we are set to take nigeria by storm, says leader of the gay and lesbian movement

By Ismail Omipidan (Daily Sun, Nigeria)

December 5, 2005: Interview with Mr. Davies Mac-Halla, Director, Changing Attitude Nigeria (CAN).

Since after The Sun, have you received any word from Archbishop Akinola or any group within the church that is opposed to your movement?

Directly, no! But I know that some inquiries have been made, but it is in the background, and I'm sure the church is working on something. Maybe soon they will come up with it, whatever it is they are working on.

The confrontations I get are all from the back door. So, I don't consider them important now.

You met in Abuja recently for about three days, what were the highlights of the resolutions at that meeting?

We met on the 25th and 26th of November.

It was a great meeting. We planned for 120 persons (gays and lesbians), but surprisingly about a thousand turned up for the meeting.

The main focus of that meeting was to devise strategies that we would use in making our influence felt in the church.

The meeting was great because people from all walks of life, all over country attended the meeting. As we are going back home, we are going there to talk to our priests, bishops and begin to influence communions all over.

Some of us have our parents as members of the standing committee in the church, and also as members of various committees in the church. And because charity begins at home, we are saying they should let their parents know whom they are. And since the archbishop is not working alone, once those he is working with discover that they have gays as brothers and lesbians as sisters and as children, I think there would be a change of attitude towards us. At that point, the archbishop or any other homophobic people would be forced to listen to us.

Can you share with us some of those strategies you intend to employ in influencing the church?

One of them is to begin to come out publicly, to share with our friends and members of our family our sexuality.

The next is to begin to make input in diocesan synod and not running away. Most of us are in the choir, some are in the youth fellowship and so on. I mean, we are fitting in everywhere, and we perform excellently well. It is just that once people discover our sexuality it becomes a story.

Interestingly, the theme of our conference is: "Coming out of your closet". So, we intend to come out.

In the event that the church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion decides to shut its doors against your group the moment it discovers your sexuality, what will you do next?

We have documents. There are procedures. It is not a war. It is not a military thing that we fight with knife and gun. But in the Lambeth Conference of all the Bishops, the resolution was that gays and homosexuals in the church should be listened to and the comments/reports passed to the next Lambeth Conference, which will be held in 2008.

We will keep consulting and preparing ourselves with a view to keep working towards 2008. If the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion fails to listen to us, we will write our report and pass it directly to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

But come to think of it, do you see that having any impact, especially in the light of Archbishop Akinola's threat to sever relations with the Church of England? Will it not affect the 2008 conference you're talking about?

It will not. My relationship with some bishops and priests around the communion show that not every bishop will follow Akinola if he decides to split.

If he decides to split from the UK, the Church of England, he will also end up splitting the Church of Nigeria. I am quite sure that people are still anonymous about coming out to confront him, but there is high consultation going on. From my interactions with some bishops, they don't totally accept or respect Akinola's view on this issue.

Are you insinuating that in Nigeria today, we already have some hidden gay bishops? Or are you saying that you have some bishops who are sympathetic to your cause?

There is no trace of a gay bishop in Nigeria or in the Anglican Communion. But they are well-read and understanding people, filled with the word of God.

They are sympathetic. I think their view is that these people (gays and lesbians) should be listened to. We should understand their experience. Not all of them are homophobic; there are the mature ones that want to study and listen, to know what all this is about.

Talking about sexuality, can you briefly tell us about your experience? How did it actually start?

I was born into the communion, baptized and confirmed into the communion. Gays are born; it depends on when you discover yourself. I discovered myself around 1982, 1984 or thereabout. I was still in secondary school.

Can you tell us how it happened?

I grew up among girls. I've had girl friends before. I played around girls, but I found out that I have more affection, more feelings for my fellow boys than girls.

In school, I had this boy as well, who was sexually attracted to me. We became friends. After school, during vacations, we exchanged visits and we found out that we wanted to be left alone and that's how we came to share feelings together. That was my first experience. So, it is something that is inborn in you. It is not as corrupt as our people think, that may be school influences you or something. No! the people are born like that.

Did you attend a single sex school?

No. I attended a mixed school.

Are your parents aware that you are a gay?

Yes. My father is late, but before he died, he knew about it. My mother is aware and she is very supportive. That is why I said the theme of our conference, "Coming out from your closet", will help us because we will start to influence our parents, tell them what we are and stuffs like that.

Incidentally, our parents are also influential people in the church, in the society, and they love us. My mother loves me so much so that she is willing to stand before the women in Nigeria to let them know that her son is not as bad as people think. The irony is that a lot of parents who say bad things about gays and lesbians are unaware that their children are members of the group.

Good enough too, most of us are good academically and whatever, so when our parents discover, it will be a big shock to them and it will make them slow down on us. Nobody throws … (hesitates). Even the Bible said if you people know how to give good things to your children, what of God. So, no father or mother will see his child as demonic once he or she discovers their sexuality.
The Bible also speaks against hypocrisy. That is why we want to come out so that they can know us. The bashing on us that we are a bad influence has made a lot of people hypocrites in the church.

Do you believe that your prayers are answered by God?

Yes. I see myself as equal in the sight of God with any other clergy or lay members of the church. God is omnipotent, He is omniscient. He is my father and I am His son. We have no bad relationship with our God because of our sexuality.

But if you're a liar, stop lying, whether gay or not. If you steal, stop stealing, whether gay or not. There are laid down principles God has put there for Christians to practise.

Do you think that Nigerians would give your group the type of opportunity they have elsewhere, like getting married to themselves?

At this stage, we are not even mature to begin to talk about marriage yet, it is one step at a time. You can imagine that the U.S. and England are not even up-to-date, working out modalities and laws to implement same sex marriage. We have not even got close to that.

What we are saying is that time shall come when all those things will be taken care of. It may not be even in my lifetime. The important thing is to start the process.

Homosexuals are everywhere. But we are worried about the church because the church should set the pace for love. It should be the voice that would lead the people to understanding us. Unfortunately, it is leading the war against us.

Will you ever wish to replicate yourself, especially because someone gave birth to you?

Our message is not to create the world of homosexuals and lesbians. I am from a family of about seven. I'm the only gay among my brothers. Not every member of the family will be a gay or lesbian, so reproduction will continue. There are heterosexual people, nothing will change their nature.

It is also our nature to be homosexuals, so people should respect us for it. If I don't marry, it doesn't mean my brothers will not get married. It is nature, you can't convert people.

So, are you contented and happy being a gay?

Yes, I am very, very happy, because it is my nature. My family understands me. Some people are thinking that from the way we are going, the generation will reduce.
No, we are just a minority in the midst of the majority. Injustice against us is just like oppression against women, the poor, the widow and the helpless.

Where is the funding of your group coming from?

Well, I tell you, from August till now, everything I've done so far is directly from my family resources and personal income. The only person who has assisted financially is my friend, Colin Coward, the director of Changing Attitude in England.

Finally, Nigerians see your group as alien to Africa and Nigeria in particular. How do you feel, do you share this sentiment?

It is just an attempt to put blame here and there on people. Homosexuality and even lesbianism have been existing in Nigeria even before missionaries came to Africa.

In my place, in the south where I come from, we have women who are lesbians, they are like the spirit heads and at night, the believers take turn to sleep with these women. When two women sleep and the one say she is possessed by male spirit, what goes on there? It is called "supe" in my place, that is when a man and a man or a woman and a woman have feelings for themselves.

In Yorubaland, they have men who attend to people like wives. They call it "gbowo". In the North here, it is called the "Dandandus" so these practices have been existing since before the advent of Western civilization; it is not a Western corruption as they see it.