OUR PROBLEM WITH HOMOSEXUALS

By Richard Oluseye Anthony

You might call it madness, but they call it sanity…

You might call it inhuman, but they call it human nature…

You might call it evil and demonic, but they call it an act of God…

You might call it legal, but I call it a total waste of time…

I wrote this piece some eight months ago, for a magazine and it was not published, so i thought i need to publish it on my blog to hear people's view and see people's reaction... Enjoy!

Here I am again, sitting on the stool at the back of my room in Tedder Hall, looking up to the sky and at the same time steering at the trees and birds. In this mechanical moment, I am trying to grasp one contemporary issue in the world today with my mind that needs attention. I was although being very careful not to come up with an issue that cannot also be attached to non-humans, otherwise known as animals. At the moment I have the hunger to analyze things/thoughts and come up with my own stand-point to feed to the world.

            And ‘bam!’,
I came up with the issue of homosexuality- gayism or lesbianism, whatever name the English dictionary tag this new style of sex “developed by them”. From time immemorial, the Western world is in a pursuit to alienate other cultures and tradition and at the same time impose their own ‘demonic’ modern culture; they fine-tuned this act as imperialism. No doubt their culture and ideologies are filled with so many possibilities for members of the ‘underdeveloped’ continent like that of Africa. Well, not to digress so much, my main concern here is to look critically at the issue of homosexuality that most African countries are said to be dealing with or frowning at.     

The issue of homosexuality can be regarded as one of the greatest debate in the 21^st century aside the debate of global change/warming; no doubt, homosexuality can be traced back to antiquity, during the Biblical Babylonian period. Apparently, an education and history about the act of homosexuality need to be given here. Etymologically, the term ‘homosexual’ is attributed to German Same sex workers who in 1869, created the term ‘homosexual’- seemingly more neutral and scientific than pejorative terms like sodomite. They claimed they were born with women souls inside men’s bodies (Fems), which supposedly made them unable to respond sexually to women or control their urge towards other men. That same period, the first psychiatric study of homosexuality appeared. It advocated the replacement of criminal penalties for homosexual behavior with medical treatment, thus, acknowledging that such behavior was undesirable, but, indicating that same-sex choices were not completely under an individual’s control.

In fact, whilst the society was considering the chances of the prospects of launching an offensive social policy on homosexuals, homosexuals were retooling and fixing their gears in order to stimulate the global appreciation of homosexuals. These groups with a low social footing, began extending their outreach and securing more members. As early as 1901, the reality that homosexuality was no more a predominant German activity became obvious. In June, 1904; when Elisa Sanchez Loriga, dressed as a man and using a male alias, married her girlfriend Marcela Gracia Ibeas. Their union provoked social outcry and led to the abrupt termination of their jobs. They were equally excommunicated and had to flee Spain for their safety. Despite the social attack, their marriage was never annulled, making their union, the first recorded gay marriage is Spain’s history.

However, the debate of homosexuality can be bifurcated into two; one half argues whether homosexuality should be legal or illegal in a democratic state, while the other is interested in whether it is morally right or wrong and whether the act is natural or a making of the society. My opinion and concern here would have been majorly not to discuss on whether it should be legalize in any state or not, but whether it is natural or a making of the society, in other words moral or immoral. I am of the opinion that whatever is immoral or a disorder should not be taking as legal in any society, rather a rehabilitation center should be established in order to repair such disorder caused by the society, so what then do we see homosexual as, a disorder or an orderly way of human?

Reports have it that most African leaders are turning down the offer of the Western leaders, that is, to legalize the act of homosexuality in many African states. Let’s not forget that the act of turning down the offer/request of those who put food on your tables, build roads, give you money in the name of grants, et al comes with a consequence. What I am saying here is that, turning down the offer to legalize homosexuality by the Nigerian government is a laudable one and it sends a message to the Western world that Nigeria can handle their businesses and take care of themselves, but my question here is that, are the leaders ready to do away with corruption and ready to move our country to grater height. I really doubt if they are thinking in this direction, because to move so low to debate on the issue of homosexuality means you have done the necessary, that is, provided good roads, stable power supply; in short, you have settle half of the problems facing the country today. But from the look of things, with the uncontrollable insecurity in the country due to the activities of terrorist groups funded by politicians, personally, I don’t think we need to continue paying our leaders to debate on the right of homosexuals to live or leave in an insecure country.

My point is, we need to get things right first before we scoop so low in dancing to the tune of the West by making our task the debate of lesbianism, when we have plethora of things to discuss about that are far more grave than homosexuality.