The Your Stories section is all about you! Please take a minute to tell visitors of the ILGA website about what LGBTI life is like in reality. Please submit your personal story and share your experience!
I was in Nigeria in Summer of 2009. I had a fantastic time there. The social life of lesbians was mostly visible in Abuja and Lagos. I was moving in circles of upper and middle class individuals so I cannot speak wider than this. The reactions I got from men were of a highly sexualized nature. Some of them found it arousing in the sense that they say lesbians as sexually adventurous and had high hopes for a threesome. This, I found offensive. Even more offensive was a discussion I had with a guy who told me of how he attended a party with many lesbians in Abuja. He was particularly hostile when he spoke of butch lesbians or girls who chose butch lesbians as sexual partners. He insinuated that he would support anyone who took the liberty of "correcting their sexual practices" i.e. rape or coerced sex.
Aside from that, I could not hold hands with my girlfriend in public or even dare to sneak a kiss but in the elitist clubs it was all well and good and no one batted an eyelid.
Aside from that, I could not hold hands with my girlfriend in public or even dare to sneak a kiss but in the elitist clubs it was all well and good and no one batted an eyelid.