Homosexuality
Documentary shows what it means to be gay in Nigeria
Wondered what it feels to be gay in Nigeria? Watch this video and find out.
Pop culture site VICE released a video about being homosexual in Nigeria.
The video titled 'Being Gay In Nigeria' was published on Sunday, October 29, 2017. The short clip is 2:38 seconds long and it features two men who speak about homosexuality in homophobic Nigeria.
The first man featured in the clip simply goes by the name, Datari, "a fellow Englishman and former stylist to UK boy bands."
Datari speaks on the anti-gay law in Nigeria and why he has to dress up in a manly way in public. "If you are really camp, then trust me you can't survive in Nigeria," he says. 'Camp' is a British slang for when a man acts feminine.
"Why do you think I wear shorts and hats all the time? I want to be butch. I wish I could change my voice because that's like a dead giveaway" says Datari.
He then goes on to talk about what the average gay person in Nigeria goes through, public persecution and jail. Datari claims some gay Nigerian celebs travel abroad and claim asylum because of the persecution.
In the second bit of the video, an unidentified Nigerian man who is a hairdresser speaks about his mother's disapproval for his line of profession.
"She was actually telling me it's not a job for a guy. She feels ashamed that her son is touching a woman's hair" he says.
Further, into the video, the hairdresser admits he experimented with homosexuality but he didn't fancy it. He says he likes women very much.
He claims that there are many influential gay people in the country. "In Nigeria, you will get a lot of connections when you are gay" he claims.
With the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act of 2013, the punishment for same-sex activity in Nigeria is 14 years.