Before the Anti-Homosexuality Bill

Existing scholarship on the causes of homophobia in contemporary Nigeria and on the relationship between religion and homophobia in Africa tend to dismiss LGBT activism in Nigeria as a movement so small as to be almost nonexistent. We argue, however, that LGBT activism in Nigeria does exist, and that it has a history. And although religion has often been harnessed to serve homophobic policies, LGBT activists have also worked together with religious organizations to offer support to LGBT communities. Drawing on sources from Nigeria and the United States, this article traces the rough outlines of LGBT activism in Nigeria from the 1970s to the present. We explore Nigerian LGBT activists’ experiences over five decades in order to elucidate LGBT organizing in a West African context, paying special attention to the themes of invisibility and visibility, transnational organizing, and religion. The picture that emerges is one of interwoven activist networks that connect Nigerian activists not only to the West but also to activists in other African countries, including Ghana and South Africa. We see this article as a small contribution to the much larger project of writing the history of LGBT activism in Nigeria, a project that can and should be led by those better positioned to access and analyze the documents and memories necessary for this task

Homosexuality · Invisibility · Lesbian · Political science · Scholarship · Sociology · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues · Gender Studies · History · Law · Marriage and Sexual Relationships