LGBT-rights activists from Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa gathered for a City of Chicago Office of LGBT Health-hosted roundtable discussion, "The Public Health Challenges in Africa and How Our Communities Can Work Together," Thursday.
City of Chicago Office of LGBT Health Director Brian Richardson; Coalition for Justice and Respect Founder Marc Loveless; and Perre Shelton, director of curriculum for Orion University moderated the roundtable.
Loveless introduced the panelists, beginning with Nigerian-born Chicago activist the Rev. John Adewoye. Adewoye, a University of Chicago Hospital chaplain, has been helping African LGBT refugees get shelter in Chicago. Right now, that shelter is Adewoye's home.
He and the Rev. Lois Parr of Broadway United Methodist Church co-founded the Chicago LGBT Asylum Program ( CLASP ). Adewoye also founded the Center for Integration & Courageous Living, which provides direct services to GLBTQI asylum seekers, including food, clothing and housing. Loveless couldn't hide his admiration for Adewoye.
"I consider him a modern-day Harriet Tubman," Loveless said.
Francis Boakye operates a Ghana-based non-governmental organization focused on gender-based violence. Boakye, who previously worked in the media, said he's got access to a network of allies—with authority—in his country.
"We find a nice medium to make life easier," he said.
With that said, Boakye noted that "unnatural carnal knowledge" is criminal, according to how some choose to interpret Ghana's constitution. He said use of the "unnatural carnal knowledge" statute is something new and knew who to blame.
"That was an import from the West," Boakye said. "That is what they use to punish LGBT people."
The statute is not only vague but incorrectly applied, according to Boakye. He said an "unnatural carnal knowledge" charge requires penetration. However, it is used to punish gay people holding hands and kissing. Boakye said it is not possible to catch anyone engaging in "unnatural carnal knowledge."
"Nobody has caught us having sex," he said. "We don't have sex in the streets."
Adewoye also laid blame at the feet of religious conservatives in the United States, particularly for the plight of LGBT Ugandans.
"The American evangelists are behind it," he said. "Their zeal against gays was carried out there."
Adewoye said many people in his native land—Ghana—are "stupidly religious."
"If God told them to jump from Sears Tower, they would do it," he said.
In Nigeria, according to Adewoye, two things unite Christians and Muslims—anti-gay sentiment and football. Religion is the barrier to LGBT equality and freedom in Nigeria as well as the United States, he said.
"If we don't tackle our problem from the churches and mosques, we won't make headway," Adewoye said. "When it comes to Black communities [in the United States], they're still from Africa."
Boakye said he's witnessed exorcisms.
"It's [thought to be] a disease, from which you must be healed," he said.
Boakye said halting programs in and ending aid to African countries isn't the answer. American taxpayers, he said, in good faith, think some of their money is supporting gay rights abroad. However, once the money reaches Africa, it's not used for that purpose.
"The U.S. shouldn't rely on speeches," Boakye said.
Adewoye said the United States should monitor how aid is used. If it sees no results, then, the country should lose the aid.
Shelton, citing the passage of Illinois' marriage-equality bill, said gay rights' progress has more do with economics. He credited lobbyists and the fear of losing money for the changing tide. That reality didn't faze him.
"I don't need anybody to think differently about me. Just give me my rights," Shelton said.
