Spectra Speaks
The existence of LGBT Africans ultimately challenges the view that Africans are naturally attracted to people of the opposite sex (i.e. the Homosexuality is UnAfrican mantra). However, this pigeon-holes the entire continent — straight and LGBT Africans alike — into addressing homophobia from just one angle: sexual orientation. The danger in this approach is that it leaves out transgender people, intersex people, and a whole slew of people — including straight Africans — who do not conform to traditional gender roles.
As the strapless lilac dress found its awkward place on my body, the delicate layer of my personal confidence dropped mercilessly to the floor.. When my father said I looked “pretty,” I immediately went on a dramatic tirade (more dramatic than usual) to assert that this wasn’t who I was. “You only compliment me when I’m wearing clothes I don’t want to wear,” I complained, “I don’t feel pretty. I feel stupid.”
Today, as I await the news of Nigeria’s latest anti-LGBT bill, I feel like an abandoned child who belongs nowhere — it has nothing to do with not having a place to eat Turkey.
About a month ago, I wrote a write on my tumblr account in response to numerous inquiries from people right after I disclosed that I was gradually accepting a shift in my gender identity (i.e. feeling way more masculine than I do feminine) about when I would be
About Me
Meet Spectra: Nigerian Writer & Media Activist, Queer Afrofeminist Social Commentator, Human Rights Advocate, Social Entrepreneur, Africa's Cheetah Generation, Idealist Warrior Woman.
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