Love Offers No Safety: Nigeria's Queer Men Speak

by Jude Dibia (Editor), Olumide F Makanjuola (Editor)

Overview

Love Offers No Safety: Nigeria’s Queer Men Speak is a raw and powerful collection of 25 first-person narratives that explore the diverse experience of queer Nigerian men. These stirring stories cut across age, class, religion, ethnicity, family and relationships, offering a glimpse into what it means to survive as a queer man in Nigeria. From Tunji, who takes us back to the thriving networking community before social media, to Chukwori, who struggles to reconcile his need to serve God with his sexuality, and Abdulkarim, who frustratingly wonders if he’ll ever stop working twice as hard to be accepted, these stories are full of contradictions, anger, resiliency, profound insight, and radical hope.

With heightened levels of oppression, violence, and discrimination faced by LGBTQ Nigerians due to the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Law, these voices remind us of what the queer community in Nigeria has always been fighting for - the freedom to be themselves, love themselves, and love each other, despite being viewed as unworthy. Love Offers No Safety is a heart-breaking yet hopeful reminder that love knows no boundaries and offers no safety, but it is worth fighting for.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781913175481
Publisher:	Cassava Republic Press
Publication date:	02/13/2024
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Jude Dibia is an author, queer rights advocate, winner of the Ken Saro-Wiwa Prose Prize, and shortlisted for the Nigeria Literature Prize, Common Wealth Prize and the Swedish Natur och Kulture Pris. His debut novel ‘Walking with Shadows’ is the first full length novel devoted to queer issues in Nigeria. Dibia currently lives in Sweden where he works with displaced artists as the administrator of the Malmö City refuge artists’ program (Malmö Fristads Program). He is also working on his next novel.

Olumide F Makanjuola is a Sexual Health and Rights advocate with specific interest in LGBT rights. Makanjuola’s work focuses on expanding public knowledge and discourse on queer issues through new and alternative narratives. Makanjuola is an alumnus of the International Visitor Leadership Programs, Associate fellows of the Royal Commonwealth Society, and honoree of Queen Elizabeth II.

Table of Contents

Table Of Contents

 

          Introduction   

1. The Past Was More Accepting Than The Future      
2. I Was Never Alone With My Mother’s Love
3. My Sexuality Is Part Of Me, But It Does Not Define Me     
4. Do Not Rely Too Much On Labels, For Too Often They Are Fables           
5. Navigating Loneliness           
6. The Many Faces Of Love Offers No Safety 
7. A Divine Life In Darkness, A Liberated Life In Light         
8. Between A Rock And A Hard Place  
9. As Long As I Love Myself, I Will Be Fine   
10. When I Am No Longer Afraid, I Will Stop Being Perfect   
11. My Future Is Not With A Woman     
12. My Sexuality Does Not Affects My Faith     
13. Every Man Is Born Gay         
14. Waiting On The Sideline For The Life I Desire        
15. Despite Pitfalls, I Have Triumphed In My Sexuality
16. I Am Queer. This Is Who I Am         
17. My Activism Is To Protect Vulnerable People          
18. Swinging Both Ways With A Solid Marriage
19. I Will Continue To Survive Within This Environment
20. It Is Not What I Do, It Is Who I Am 
21. Steppingstones To Happiness
22. I Was Forced To Come Out  
23. If Your Son Asks For Bread, Will You Give Him A Stone?
24. The Tide Will Determine How Well The Pendulum Will Swing