“Boys Are Lured Into Homosexuality Through Sexual Abuse.” Nigerian Activist Couple Voice Their Ignorance Of LGBT Issues on Instagram Live

They go by the names Ebuka Obika Ede and Ruth Ebuka Ede, founders of the Save The Boys Initiative, and yesterday, on Monday, April 27, they caught the attention of the Nigerian Gay Blogosphere when the social media account for their foundation made a post creating publicity for an Instagram Live during which they intended to talk about – what else? – homosexuality.

‘The Rising Trend of Homosexuality…an Attraction to Sweet Poison’ was the bold caption on the picture post, a theme which drew the ire of the Nigerian LGBT, who took to the comments section to return a swift backlash on the account holders.

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A post shared by Save The Boys Initiative (@savetheboysinitiative) on Apr 27, 2020 at 12:48am PDT

It was clear that everyone wanted to join that live conversation for one purpose: to see what foolishness this couple wanted to serve us.

And even though the foolishness was expected, the ignorance was however staggering. Ebuka Ede and his wife, Ruth, ended up twisting the homosexual narrative into a sermon that really just served their glaring prejudice.

A theme that is common in their discussion is this impression that they have communicated with lots of struggling homosexuals, and so, have firsthand knowledge of the struggle that is inherent in being gay and closeted. And yet, with every word they utter, they expose not only their ignorance but totally – and perhaps deliberately – misrepresent the nature of this struggle.

“We’ve related with a number of boys and we’ve seen a lot struggling,” Ebuka says with what is supposed to be an expression of deep concern, “asking questions … a lot of boys that have been suicidal, and having deep issues, asking, ‘Why am I like this? What is happening to me? Why can’t I have feelings as a normal person?’”

While this is a genuine struggle amongst young people who are still struggling to accept who they are, the insight this duo offers is very insidious and harmful. Instead of the encouragement to self love that is often preached to people in situations like this, Ebuka has this to say: “We want to ask those who are struggling, ‘Is this truly your identity? Is this truly what God made me to be? Am I fulfilled? Am I happy?’”

They also address the culture of silence that surrounds the struggles of homosexuals. While labeling homosexuality as an “addiction” and talking about it as something that is “trending” which parents should worry about, they acknowledge that there is a lot of secrecy that shrouds the topic of homosexuality, a machine of stigma that makes it impossible for closeted gay people to talk about their struggles.

“Homosexuality is one addiction that young people struggle to talk about,” Ebuka says. “It’s something that is covered. The rate at which people go into it is alarming, but so many people don’t know because they are not talking about it. There’s a lot of secrecy around it.

“And why are people secretive about it? Because ‘Who will understand? How can I tell somebody that I’m having feelings for same sex? Who can I talk to?’ The stigma, the shame, the reproach, the backlash I’ll receive. So there’s a culture of silence around it.”

The irony that is clearly lost on this couple however is that this discussion they have so publicized serves as exactly one of such reproach that shames gay people into not giving voice to their struggles. They clearly do not see how their prejudiced views – masked as concern – is part of the fabric of society’s homophobia which makes being gay in Nigeria unbearable for many.

The rest of the Live discussion goes on to explore more ignorance like the typical assertion that homosexuality comes from sexual abuse (because, of course, everyone who is gay was sexually molested as a child and by someone of the same sex), or that boys are lured into homosexuality because of monetary enticement (because every gay teenager had to have come from an impoverished background), or that God certainly couldn’t have made us that way because, why then would He also inflict gay men with anal cancer (I mean, it’s not like the whole world isn’t currently suffering from the affliction of coronavirus. God sure must not have made us to be human if He intended for us all to die from the pandemic, right?).

It was immediately clear that the only people this Instagram Live had as viewers were the Nigerian LGBT, because their comments were flooded with gay-affirming comments and a profusion of the rainbow emoji. Also, even when the Live was over, more LGBT people took to the comments section of the photo post to reinforce the backlash against the couple for daring to be so public with their ignorance and prejudice.

“How do you know it’s sweet poison, sir?” queried one commenter who was apparently deeply curious about the nature of the caption on the picture.

Another commenter wanted to understand how homosexuality as a trend works: “Like, how is Homosexuality a trend? Is it new clothes? Or the latest bag? My religion has set me free but yours ehn.”

“The live was complete trash,” another rounded on them. “All the facts were nonsense. To think you actually want to educate people when you’re not informed on an issue is appalling. Data and time was wasted. Stop being bigots. Preach Love and learn.”

Yet another commenter emphasized this ignorance: “Nothing you said in this video made sense, like nothing. Your opinions are not based on facts. You’re encouraging hate and internalized homophobia, like you did not make any reasonable statement.”

While another gave a correct analysis of the problem with Nigerians: “Nigerians like to think Homosexuality is their problem. It’s the fact that you can’t mind your own business that’s the problem!”

And another commenter was just filled with awe over how the community were united in their outrage of this nonsense: “The solidarity is beautiful to see ? ?️‍? ?️‍? ?️‍?.”