Nigerian-American singer Jidenna: Homosexuality is not un-African
Superstar Nigerian-American singer and rapper Jidenna is challenging the false and dangerous belief that homosexuality is un-African.
From the African Human Rights Media Network
By Mike Daemon
It’s a popular notion held by many Africans, who think that homosexuality is a “Western import” or that people “learn” to be gay.
Many people refuse to accept the fact that homosexuality is a valid sexual orientation and has nothing to do with ethnicity or race.
The singer and rapper, whose full name is Jidenna Theodore Mobisson, pushed back on those false notions last week in an interview on Sway’s Universe while promoting his new album “85 to Africa.”
Jidenna is a Stanford University graduate who spent the first ten years of his life in Nigeria.
Here is some of what Jidenna said:
“You hear these African leaders who are dressed in three-piece suits, got an iPhone, speaking in English and not their native tongue are saying, ‘It’s un-African to be homosexual, it’s un-African … We don’t have it. That was brought as a European import.’ It’s not true. It’s not true at all.”
“You got Uganda, the kingdom of Buganda at the time… Before Uganda, there was an openly gay king. If you go to Zimbabwe… the bushmen as they call them, you’ll see homosexual acts in the Cape paintings. If you go to different communities in Africa, there were different rights of passage where if a woman was with a woman, or a man was with a man, they were thought to be more powerful.”
“There was never a time where this didn’t exist, or where it was just hands down that homosexuals were wrong. That’s not actual an African thing, which means it’s not a black thing.”
To watch the full interview, click HERE.
See also:
21 varieties of traditional African homosexuality (Erasing 76 Crimes)
Source: Rights Africa
