Exiled Nigerian gay activist Davis Mac-Iyalla has come to the United States in search of political, spiritual and financial support. Founder of the LGBT Anglican organization Changing Attitude Nigeria, he has faced persecution from both his government and his church–being forced to flee to a nearby country where he and others organize in the herculean fight for their rights against the very powerful Archbishop Peter J. Akinola, primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) and head homophobe in charge. It is because of pressure from Akinola that Mac-Iyalla and others active in his organization were arrested in 2005 by police in Abuja, the nation’s capitol, held for three days without food and water, beaten and tortured before finally being released. To this day, he suffers from the after effects of that violation of human rights, yet, he continues to speak, organize and advocate for his people–our people–in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He is an LGBT hero.

TWW was in the audience when Mac-Iyalla’s speaking tour came to Cleveland, Ohio on May 23 where he spoke to an audience of about 50 people at Trinity Cathedral. The first thing I noticed was how happy and relieved Mac-Iyalla was to finally be able to bring his story out of Nigeria and into the hearts and minds of people who could have significant influence in putting a stop to the persecution LGBT face in his country. Although it was already illegal to marry a same-sex partner in Nigeria, the legislature, spurred on by Akinola, considered a measure this year that would have carried a five-year prison sentence for advocating for LGBT rights individually or as an organization; providing services for LGBT people, including AIDS/HIV education and prevention; having dinner with another LGBT person in a purely platonic environment; renting space to any LGBT person or organization, and other activities. The bill, called the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act, narrowly escaped passage last March thanks, in no small part, to international pressure from governments and human rights organizations and then-upcoming elections in April. It is hoped that the April 21 poll results will bring about change in attitudes toward LGBT within the new government, however, Akinola and his minions in high office still loom large. Mac-Iyalla was forced to flee his homeland and seek refuge in neighboring Togo amid threats of kidnap, torture and death. It is this story he brings to the U.S. (For more background see Gay Anxiety in Nigeria and Time for a Hard New Push Against Nigerian Anti-Gay Bill.)

Mac-Iyalla began his Cleveland speech by saying that he had tried to refrain from speaking about Akinola because the man is an attention whore who doesn’t care whether what is said is negative or positive, only that his name is mentioned. However, he realized that in order to make Americans aware of the serious dangers of being LGBT in Nigeria, as well as to tell his own story, he had no choice but to also speak of the Nigerian primate who had once declared that there were no LGBT people in Nigeria, much less LGBT Anglicans. It was in response to this assertion that Changing Attitude Nigeria was formed and it was this challenge that led Akinola to turn his considerable powers not just on LGBT Anglicans within his province, but LGBT Nigerians as a whole.

Akinola may be better known in the U.S. for defying hundreds of years of Anglican tradition and poaching dioceses and individual churches within the Episcopal Church, USA (TEC) as they attempt to leave over full-inclusion of LGBT within the life and structure of the denomination, touching off a legal battle royal that threatens to go on for years to come. He is also the primary mover of a coalition of theoretically independent churches within the Anglican Communion called the “Global South” who have threatened to leave unless TEC stops ordaining LGBT bishops and performing same-sex unions. It is supposedly to offer pastoral care that Akinola has affiliated himself with the breakaway TEC dioceses and churches.

Make no mistake, Akinola is a powerful and dangerous man driven by a rabid hatred that is anything but Christian. Because Nigeria is the most populous province in the Communion, he has a built-in power base from which to conduct his heinous campaign against LGBT people throughout the world. I urge anyone who can to hear Mac-Iyalla speak and tell his story in his own words. I will be posting a more thorough article about his fight for freedom next week. In the meantime, I have included a list of cities and dates for the speaking tour. At Mac-Iyalla’s request, I have not included event times. Even here, it seems, he is not safe.

Davis Mac-Iyalla U.S. Tour

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