We Are Humans: Discourse Representations of Identities in the Tweets of Nigerian LGBT People

Abstract

Same-sex sexuality is an important topic worth consideration, especially in Africa, where this is still highly considered taboo. As a result of subsisting homophobia in the Nigerian public sphere, social media provides a safe space for collective queer voices. Queer studies in the Nigerian context have mainly been sociological and legalistic. However, linguistic studies on the media representation of same-sex sexualities have explored how heteronormativity is accentuated, without adequate attention paid to how sexual minorities have also used language to emphasize their identities and resist homophobia. Drawing on the Social Identity Theory (SIT), Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), and Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), this study examines the identities that Nigerian LGBT people construct for themselves on Twitter. I do this by considering discourses from the #EndHomophobiaInNigeria, which trended on Nigerian Twitter in 2020. Findings revealed that words, clauses, and other discursive strategies construe LGBT people as humans whose rights should be respected, as a community, and resilient. The significance of this study lies in the potential insights it provides into some of the struggles of the LGBT people for social acceptance and inclusivity, especially in a homophobic environment like Nigeria.

1. Introduction

The Nigerian government, in 2014, enacted the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill (SSMPA), which prohibits marriage or civil union by persons of the same sex, the solemnization of such marriage in places of worship and the registration of homosexual clubs and societies. The law does not just forbid same-sex relations, but also whoever abets it in any way. As a result of this, Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people are often victims of arbitrary arrest, torture, extortion, and other grave human rights violations. For example, in 2018, The Initiative for Equal Rights and other organizations’ reports show 213 human rights violations based on real or perceived sexual orientation in Nigeria. The Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act (SSMPA) was immediately followed by high levels of violence, including mob attacks, arbitrary arrests, detention, and extortion of LGBT people by some police officers and members of the public [1].

However, as Nigeria continues to be homophobic, mainly due to cultural and religious conventions, Nigerian sexual minorities have taken to different social media platforms to build online communities, express themselves, relate with other members, find emotional and financial support, and construct their identities. Many sexual minority individuals report several purposes for internet use including creating a positive identity, finding support, and fostering a sense of community [2, 3, 4]. Twitter is one such social media platform that has provided a safe place for the LGBT community. With an annual growth rate of 4.4%, Twitter has evolved to become a very successful microblogging site in Nigeria, accounting for about 1.75 million users. Communities with a common interest are formed online. Eve [5], for instance, acknowledges that online social networking media constitute domains where everyone, including the non-elite, can engage in sociopolitical advocacies and activism, toward having real-world implications and changing their social realities. Specifically within the context of amplifying queer voices, [6] has argued that cyberspace is increasingly deployed by users to represent gay as an identity and cultural signifier. Many campaigns were initiated in the digital space, with members of the Nigerian queer communities taking to social media platforms to encourage conversations about LGBT existence and rights. The recent were the #EndhomophobiaInNigeria #QueerNigerianLiveMatters.

Several studies in language and gender have asserted that language is not mere words, but a system of cultural values, lifestyle, perceptions, and a worldview that assigns roles and identities to people in the society. Language plays a significant role in shaping individual identities and in distinguishing how one group is different from another group. Linguistic style and language choice, which are repertoires of linguistic forms ideologically associated with specific personas and groups, can index identity. Many approaches to the study of identity suggest that identity is not merely a psychological mechanism of self-categorization that is reflected in the individuals’ social behaviors; instead, identity is composed through social action, principally through language [7]. This study, therefore, considers how the use of language by queer Nigerians indexes their identities and ultimately foregrounds their desires. Important research questions for this study are 1. What identities do queer Nigerians construct for themselves? 2. What linguistic and discursive strategies foreground these identities?

2. Literature review

Although the aspects of investigations and the way researchers regarded the non-heterosexual and marginalized sexual groups vary, it is an undeniable fact that there have been numerous studies on the language of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender individuals in particular [8, 9, 10]. The breaking point of such a conventional sociolinguistic approach was when lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer studies emerged within many academic disciplines in the late 1960s [11]. However, these studies have been in parallel with the sociopolitical challenge of the groups. This shift led to the emergence of a distinctive field Queer Linguistics that “focuses on how sexuality is regulated by hegemonic heterosexuality and how non-normative sexualities [i.e. gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender] are negotiated in relation to […] regulatory structures [12].”

With the influence of Queer approaches to language, the scholarly interest shifted to the linguistic construction of heteronormative and non-heteronormative discourses in specific contexts. In this context, the field has interfaces and close bounds with other discourse analytic approaches such as Conversation Analysis, Discourse Analysis, Critical Discourse Analysis, Poststructuralist Discourse Analysis and Feminist Linguistics [13, 14]. The radical change in the perspective of studies about the language use of gays and lesbians had its roots in the Foucauldian view of “identity” [15]. According to this view, identities are created by social relations of power; that is, they are not fixed and discovered. Therefore, the general tendency in the 1990s, when Queer Theory reshaped the sociolinguistic studies on LGBT language use, was to research how identities are realized through language rather than how gay and lesbian identity is reflected through language.

As identity is emergent, there exists the possibility that resources for identity composition in any interaction may develop from resources built up in previous interactions. In other words, these resources “may draw on structure—such as ideology, the linguistic system, or the relation between the two” [16]. The fact that identity is emergent and discursively produced is evident in situations where speakers use language that does not quadrate the social group to which they are conventionally categorized—whether biologically or culturally. This scenario is obvious in studies of transgender and cross-gender performance by [17, 18, 19]. Such studies demonstrate the emergent quality of identity in interactions in which ideologically expected mapping between language and biology or culture was violated and the essentialist preconceptions of linguistic ownership were challenged.

The Indexicality principle [20] is concerned with the mechanism by which linguistic forms are utilized to construct identity positions. Basically, the index is a linguistic form whose meaning relies on interactional contexts. Indexicality is a process involving the formation of the semiotic relationship between linguistic forms and social meanings [21, 22]. This semiotic relationship relies very much on cultural values and beliefs, or in other words, ideologies about who can produce what sorts of language in creating particular identities. According to this principle, identity relations emerge in interaction through several related indexical processes, including (a) overt mention of identity categories and labels; (b) implicatures and presuppositions regarding one’s own or others’ identity positions; (c) displayed evaluative and epistemic orientations to ongoing talk, as well as interactional footings and participant roles; and (d) the use of linguistic structures and systems that are ideologically associated with specific personas and groups [23]. According to both Hall and Bulcholtz, the labeling and referential categorizing of identities are the most apparent means of forming identities through talk. Another linguistic means of discursively constructing identities is through the indirect pragmatic process of implicature and presupposition regarding one’s own or others’ identity positions.

Research on same-sex sexualities especially from the linguistic perspective is still far behind in the African context compared with what is obtainable in the Euro-American context. This may be due to the homophobic sentiments that still pervade the African continent. In the Nigerian context, one of the few linguistic studies on same-sex sexualities is [24], which draws on various texts (interactional, literary, journalistic and cinematographic, among others) by and about the “yan daudu—Gay men,” paying particular attention to how they use grammatical and rhetorical resources to claim, attribute, mitigate, or deny kinds of agency concerning sex and economic exchange. Adegbola et al. [25, 26] show how Nigerian newspapers sometimes take the moralists’ stance in their reports on same-sex sexuality, strategically supporting the institutional order against same-sex relations. Onanuga [27] considers how a Nigerian newspaper frames same-sex relations and found that is framed mainly as illegality and negativity; not acceptable to the citizens, eliciting a corrective reporting approach.

Social media has emerged as a robust medium for discourses on sexuality given its capacity to challenge mainstream narratives and empower personal views on self-expression. In Nigeria, the growing interest in homosexual expressions through online platforms is yet to receive significant research attention, although scholars are hinting at the influences of social media. For instance, [28] using keyword searches on Twitter investigates how gay Nigerians combat homophobia by using language on Twitter toward self-assertion. The study argues that in addition to harnessing agency through positive self-representation and ingroup affirmation, the digital discourses of Nigerian gay men recontextualize religion as a legitimizing tool, transforming it into a site of affirmative struggle. Analyzing blog posts and web/Facebook pages generated by Cameroonian and Nigerian gay activists [29] also measure the extent to which gay activists adopt a national/local perspective versus the level to which they adopt an international perspective in their online advocacy. Currier [30] attempts to ascertain users’ willingness to express an opinion, directions of opinion, and factors affecting opinion formation. The study finds significant willingness to express opinions, propelled by “rising interest in the topic.”

Generally, linguistic-oriented research on same-sex sexualities in the Nigerian context has emphasized heteronormativity. However, adequate attention has not been paid to how queer Nigerians construct their identities (not necessarily sexual identities) in their attempt to combat homophobia, especially on social media platforms. This study, therefore, considers the linguistic and discourse strategies deployed by Nigerian sexual minorities in the construction of their identities on Twitter. The significance of this study lies in the potential insights it provides into the understanding of the LGBT lives [31], especially in a homophobic environment like Nigeria, and the strategies explored in resisting homophobia. As such, other minority groups might benefit from these strategies.

3. Theoretical foundation

This study adopts the Social Identity theory (SIT), Systemic Functional Linguistics and Critical Discourse Analysis. The Social identity theory [32, 33], developed in the 1970s by Henri Tajfel, is a social psychological approach to the role of self-conception in group membership, group processes, and intergroup relations. Social identity theory defines a group cognitively—in terms of people’s self-conception as group members. A group exists psychologically if three or more people construe and evaluate themselves in terms of shared attributes that distinguish them collectively from other people. The theory addresses phenomena such as prejudice, discrimination, ethnocentrism, stereotyping, intergroup conflict, conformity, normative behavior, group polarization, crowd behavior, organizational behavior, leadership, deviance, and group cohesiveness. Processes associated with important social identities include in-group assimilation and out-group exclusion.

Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is principally concerned with how power abuse, dominance, and inequality are discursively performed and practiced, legitimized, and contested in social or political discourses—texts or talks [34]. In CDA, texts are considered sites of struggle wherein they demonstrate vestiges of conflicting discourses and ideologies competing and struggling for power [35]. A critical approach to discourse is chiefly interested in the analysis of unequal social encounters between individuals and groups as well as the resistance to dominance by subordinated individuals and groups. The most obvious and distinct tenet of CDA is that discourse is shaped by relations of power and ideologies and these relations constructively affect social identities, social relations, and systems of knowledge and belief of the participants in the discourse. One of the common topics of study that adopt CDA framework is the construction of identities. Perspectives on identity construction in CDA are parallel to the principles of identity studies advocated by Bulcholtz and Hall (2005).

Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) provides a social semiotic theory of meaning-making, learning, and social change. SFL maintains that language and other meaning-making systems cannot be understood without an analysis of the immediate context in which it is used and developed, nor can they be understood separately from issues of power, language socialization, and ideology [36]. Butler [37] describes how language simultaneously achieves three functions in constructing meaning. The ideational metafunction constructs ideas and experiences; the interpersonal metafunction enacts social roles and power dynamics; the textual metafunction manages the how of information to make extended discourse coherent and cohesive.

The relevance of SIT, CDA, and SFL to this study is the view that “Identity is performatively constituted by the very ‘expressions’ that are said to be its results” [38]. Our identities, and the ways we see and represent ourselves, and our ideologies shape how we communicate, what we communicate about, how we communicate with others, and how we communicate about others. This suggests the connection of the three theories. While SIT and CDA focus on ideologies and identities, SFL provides the linguistic tools for foregrounding these features in the process of analysis. Language is commonly understood as a primary resource for enacting social identity and displaying membership in social groups, hence the use of the three frameworks. Also central to the three theories is the notion of context. The consideration of context is crucial to meaning-making in textual analysis. Just as no text can be free of context, so no text is free of ideology. In other words, to use language at all is to use it to encode particular positions and values. Many scholars working within CDA and SIT have continued to draw on SFL descriptions in their critical analyses of discourses, identifying and explaining what is foregrounded or backgrounded by the linguistic choices, and more specifically the process types and choice of mood and modality made over others [39, 40].

4. Methodology

In March 2020, Twitter was taken over with #EndHomophobiaInNigeria, a reaction to the murder of a gay man in Imo state, Nigeria. The incident portrayed the dark side of queer hook-up culture. This led to the coming together of LGBT Nigerians and activists to condemn this act of violence and advocate against homophobia using the hashtag. I collected a total of 87 tweets posted between March 2020 and August 31, 2022. March 2020 captures the emergence of the EndHomophobiaInNigeria campaign. However, till 2022, the hashtag continued to be in use since sexual minorities continue to suffer backlash as a result of their gender identities. Out of the 87 tweets, 82 were pro-gay while only five were against the movement. Tweets in favor of same-sex practice were purposively selected since the understanding of how sexual minorities construct their identities is the focus of this study. Only 34 pro-gay tweets provided the sample for this study. The tweets are numbered TWT1-TWT35. (“TWT” stands for “tweet.”) In the analysis, however, only a few relevant tweets from the various discursive categories are reproduced.

I adopted a qualitative approach to analyze the contents of the tweets, which I viewed as identity discourse. The tweets were subjected to CDA and linguistic analysis. CDA allows an examination of the contributions of language to identity and ideological formations as identifiable within the context of same-sex relations, while SFL provides linguistic tools for analyzing discourse engagements. Ideological and identity discourses very often demonstrate evidence of the positive “we” representation and the negatives “other” representation. The categories applied in the analysis include actors’ descriptions and disclaimers (dissociating from negative identities). Under SFL, transitivity, mood, and modality are considered in the analysis of how the identities of the in-group are defined. For instance, the kind of processes associated with the “we” and their ideological functions are explored. The analysis is done in relation to the Nigerian sociopolitical context.

5. Data analysis and discussion

Queer individuals have constructed different identities for themselves while showing their agitations on Twitter. They have constructed selves as humans, who have equal rights as other humans. Queer Nigerians have used different linguistic strategies to foreground these identities. The identities constructed via the use of language are taken in turn for explication.

5.1 Discursive construction of identities

5.1.1 LGBT people are humans

Nouns used by same-sex identified people construe them as humans just as others. Van Dijk [41] argued that the nominal group is an economical way of packaging information, representing what writers consider relevant and interesting, as well as reflecting values and stereotypes implicit in their discourse. Identity description is characterized by strings of adjectives and nouns, forming what is termed a nominal group, as illustrated by the examples taken from my data. Accordingly, nominal groups in tweets provide one point of departure for the investigation of LGBT identity representations in this study. Nouns such as people, man, men, person, etc., are used. A glimpse at the examples below reveals this.

TWT1: Nollywood star Yul Edochie condemns execution of gay men in Nigeria: “Gay people are human beings!” @PinkNews Jul 14, 2022.

TWT2: I raise my candle for the gay man that was killed in march 2020 that triggered the hashtag #EndHomophobiaInNigeria and for all other queers that have died unjusticely...may you all rest in power.#EndSARS #QueerNigerianlivesmatter@queer_wife, Oct 16, 2020.

TWT3: A hate crime was committed and you lot managed to turn such an unfortunate incident into a “rantfest” about how much you hate gay people. Where is your humanity? Jesse of lagos@Jesse65794271, Mar 12, 2020.

TWT4: We are human and loved! Still Yin @Lady_Yinn, Mar 11, 2020.

Looking at TWT1–TWT 4, it can be observed that sexual minorities often construct their identity as humans, adding the personal nouns people, men, man, and person to the adjective gay. This usage emphasizes their identity as humans. This identity is further reinforced by the use of the lexical item human, as seen in TWT1 and TWT4. In TWT1, the voice of a popular Nigerian actor is managed as a legitimizing strategy, showing that LGBT people are humans. The Nollywood star, Yul Edochie, is attributed with the verbal process “condemn,” which emphasizes the actions/behaviors of non-supporters of same-sex relations as negative. The actor, who is the sayer of the verbal process, is a role model to many young Nigerians and the writer of the tweet considers his words worthy of repetition. The role-model authority is a discursive strategy useful in the process of legitimation [42]. Reporting what the actor said might change the negative mindset of his fans to react positively to same-sex-identified people [43]. The purpose of the condemnation is shown by the verbiage ‘execution of gay men. The actor sees the act of execution as a treatment meant for animals TWT1 was propelled by the death sentences given by an Islamic court in Bauchi, Nigeria, to three gay men on July 7, 2022. These choices of words call the attention of Nigerians and the government to the idea that gay people are humans like other humans and should not be executed like animals for their sexual orientation. Apart from the use of men and people, which connotes LGBT people are human, the relational process is also attributed to the social actor, specifically identifying sexual minorities as human beings. This form of identifying relational process is also seen in TWT4, where we signify same-sex identified people is the carrier of the attribute of human. TWT3 queries the humanity of homophobes, using the interrogative mood as well as representing sexual minorities as humans, gay people.

Relational identification is also used in constructing the identity of non-heterosexuals as humans. This is done by means of personal, kinship terms, such as friend, parents, brother, sister, etc. Examples of how this is done are shown below.

TWT5:… A gay person could be your: Friend, Brother, Sister, Cousin, Nephew, Niece, Aunty, Uncle, Mother, Father. Literally anyone, it’s just simple logic as though via any religion, law, or morals Love and respect. Yum-Yum @yomiaka, Mar 12, 2020.

TWT 6: Your brothers and sisters are begging you to lend your voice. You do not gain anything from homophobia. But they lose everything. #EndHomophobiaInNigeria. @kikimordi, march 10, 2020.

In the tweets above, relational identification is realized by means of the attributive relational clause in tweet 5, where A gay person is identified as your: Friend, Brother, Sister, Cousin, Nephew, Niece, Aunty, Uncle, Mother, Father. This construes gay persons as members of families. This further reinforces their identity as humans and appeals to the minds of readers to empathize with the sexual minorities, seeing them as members of their families. Again, the sexual minorities are represented as brothers and sisters to other Nigerians in twt6. They are presented with the behavioral process of appealing (are begging) follow Nigerians to join the fight against homophobia. The use of the behavioral clause not only points to the fact that LGBT people are humans who could be members of anyone’s family, but it also appeals to the emotions of the readers to empathize with them. Relational identification at the collective level is the province of social identity theory [32]. At this level, the focus is on oneself as a proto-typical member of a group, such as an organization, or a social category, such as gender.

Relational identification is also deployed as an organizing strategy among the LGBT people, to show their identity as group members. This can be seen in the tweet below.

TWT7: Our victory is near sibs! Our victory is near and we will keep fighting. Son of the Rainbow AKA LGBTQ+ CLASS CAPTAIN@Blaise_21, Feb 11, 2021.

The writer of the above tweet represents other sexual minorities as his or her siblings, sibs. The use of the lexical item is to emphasize the unity among group members toward achieving a common goal and to encourage their continuous cooperation.

Humans inherently have certain fundamental rights that aspire to protect all people everywhere from severe political, legal, and social abuse. Since sexual minorities are humans, they have rights that should be respected by all and sundry. In the tweets under study, while emphasizing their human status, LGBT people also foreground their fundamental human rights, using different linguistic tools, such as repetition, capitalization, rights related lexical items, among others.

TWT8: The rights of these people must be recognized as we march and protest police brutality, as we cry for the government to #EndSARSNow!#EndPoliceBrutality #EndHomophobiaInNigeriaPink Panther@kito_diaries, Oct 11, 2020.

TWT9: LGBTQ+ RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS!

LGBTQ+ RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS!

LGBTQ+ RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS!

LGBTQ+ RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS! MiriamDera @Miriam_dera, Mar 20, 2021

TWT10: queer people have as much right as everyone else to exist in this country free from unjust persecution and violence.

TWT11: the SSMPA is a ruthless violation of human rights targeted solely at queer people and it needs to burn. Fritz@chaotictwitch,March 20, 2021.

Looking at the tweets above, one notices rights-related terms and phrases, such as human rights, rights, and LGBT rights. In TWT8, the importance of respecting the rights of LGBT people is represented with the mental process must be recognized. The supposed senser is the Nigerian government or Nigerians in general and the sensed is the rights of these people. These people, here, refers to the LGBT people who are often victims of police brutality. The deontic modal must indicate necessity and obligation toward respect for the rights of queer people. Must is a deontic modal auxiliary verb that has an assertive force. It portrays compulsion or lack of choice. Therefore, the writer’s use of the modal indicates how respect for the fundamental human rights of queer people is important to the writer and the social group; hence, the march, protest, and cry. Also, in TWT9, relational clauses and repetition are used to foreground the notion that the fundamental human rights of sexual minorities should be respected. The identifying relational clause LGBTQ+ RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS, graphologically represented in capital letters and repeated four times emphasizes the agitation of the sexual minorities in Nigeria. The relational clauses equate LGBTQ+ rights with human rights. Capitalization and repetition are linguistic strategies for foregrounding. The repetition of these content words is an indicator of the importance of the meaning they contribute to the discourse. These linguistic devices draw one’s attention to the desires of the writers of the tweets and the sexual minorities in Nigeria and impress them on one’s mind. It seems to be saying to one that “the text is central to this group, everything in it revolves around it, so don’t forget it.” In tweet 10, the right of the LGBT people is also foregrounded with the relational clause (possessive). Queer people possess as much right as everyone else this is further emphasized by the phrase free from unjust persecution and violence. Again in tweet 11, the same-sex marriage prohibition act is represented in an attributive relational clause as a ruthless violation of human rights and the desire of the writer is portrayed with the deontic modal need to in the last clause, it needs to burn. Generally, in the tweets, LGBT people emphasize the notion that they are equally human whose fundamental human rights should be respected just like other humans.

5.1.2 We are a community

A community is a compact and homogenous group, where members feel, think, and behave in similar and predictable ways, as corresponds to their belonging to the community. It implies a set of processes such as membership, inclusion, identity, feeling of belonging, and an emotional bond or sense of community. LGBT people in Nigeria often construct themselves as a community of people working together to achieve a purpose, in their tweets. This is done by assimilation, which is the representation of social actors as groups [43]. It is operationalized through two minor strategies: collectivization, i.e., “reference to social actors as group entities” and aggregation, i.e., quantifying groups of participants. Specification of social actors as groups has a special meaning for the discursive construction of in-groups in the texts. A glimpse at the excerpts below reveals these.

TWT12: Very proud of the work we did and still doing. Very proud of the entire queer community in Nigeria and our resilience in the face of injustice. OluTimehin K. @olukukoyi, Oct 17, 2020.

TWT13: The comments under this post shows that as #LGBT individuals and community in #Nigeria we have serious work to do. Also it is sending a very loud message to our allies, stop behind the close door allyship, we are dying. #EndHomophobiaInNigeria.

Community refers to the development of bonds between a group of people or feeling a sense of unity with one another. A community often shares the same values, beliefs, and worldview. The usage of the noun community and the entire queer community might be a deliberate attempt to represent non-heterosexuals as a powerful force, that which should be reckoned with. Again, pronouns become a useful tool in the construction of the LGBT people as a community. The first-person plural pronoun we and its variants, that is, us and our, are semantically complex. We-pronoun and its variants are both inclusive and exclusive in meaning. These pronouns can simultaneously mean the inclusion of the speaker and other members of the LGBT community and the exclusion of others. Tweets 12 and 13 include examples of the use of personal pronouns that are used to indicate a sense of sameness and solidarity. We and its variants appeal to an idealized vision of the community. Functioning as a form of encouragement for community members, tweet 12 praises the activism of LGBT people in Nigeria, an example of positive self-representation and in-group affirmation, while tweet 13 clamors for more work and support and equally identifies the dangerous position the sexual minorities are subjected to in Nigeria, we are dying. Dying here is not only physical but includes other aspects.

The construction of the identity of the LGBT people as a community also presents them to be many. The game of numbers is also vividly used in the examples below.

TWT14: As much as gay bashing does not happen often in Nigeria, the societal issues LGBTq people face in Nigeria and most parts of the world is immense and horrible. PSA: there are millions of gay people in Nigeria, they are just in hiding or have married women and vice-versa to fit in Sep 19, 2021@SBADZMD.

TWT15: The biggest threat to gay people in Nigeria are their fellow gay people who are still in the closet! Trust me, dem plenty! @AishaYesufu, Jul 3, 2020.

TWT16: Send one’s child out the country for high quality western education does not make the child more likely to be gay. The tendency to be gay lies with the individual, their choice of life style and company they keep, because there are a lot of gay people in Nigeria than you can imagine. Yam Pepper Scatter Scatter@Kazekagemichael.

TWT17: It is 7 years today since @GEJonathan signed a bill (SSMPA 2014) that criminalizesmillionsof Nigerians just for living their lives and loving differently! We will never forget!James C.@JamesLantern2, Jan 7, 2021.

In the examples above, non-heterosexuals in Nigeria are portrayed to be many but in the closet. In the tweets, the existential clauses there are millions of gay people in Nigeria, there are a lot of gay people in Nigeria than you can imagine as well as the aggregation strategy of using lexical items such as millions, a lot, and plenty to quantify social actors foreground the notion that the LGBT community has numerical strength, connotatively suggesting they are powerful.

5.1.3 We are fighters

In the tweets, same-sex identified people labeled themselves as fighters. Fighter in this context means one who struggles or resists. It means a person with the will, courage, determination, ability, or disposition to fight, struggle, or resist. The LGBT people, in their tweets, represent themselves as fighters, struggling and resisting homophobia and particularly the Nigerian same-sex prohibition bill. They express their disapproval and dissatisfaction with the issues surrounding same-sex relations in Nigeria. Lexical items relating to fighting, struggle, and resistance are commonly used in the examined tweets.

TWT18: We will fight till our rights are respected! If nothing, we’ll do it for the next generation…they should not have to suffer like this. Alaafin of Eko @alaafinofEko, Jan 12, 2021.

TWT19: 2men down, seems wat they want is war. we go give themMalahat Yhyazad @MuradTuranli, Oct 27, 2020.

TWT20: We’re all directing our anger at the people who want to deny us our futures. Try not to be one of them.

TWT21: Our victory is near sibs! Our victory is near and we will keep fighting. Son of the Rainbow AKA LGBTQ+ CLASS CAPTAIN@Blaise_21, Feb 11, 2021.

This form of construction reveals the contention on the same-sex prohibition act in the Nigerian context. In the first tweet under this category, the writer constructs the LGBT folks as fighters, who are not ready to give up hope in the struggle for freedom. This is shown in the material clause We will fight till our rights are respected. We which is the actor in the material process will fight to collectivize the LGBT folks in Nigeria as working together to achieve their aim. Will fight in the tweet signifies their continuous attempt at contending for their rights, which is portrayed by the circumstance of the clause till our rights are respected. The resilience to continue in the struggle is seen in the next clause, If nothing, we’ll do it for the next generation. The decision to continue to struggle is also seen in the next tweet. Seems wat they want is war.. we go give them. They, in the first clause, refers to the homophobes, including the government that criminalized same-sex relations. The writer goes further to refer to the struggle as war, which has a more intense effect than a fight. The second material clause we go give them reveals the decision of the LGBT people to fight. The clause is in Nigerian Pidgin English, meaning, we will give them. The writer says since homophobes have resulted in violence indicated by the death of two non-heterosexuals two down, then, the Nigerian LGBT people would join in the war. They are ready to give all it takes for their freedom. The use of the nominal group our anger suggests conflict, which could have been triggered by the action of the other. This lexical item reveals the emotional condition of the LGBT folks in Nigeria. The anger is directed at homophobes represented as the people who want to deny us our futures. The last tweet urges the LGBT people to fight against injustice. Victory is a lexical item belonging to the semantic field of war/contention. The writer of the tweet strategically used the lexical item victory to make same-sex identified people see the brighter side of the war by hoping for a positive effect. Again, victory is collectivized with the pronoun our. Our victory is represented as the token in the relational clause. This clause is also repeated for emphasis. The encouragement to keep fighting is seen in the third material clause.

The struggle has led to the use of hashtags indicating what sexual minorities are contending for. Examples of such are seen in the tweets below.

TWT22: It’s a good day to #EndHomophobiaInNigeria and choke on the fact that queer people exist and were going nowhere…. Also #Queerlivesmatter, gag on that too SPICY EDO PRINCESS, @riastillonfia, Oct 19, 2020.

TWT23:#EndHomophobiaInNigeria.

#EndHomophobiaInNigeria.

#EndHomophobiaInNigeria.

A gay person could be your: Friend, Brother, Sister, Cousin, Nephew, Niece, Aunty, Uncle, Mother, Father. Literally anyone, it’s just simple logic as though via any religion, law, or morals Love and respect. Yum-Yum @yomiaka, Mar 12, 2020.

The frequent use of hashtags indicating the interests and desires of members of the LGBT community is a form of hashtag activism. Hashtags are used on microblogging platforms, such as Twitter as a form of user-generated tagging that enables cross-referencing of content by topic or theme. Hashtags (#) are used to index, order, and accumulate public discourse into coherent topical threads [44]. In conflict situations, verbal abuses, assertions, repetition of words, phrases, or sentences and threats may be common. These can be noticed in some of the tweets by members of the LGBT community.

TWT24: We are planted here. These homophobes will not move us. We are here. We are fucking queer. We are human and loved! Still Yin @Lady_Yinn, Mar 11, 2020.

TWT25: Homosexuals are here and we are fabulously made in the image and likeness of God. Uchenna Samuel (SAMUCH) @officialsamuch, Oct 22, 2020.

TWT26: If you are a Homophobe, internalized or outright homophobe? Avoid me, better still kuku fall and die!

The writer of tweet 24 employs declaratives to assert the existence of the LGBT people in Nigeria and their decision to remain, irrespective of the harsh law on sexual minorities and ill-treatment by homophobes. In the tweet, there are five declarative sentences. The first two are represented in material clauses. We in the first material clause collectivizes the sexual minorities, the material process are planted suggests being strong, rooted, and growth. The circumstance, here, refers to Nigeria. It writer uses this to emphasize their identity as Nigerians who are not ready to go or migrate elsewhere just for their sexual identities. This idea is further reinforced by the second material clause with these homophobes as the actors of the material process will not move and us (LGBT people), the goal. This suggests that the actions of the homophobe would not discourage the sexual minorities as they are not ready to relocate. Their assertion is also foregrounded with the other three relational processes, showing their existence in Nigeria, and their identity as queer and human. Tweet 25 is similar to tweet 24 as the writer also emphasizes the existence of the LGBT community in Nigeria, using the relational process. Also, the material clause, we are fabulously made in the image and likeness of God, identifies the sexual minorities as humans created by God. The writer of tweet 26 calls out the homophobes using the interrogative, If you are a Homophobe, internalized or outright homophobe? This discourse strategy is called “kito-ing,” a public “outing” of the homophobic actors. Then issues a warning in the form of an imperative (avoid me) and ends with the verbal abuse, kuku fall and die! Ultimately, tweet26 shows the anger of the writer and generally the sexual minorities toward homophobes in Nigeria. The reader of these tweets would have to rely on contextual and extratextual knowledge to make meaning of deictic and spatiotemporal orientations (we, us, these, here, you, me), which have been strategically deployed to heighten the ideological cleavage and conflict embedded in the discourses on same-sex relations in the Nigerian context.

5.1.4 Sexual identity is not by choice

In the tweets, LGBT people also framed their sexuality as not being subject to choice. They constructed their identity as not being able to change their sexuality using different discursive strategies. Examples of such tweets are found below.

TWT27: Trust me no one chooses to be gay. Do not get me wrong I’m not ashamed of who I am but it’s extremely dangerous for people like me especially in Nigeria so why would I gladly pick being gay@EdafeOkporo.

TWT28: We are not nobody.

We are more than this body.

We are not photocopy.

We were made this way Chef Shawn Desroleaux @Oluwatobby, Mar 31, 2021.

TWT29: Good morning. #ThisIsYourConscienceSpeaking. Imagine being beaten to death just because you are tall, or short, or have a big nose or are a twin, or are bald, or hairy, or for some other attribute that you did not create yourself. Think am o. #EndHomophobiaInNigeria Dr Joe Abah @DrJoeAbah, Mar 11, 2020.

Same-sex-identified people also construct their sexuality as an orientation rather than a preference. The clauses no one chooses to be gay and we were made this way foreground this notion in tweets 27 and 28. The writer of tweet 27 goes ahead to question the choice of being gay in an extremely dangerous society like Nigeria. This identity construction emphasizes their helplessness and inability to change their sexuality. The helplessness of members of the LGBT community in Nigeria is also emphasized with the illustration in tweet 29. Of course, no one has a say on being tall or short or on other genetic features as suggested by the tweet. The writer compares their sexuality to other natural features. The writer of the tweet goes further to appeal to the conscience of the readers, particularly the government and other homophobes, using the mental clause think am o. think am o is the pidgin English that contextually suggests being somewhat apologetic. The mental process appeals to the consciousness of the Nigerian public. He calls for a rethink on homophobia in Nigerians, which is vividly expressed through the hashtag.

5.1.5 We are not criminals

The disputation of criminal status became a focus for many sexual minorities since LGBT people are often represented as criminals even in newspapers’ reports (Adegbola, 2021). The sexual minorities therefore in their tweets disclaim the criminal identity. Examples are found below:

TWT30: Queer people do nothing wrong by existing and being themselves. CHIKO@Rainbow_Wxtch, Mar 22, 2021.

TWT31: Good Morning. Na gay we gay, we no kill person. #RepealSSMPA #QueerNigerianLivesMatterJean @IAmTheLWord, Mar 22, 2021.

TWT32: How do rapists and queer people deserve the same treatment?

The LGBT people try to vehemently disassociate themselves from crimes and criminals. They employ the strategies of claiming and disclaiming. Na gay we gay is a form of claiming sexual orientation while “We no kill person” is to disclaim the idea of comparing same-sex identified people to the criminals such as rapists and killers. The use of “do nothing wrong’” and we no kill person is to disclaim wrongdoing and the act of killing, reconstruct their ill-conceived identity by Nigerians and consequently project what they believe they are (existing and being themselves, and just being gay). Tweet 33 expresses displeasure in strong terms about why they should not be compared with rapists.

5.1.6 We are afraid

Sexual minorities are also constructed as being afraid, given the ill-treatment they often receive from homophobes in Nigeria. This form of identity is indexed by the choice of the lexical item fear and other terms or phrases indicating that mental condition.

TWT33: Once I went for a job interview, I was asked a question that left me frozen, my heart raced. “Are you queer?” “No” I said, I was poor & badly in need of a job. This is the reality of queer Nigerians, erasing & denying their identities to just survive Freddie@Freddieunicorn5, Mar 21, 2021.

TWT34: I am a lesbian and I am lending my voice to say #RepealSSMPA. I am tired of loving in fear, fear of being killed, fear of been harassed, fear of jungle justice. No Nigerian Is Better than Another Nigerian Airsplech @fierce_q, Mar 21, 2021.

TWT35: Ostracized by the entire Father side family. I have to watch how I interact with my Boyfriend in public. I have to hide any suggestive picture of us every time I’m stepping out cos of this stupid law. @preacherkot, Mar 12, 2020.

Tweet 33 is the experience of a gay man who had to deny his sexual identity just to survive. Left me frozen and my heart race show the intensity of the fear he felt when he was asked if he was queer. The story as well as the choice of words emphasizes the unpleasant condition sexual minorities are often subjected to in Nigeria. This has made many of them remain in the closet, erasing and denying their identities. The discouraged attitude of a lesbian is reflected in tweet 34. She repeated the lexical item fear four times to also show the intensity of the condition of members of the LGBT community. Again, tweet35 shows the actions of many same-sex-identified people in Nigeria. These actions are foregrounded by the material processes have to watch and have to hide, suggesting that members of the community are scared of what might happen to them if found.

5.2 Discussion

The identity construction of sexual minorities as humans, using different linguistic strategies, is in a bid to agitate against the homophobic actions/reactions against them, particularly the killing and execution of LGBT people by governmental institutions and mob actions legitimized by governmental actions. For instance, on March 10, 2020, a video went viral showing how two men disguised to be gay men in Imo state, set up a gay man, and extorted and murdered him afterward. The video subsequently sparked outrage among LGBT persons and advocates online, trending the hashtag #EndHomophobiaInNigeria., especially since the government did not take any actions against the killers. More recently, in July 2022, a sharia court in Bauchi, Nigeria, sentenced three gay men to death by stoning for their gender identity. In light of these governmental and extrajudicial killings of queer people in Nigeria, LGBT people in their Twitter posts emphasize that they are equally humans just as heterosexuals. Consequently, being human suggests that their fundamental human rights should be respected as others.

Again, the use of relational identification by LGBT folks, indexed by kinship terms, becomes necessary due to the inhumane treatment LGBT people often receive from the Nigerian public. Relational identification is a strategy to solicit empathy from the general public and to show cooperation among sexual minorities. This strategy emphasizes the role of empathy as an affective response or a cognitive response. Sluss and Ashforth [45] has proposed that high relational identification should correspond with more empathy, understanding, loyalty, cooperation, support, and altruism toward a partner, as well as greater in-role performance. Since kinship often enhances empathy, loyalty, cooperation, and support. This becomes a strategy for advocacy. Human cooperative behavior arises through the acquisition of a culturally grounded social identity that included the expectation of cooperation among kin. This identity is linked to basic survival instincts by emotions that are mentally experienced as culture-laden feelings. As a consequence, individuals are motivated to cooperate with those perceived culturally as kin. It helps LGBT individuals to engage and deepen ties with heterosexuals as well as the queer community and queer culture.

The representation of the LGBT people as a community could have a positive connotation, suggesting strength and cooperation. This form of identity suggests collective activism. The identity also construes the group as being powerful. However, the power has frequently been subdued by governmental agencies/policies and extrajudicial actions, which have made many same-sex identified people remain in the closet, as seen in tweets 14 and 15. A reference to the high percentage of LGBT people constituting a community in Nigeria is calling the attention of Nigerians to sexual minorities. It justifies their claim for freedom and acceptance, though there are no definite statistics for queer people especially since they are an unwanted specie in the Nigerian context.

Given the harsh condition queer people are subjected to in Nigeria, the construction of the LGBT community as fighters could be expected. The identity of the sexual minorities as fighters foregrounds their resilience in the quest for liberation from oppression and social acceptance. Hashtag activism is, however, one of the means to fight. Hashtag activism is the act of building up public support via social media for a cause. This social media tool helps to register people’s participation in the virtual world to organize and coordinate social movements and mass protests, which has brought commendable changes in the real world. This study reveals how these hashtags create awareness of the agitations of the LGBT people, challenge mainstream narratives about sexual minorities, and extend public debates on same-sex sexualities. The hashtag activism might come and go, but the awareness and participation that it creates for several important issues are creditable.

Anger is one of the features of fights. Queer people often develop a deeper awareness of heterosexist oppression and may feel anger, distrust, disappointment, or rejection toward people who perpetuate oppression [1]. While anger is often treated as a “dirty” feeling or a pathology, queer anger holds the potential for a renewed politics of (self-) discomfort [46]. Many queer people do not shy away from internal annoyances and are not afraid of constantly discomforting themselves as is the case in TWT 26. Milani [47] calls this a form of radical rudeness, a resistance strategy of deliberate rudeness to disrupt normative structures.

Furthermore, the construction of their gender identities as an orientation rather than a preference is to show the helplessness of the sexual minorities in changing their identities. This suggests that LGBT people do not also have a say on their sexual orientation and opine that it is a misnomer for them to be treated cruelly the way they are being treated by the Nigerian government and other homophobes. LGBT people also continue to foreground the fact that they are not criminals like killers and rapists. Hence, there was no reason for their being hunted and chased around since they do not harm anyone. The logic drawn here is that LGBT people are not criminals like killers and rapists, their members should enjoy their Fundamental Human Rights. Regarding them as criminals, of course, would have a negative impact on their mental health. Again, in such a toxic environment like Nigeria, fear is inevitable, hence the construction of their identities as being afraid. Generally from the tweets, homophobia has been such a critical factor in the lives of LGBT persons who navigate life in Nigeria. Consequently, the construction of the “self” in the tweets is mainly for advocacy.

6. Conclusion

This study demonstrates the identities LGBT people in Nigeria construct for themselves in their tweets in the bid to resist the status quo, given the opportunity social media offers to marginalized groups such as the LGBT community. Different discourse and linguistic strategies were used to tactically foreground their identities contesting the identities portrayed in the mainstream media. The tweets present sexual minorities as humans who should enjoy their fundamental human rights like other humans, a community, suggesting cooperation numerical strength and power, resilient fighters, not criminals, fearful, and helpless in determining their sexual orientation. The tweets construct the identities of sexual minorities as normative as other sexualities. Generally, these identities are constructed to resist the existing ideological presuppositions that produce homophobia in the Nigerian context.

This study argues that queer visibilities may be strategically utilized as an attempt to liberate sexual minorities from societal structures and their norms. Social media presents an opportunity for the creation of community-based safe spaces, which may increase queer visibilities. However, attempts to create such visibilities may paradoxically result in situations of abuse, violence, human rights violations, discrimination, and stigma against LGBT communities [48]. This suggests that caution must be taken when utilizing queer safe spaces, especially in places that are characterized as heteronormative such as Nigeria [49].

One of the contributions of this study is that it addresses a missing element from the extant literature on the role of social media in the identity construction of the LGBT people as an organizational strategy to resist subsisting homophobia in Nigeria, via the use of certain discursive and linguistic strategies. Again, this article contributes to an understanding of some of the challenges that Nigerian sexual minorities encounter. Lastly, this study provides valuable insights into how Social Identity Theory, Critical Discourse Analysis, and Systemic Functional Linguistics are valuable approaches to the study of identity.