not only indigenous to Africa. So many of the western nations also have histories of polygamy; however this is beside the point.

Anyone who has respect for equality should be aware of the patriarchal nature of polygamy. As long as Polyandry, a system where a woman is allowed to take two or more husbands, is not allowed, polygamy remains a sexist, misogynist pat riarchal tool of oppression. It is not surprising that this is not legally recognized in democratic societies that value equality.

I will support polygamy as long as polyandry is also accepted. It is not my business how many number of partners people want to have in their relationship or marriage. I also do not concern myself about the gender of anyone’s partner. As long as they are consensual adults, in a non harmful relationship, it is their decision to make.

Those who are not in support of polyandry or polyamorous relationships and marriages but scream “why not legalize polygamy”, should keep their hypocritical mouth shut!

Above all, homosexuality is not a lifestyle choice. Monogamy, Polygamy, BDSM and Abstinence are lifestyle choices. Heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality and asexuality are not life style choices; they are under the umbrella of what is scientifically known as sexual orientation. We can make choices on our preferred type of marriage, relationships, sexual preferences or sexual positions but we cannot choose our sexual orientation.

3- It is very childish to say the UN or USA should shut up on the violations of human rights of minorities, just because some of their member states do not recognize polygamy. It is very childish to think because most western societies do not legally recognize polygamy but recognize LGBT rights, it is a reason to put lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals in your community into prison or even kill them. This is not a very bright argument. You should know better and even scold your brain dead government for being such lousy leaders. You do not criminalize innocent people just because you do not like the attitude of their supporters.

BTW, there are people in the western states who are beginning to mobilize for the recognition of Polyamorous relationships, and I am very much in their support. Polyamory is not polygamy or polyandry, it is a type of relationship where two or more people of same sex, different biological sex or genders come together to be in a relationship or marriage. Poly activists want this type of relationship legally recognized and I am staunchly in their support. The non harmful relationship of consenting adults should not be the business of the law or anyone who is not a partner in the relationship.

Please, stop poke nosing into the emotional/sex lives of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and Transsexuals. If you don’t have your own emotional/sexual relationships, just poke your nose or fucking fingers at your own heart or inside your sexual organ. Live and let’s live, let LGBTs live in peace!