“HOW I RESIST” Is Now An Anthology You Can Download

“Since 2014, the conversation around queer people has refused to die down. In an era of peak television from Hollywood, where one can—in every show—expect to find at least one LGBT character (ranging from the show regulars to the minor),  more and more queer people in Nigeria are beginning to see that there is a destination, a life, outside of heterosexist restrictions. There is now an increased impatience with homophobia, an eagerness to embrace dignity, a reluctance to please, and a reevaluation of the moral standards to which we had earlier held heterosexual allies.

“The bisexuals, lesbians and gays—women and men—who have shared their stories in this anthology … have left a message for Nigerian society—that if it expects total silence and cowering from them, it would have to wait a really long time.” – Absalom

March 1 saw the start of a campaign – the #HowIResist campaign – designed to put out a statement of visibility for the Nigerian LGBT community. The campaign ended in April 18.

Before we started, there was just a modest number of people who were interested in lending their voices – their words and their pictures – to the campaign. But by the time we started speaking out about how we resist, our voices grew and others heard and joined. Even after the campaign ended, there were still interested parties who wanted to say it loud and proud about how they resist. To further concretize what we achieved, it was decided that we would bring all the submissions together to make an anthology, complete with some essays as well.

And after much, to mark the Pride Month, this is it. Download. Share. Tell your friends about it. And above all, may this encourage you, if you’re an LGBT, to keep resisting, and if you’re not, to help create a world where we no longer have to resist.

How I Resist The Anthology