Doyin Okupe vehemently supported the Anti-gay law in 2014. Now his son is gay - LGBT

[Edoman]

Doyin Okupe vehemently supported the Anti-gay law in 2014. Now his son is gay - LGBT activist, Pamela Adie says







Pamela Adie, one of Nigeria's LGBT activist, has reacted to the news of the son of former presidential spokesperson, Doyin Okupe, coming out as gay.
 
In a series of Tweets, Pamela recalled that Okupe vehemently supported the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act (SSMPA) signed by former President, Goodluck Jonathan, who Okupe served.
 
The law forbids any cohabitation between same-sex sexual partners and bans any public show of same-sex amorous relationship. The SSMPA imposes a 10-year prison sentence on anyone who registers, operates, or participates in gay clubs, societies, and organizations or supports the activities of such organizations. The bill states that anyone caught in any act of homosexuality will face a jail term of between 10 to 14 years.
 
Adie said years after Okupe supported such a law that violently harms gay people, his son has now come out to announce he is gay.
 
Her tweets read

''Son: Dad, I’m gay Dad: I’m a Christian. This is a spiritual attack! Let’s pray!
Una no dey tire? Na so scam pastors go dey chop una money upandan. Don’t love and accept your children. Be looking for solution where there’s no problem.
With all his experience and exposure as a medical doctor, Doyin Okupe still believes that his son being gay is a “spiritual attack”. Where does one go from here?


Let’s not forget that Doyin Okupe was a senior aide to President Jonathan and vehemently supported him when he signed the SSMPA into law in 2014; a dangerous law that violently harms so many in this country. Now, Okupe’s son has announced that he is gay. I love life!''
 

[Edoman]

Doyin Okupe, no amount of prayer can change your son's sexual orientation" Human rights lawyer writes







A legal practitioner has weighed in on Doyin Okupe's reaction to his son coming out as gay.
 
Doyin Okupe had reacted to his son's sexual orientation by stating clearly that he is "vehemently opposed to homosexuality" and believes what his son is going through is "a major spiritual challenge" (read here).
 
But Jake Okwchukwu Effoduh, a lawyer, told the former presidential aide that he should accept his son and stop trying to change him.
 
He wrote: "Dear Doyin Okupe, no amount of prayer can change ur son's sexual orientation. The same way no amount of prayer can change his race. Instead, pray for him to grow in confidence, wellness and self-acceptance. The world will hate and reject him, don’t join them. Accept your own son."
 

[Edoman]

I knew I was gay at 10 — Former Presidential spokesperson Doyin Okupe's son, Bolu says







Bolu Okupe, one of the sons of former Presidential spokesperson Doyin Okupe's son has shared more insight about his sexuality which he went public with few days ago.
 
In an interview with Punch, Bolu disclosed that he knew he was gay at the age of 10. He added that he never choose to be gay, same way people don't choose to be straight. 
 
Bolu said; 
 

From the age of 10 or 11 I knew I was different, and if you speak to more people in the LGBTQ community they will tell you the same thing, it starts around pre-puberty years. We would progress more as a society if we spoke more to each other and judged less.


If people take time to have conversations with people of the LGBT community and understand their point of view and perspectives, you will realise that most of us are really not trying to harm anyone and there is no “agenda.” We simply just want to exist and be entitled to the same basic human rights as everyone else.


I did not choose to be gay. No one chooses their sexual orientation. The same way people do not choose to be straight, you just know.

 
On his father's Facebook posts in which he (Doyin) expressed strong belief that he will reconsider his sexual orientation as a gay someday, Bolu said; 
 

Sexual orientation is not something that one can “reconsider”. This is the way I am and it is the way I have always been and will always be. I and many others in the LGBTQ (Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) community were born the way we are, many may not understand this but stop and think for a second, why would we intentionally choose this lifestyle when we know that we will be ridiculed and shamed by society?


I do hope that one day we can, as Nigerians and Africans, get to the point where we love and accept each other regardless of things such as sexual orientation.


I will just say that I love and appreciate every one of my family members, my father inclusive, because if not for him, I definitely would not be able to live the life that I currently live. So, I will never utter anything disrespectful (to him) on any platform. With regard to homosexuality being anti-Christ, this is not incorrect, as many have pointed out to me.


It is clearly forbidden in the Bible; however, I would like to also mention that there are a lot of things that are also forbidden in the Bible that many Christians partake in. So, it confuses me why people of the Christian religion feel like they can pick and choose what to be morally superior about.

 
On coming out at as gay even with his father's political inclination, he said; 
 

I do not have any regrets about coming out. Whether people like it or not, it (the law) has started a discussion on this topic within the Nigerian atmosphere that was necessary.


Being gay is not “Western” or “European.” There are many gay people in Nigeria, they just do not have the ability to openly live that way due to fear of criticism and judgments similar to the reactions that I received. I hope one day homosexuality can be decriminalised in Nigeria. However, I know that we have a long way to go before we get there.


My orientation can never change. As I stated before, if I was still living in Nigeria I would likely be living the same way all the millions of gay men there live, in secrecy. What happens in Nigeria is that many gay men lead a double life and this is not a life that I want for myself.


Our time on this earth is short and limited and you don’t want to waste it living a lie or pretending to be something that you are not.


There are also many Nigerian women who are married to gay men and basically their whole lives and marriages are a complete sham. Some know, some don’t, but I would never be able to do that to another human.

[Edoman]

Transgender Nigerian, Miss Sahhara slams Victoria Inyama for saying Bolu Okupe shouldn't have made his sexual orientation public







Miss Sahhara has slammed actress Victoria Inyama for the comment she made after Bolu Okupe came out as gay.
 
Victoria reacted to Bolu's revelation by telling him that he "didn't need to announce it."
 

 
Miss Sahhara hit back, telling Victoria that she needs to get an education if she's advocating for gay men to keep quiet about their sexuality.
 
Miss Sahhara added that she's even more appalled because she heard Victoria has a degree in Social Psychology yet she has no idea how best to handle such a situation.