..And Proud
“I have Nigerian friends from all over the world that are of every sexuality. I didn’t grow up in an over-religious home, my mother is an avid catholic while my father wasn’t too active in the church while I growing up and so I got the best of two perspectives in a way, both good people, developing their morals with what they knew was right. That greatly informed my adulthood. I don’t think it is right, just or christlike to prosecute a person because of who they love or happen to be attracted to, and that to me is what this painting is about, and is what I see when I look at our people of different sexualities. I see Nigerians, I see strength, I see resilience.
I see pride.”
Same sex sexual relationships are illegal in Nigeria. The maximum punishment in the 12 northern states that have adopted Shari'a law is death by stoning. That law applies to all Muslims and to those who have voluntarily consented to application of the Shari'a courts. In southern Nigeria and under the secular criminal laws of northern Nigeria, the maximum punishment for same-sex sexual activity is 14 years' imprisonment. The Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act criminalises all forms of same-sex unions and same-sex marriage throughout the country.