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A medical expert, Dr Tolulope Bella-Awusah, has said that being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) is associated with lots of medical issues like depression, sexually transmitted diseases, cancers and hypertension.
Bella-Awusah, who spoke at an annual symposium of the Christian Medical and Dental Association of Nigeria —Doctors’ Arm, Oyo State chapter, with the theme ‘LGBTQ: Perspectives,’ said research about the LGBTQ community has found they have a lot more health challenges than their peers who do not belong to these communities.
“We have had a lot of studies showing that they have more depression, substance abuse, anxiety and suicidal behaviours in the community. In fact, they die more from suicide than the non-LGBTQ pairs.
“And it is not just about their mental health; they also have more physical health risks and die more from certain cancers, HIV and sexually transmitted diseases,” she said.
Bella-Awusah, a consultant psychiatrist at the University College Hospital (UCH), stated that in the western world, where individuals are allowed to transition to another gender, a lot of adverse effects of the procedure have now been recorded.
According to her, puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, medications given to block puberty and cross-gender, respectively, have been linked with reduced bone density, eating disorders, obesity, infertility, depression, anxiety, diabetes and hypertension, among others.
She stated that although gender incongruence has changed from being classified as a mental illness, a lot of European countries have stopped medical transitions in gender for adolescents because it is associated with a lot of adverse effects on people.
Dr Titilayo Dairo, director of the Oyo State Mediation Centre, said LGBTQ is illegal in more than half of African countries, including Nigeria, although the number of people in the community is increasing in the country.
She said though Nigeria has a lot of rights recognised under human rights, under which the LGBTQ community is hiding, the law also says that the family should be protected because it is the unit of society and same-sex marriage or intimacy is prohibited by law in Nigeria.
Pastor Muyiwa Bamgbose of the Vine Branch Church said from a spiritual and religious perspective, a lot of information on the LGBTQ on the internet is manipulated, adding that LGBTQ starts at a tender age in many people and it is contradictory to God’s commandment in the holy book and procreation.
Mrs Abidemi Olumide of the American Christian Academy, Ibadan, said indoctrination of children on LGBTQ is ongoing in many schools and being learned in social media, charging parents to create safe spaces for their children to ask questions and maintain honest communication.
