Maryland state Del. Gabriel Acevero (D-Montgomery County) speaks in front of the Nigerian Embassy in Northwest D.C. on Sept. 12, 2023. (Washington Blade photo by Cal Benn)
Black LGBTQ+ lawmakers from D.C. and Maryland joined activists in front of the Nigerian Embassy in Northwest Washington Sept. 12 to condemn last month’s arrest of more than 200 people at a same-sex wedding in the country’s Delta state.
Police officers on Aug. 28 stormed a hotel in Ekpan, a town that is roughly 250 miles south-southeast of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital and largest city, where the wedding was taking place. Authorities “paraded” dozens of those who were arrested in front of journalists who were at a police station.
“What we saw with the recent arrest and detention is not just a violation of people’s rights with this unjust arrest, but the parading of LGBTQIA+ folks before the media as if Nigerian law enforcement officials have actually accomplished some sort of a public safety measure,” said Maryland state Del. Gabriel Acevero (D-Montgomery County), who is the first openly gay man of Afro-Latino descent elected to the Maryland General Assembly. “Let’s be clear: LGBTQIA+ folks, queer Nigerians are not a threat to Nigerian identity or national security, but Boko Haram is.”
Boko Haram is an Islamic extreme group that has killed tens of thousands of people in northeastern Nigeria since it launched a violent insurgency in 2009.
National Black Justice Coalition Public Policy and Programs Director Victoria Kirby York noted she is of Nigerian descent and said she has “not gone to Nigeria because I am frightened as a Black openly lesbian person that I may find myself detained.”
“We are here today to demand that Nigeria releases these detainees and drop the charges,” said York.
Nigeria is among the countries in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized. Homosexuality remains punishable by death in areas of the country that are under Sharia law.
Then-President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014 signed the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act that, among other things, punishes those who enter into a same-sex marriage with up to 14 years in prison and bans membership in an LGBTQ+ advocacy group.
Police in Delta state in November 2015 arrested 21 men who allegedly engaged in same-sex sexual activity. Authorities in the city of Ikorodu in July 2017 arrested 42 men who were attending an HIV awareness event.
“We are here today because we have heavy hearts addressing a pressing issue that demands our immediate attention,” said Martinez, who is also Afro-Latino and the first openly gay man to represent Prince George’s County in the House of Delegates. “Nigeria, a nation with immense potential and cultural richness is currently taking a stance to contradicts the principles of equality and human rights.”
“We’re here to protest Nigeria’s anti LGBTQ policy, and urge for change,” added the Prince George’s County Democrat. “We’re here to demand that Nigeria release all the detainees and drop all the charges because in a world that is increasingly recognizing the importance of diversity and inclusion, Nigeria discriminatory laws against the LGBT community remain a stain on his reputation. These laws not only perpetuate prejudice, but also infringe upon the fundamental human rights of countless individuals.”
Oriadha, who is bisexual, noted her father was born in Kenya.
She dismissed the idea that homosexuality is a Western concept.
“The notion is that this is a white American imperialistic viewpoint and values that are trying to be imposed on these cultures is not true,” said Oriadha. “That notion alone ignores the existence, the mere existence of their own people in their own communities.”
Parker, who is the first Black gay man elected to the D.C. City Council, in his remarks noted Nigeria is one of many countries in which anti-LGBTQ+ crackdowns are taking place. The Ward 5 council member also highlighted discrimination and violence based on gender identity and sexual orientation also remain problems in D.C. and across the U.S.
“We know, sadly, is that we’re today protesting Nigeria; but we can also protest Pakistan, we can go protest Jamaica and Haiti and a host of other countries around the globe where Black queer people are being prosecuted or being killed,” said Parker. “Even here in our own country, where Black trans people are being hunted on our streets, or have gone missing without even a notice, where there are bans on books, there are bans and our oppressive policies against our bodies, even here in the nation’s capital where we have work to do.”
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