The premiere episode of Untold Facts, a discussion series dabbling in more niche discussions was uploaded on the YouTube page of The Initiative for Equal Rights – @TIERsNigeria.
The topic of the day was the LGBT community in Nigeria and the people speaking were Kenny Badmus, a brand expert and advocate for social change; Doyin Olaniyan, a blogger, traveler and TEDx speaker; and Mike Akanji, sexual health and rights advocate.
The group spoke on the importance of being gay in Nigeria and being true to oneself. Kenny Badmus shared about his own experiences and how hard it was to tell his wife and how unhappy she was at the news that he was gay.
He also opined that what made people scared to come out was the way society has been structured and the religious teachings that are on offer. The speakers all agreed that keeping it in is deceptive and would hurt only one person; the person involved.
Mike Akanji said “You don’t owe the world an explanation for being who you are, the only person you owe an explanation is yourself.”
He also talked about the importance of tact when coming out as the person who wants to come out needs to study the environment and take into consideration the feelings of those he tells. Doyin on her part advised that anyone who potentially wanted to come out needs to discover one’s self and she also identified some of the issues with coming out.
No comments:
Post a Comment