a letter to the editor of the sun newspaper in nigeria

June 2005: Sir, I would like to react to the above caption that was reported by your reporter, Mr. Murphy Ganagana, on Saturday May 28th 2005 Vol. 2 No. 124, page 5 of your newspaper.

In the said report, one Mr. Arinze was caught in sex act with a 14-year old boy, Ifeanyi. Upon arrest and interrogation by the Abuja police, he was quoted as saying that he was initiated by someone, but in all these, the said Mr. Arinze was referred to in the report as being a homosexual.

However, contrary to the referral of Mr. Arinze as a homosexual, he is in fact PEDERASTY, as that is what those that engage in sexual act with little boys are referred to and not homosexual.

Referring to Mr. Arinze as a homosexual will only further fuel the fire of discrimination and stigmatization of law abiding homosexuals in Nigeria, as most times they are wrongly labelled to be child molesters, and such manner of reporting can further impress that wrong assumption.

Therefore, I would like to state here emphatically that the case of Mr. Arinze is a case of PEDERASTY, and not the case of homosexuality, as they are different. Homosexuality is an orientation like heterosexuality and it is natural. On the other hand, how would one explain the fact of finding out expression of homosexuality in about 15 other animals, as natural things are not only limited to what is human alone. Pederasty is a paraphilia.

Finally, I would like to say that reporters should be conversant with [homosexual] vocabularies and terminologies, so that they do not misuse them as this might be misinterpreted by the public to arrive at very wrong conclusions.

Mr. Michael Akanji,
Programmes Coordinator, STONEWALL INITIATIVE,
Center for Health Rights and Development,
Lagos, Nigeria.