They also own their profiles by either using their personal images or other suggestive queer-positive ones to indicate their sexual orientation. And they use the rainbow – a global symbol of LGBTI advocacy – in their Twitter handles and names. In expressing and owning their sexuality online, Nigerian queers, for instance through their Twitter names, spell out their sexuality as they incorporate vocabulary like “gay”, “homo” and “queer”. This despite the possibilities of homophobic violence.
What I found interesting in these narratives was that these commenters were not only ready to come out on a “public” digital space, they were also expressive in revealing their offline identities.
The digital space, I found, has become a location for the representation and assertion of queer agency. The queer community in Nigeria is no doubt on the margins, but it has found digital platforms safe havens for collective queer voices.
Communities with shared interests are built online. Twitter has grown to become a very popular microblogging platform in Nigeria, accounting for about 1.75 million users, with an annual growth rate of 4.4%. As a linguist, my focus was on identifying and discussing how the performative use of language can achieve the functions of coming out as well as confronting homophobic cyberbullying. To explore the diversity of queer agency, I analysed selected tweets by Nigerian queer men. That’s what I did in a study of queer Nigerian Twitter. Social media, however, can be considered more potent as a medium which, to the authors of The Alternative Media Handbook, gives voice to “the socially, culturally and politically excluded”.īy unpacking “live” data from members of the queer community, one can identify the challenges as well as advocacies in Nigerian digital queer discourse.
They have done so through movies as well as a growing body of literary writings. More recently, however, members of the Nigerian queer community have taken over the task of shaping their public image and identity, to reasonable success, in these creative ventures. In Nollywood – the country’s film industry – early depictions were constructed by non-LGBTI people who seemed to latch on public inquisitiveness for financial gains. But that would be to ignore the vigorous advocacies that have been going on in the country’s cultural production and on social media.įilms and literary texts have been the more studied genres where same-sex agency has been iterated and reinforced. One may assume that the marginalised Nigerian same-sex community and its allies have conceded to the widespread societal ostracisation. They are also vulnerable to public “moral police” who seek to make homosexual performance invisible and closeted. They become easy prey to oppressive and exploitative state security apparatus. The Nigerian environment is therefore toxic for LGBTI people. Negative perceptions of homosexuality led to the criminalisation of same-sex relations in 2014. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.Nigeria continues to be largely homophobic, mainly as a result of cultural and religious conventions. Overwatch is arguably the most popular shooter of the year, and even scooped up Trusted Reviews’ Game of the Year Award earlier last month. Speculation on the identity of Overwatch’s rumoured gay character has been running rampant for months now, and to see the cover girl revealed as the lady in question is brilliant news. Related: The Walking Dead – A New Frontier Review It’s adorable, and you can read the whole thing here. This confirms Tracer as the LGBT character Blizzard has been teasing, which will apparently be the “first of many” in the multi-cultural team.Īfter sharing a kiss, Tracer and Emily head to Winston’s lab to celebrate the holidays together. She’s searching for a present which happens to be for her girlfriend, Emily, who embrace together with a kiss after exchanging presents back at home. The short yet gorgeous comic features all your favourite members of Overwatch yet focuses predominantly on Tracer as she zips about Kings Row. Overwatch’s latest official comic, ‘Reflections,’ celebrates all things festive, as well as revealing the colourful shooter’s first LGBT character.