Bolu Okupe, son to Doyin Okupe, former aide to Goodluck Jonathan, ex-Nigerian president, says he knew he was gay at 10.
The 27-year-old, who brought the revelation to light in an interview with PUNCH, said such awareness usually occur when people are approaching puberty.
He, however, said the fear of being stigmatised by the society often prevents many gay people from coming out about their sexuality.
“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,” he said.
“We would progress more as a society if we speak more to each other and judged less.”
Bolu also countered his father’s claim that being homosexual is anti-Christ, wondering why some Christians are fond of playing judge on issues bordering on morality.
“With regard to homosexuality being anti-Christ, this is not incorrect, as many have pointed out to me,” he said.
“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.”
He also ruled out the possibility of reconsidering his sexual orientation as stated by his father in a recent post, explaining that such is innate.
“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,” he added.
“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?”.
The spotlight has continued to beam on Bolu after he publicly revealed his gay status in an Instagram post.
