Bobrisky Unclad
“I DO AGREE WITH OTUNBA RUNSEWE THAT, BOBRISKY SHOULD NOT USE THE FEMALE PUBLIC TOILET. FOR NOW, HE IS STILL A MAN WHO IS A CROSS-DRESSER, AND NOT A FEMALE; AND, IF, AS HE CLAIMS, HE IS NOT A HOMOSEXUAL, THEN WHY SHOULD HE HAVE ACCESS TO WOMEN WHO MAY NOT BE FULLY CLAD, WHILE ANSWERING THE CALL OF NATURE IN RESTROOMS?”
Luggage Search
Last week, as I arrived at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, some officials pulled me aside, asking to search my suitcases as soon as they emerged from the scanning machine situated at the entrance to the airport. I realised that, in my travels lately, so far, ours is the only airport where officials request that passengers submit their suitcases for searches, apart from the security scanners for hand luggage and persons, that passengers go through after immigration (worldwide, and even for travel within Nigeria), when exiting the country. Why are we just so backward in Nigeria? Why do our uniformed officials, having been given some authority, abuse it and become a thorn in everyone’s flesh? It’s just so sad, and embarrassing. What is the essence of having scanning machines, if officials still lay ambush and search the same bags, without any reasonable cause for suspicion? Our officials are in the habit of harassing innocent passengers, majority of whom are certainly not carrying drugs or illegal substances, and subsequently letting them off, as if they are doing them a massive favour. I was saved by the bell! It seemed that, the officials found the person who came in directly behind me more captivating, and I was shooed away without further ado.
I thought Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, had put a stop to this pre-travel search. Or have all the decisions he took been reversed, now that he has more or less, been marginalised?
Bobrisky Anyway, still on airport experiences, while I was sitting in the airport lounge (not in Nigeria), waiting for my flight to be called, someone caught my attention across the room, simply because I could not determine whether the person was a man or a woman. I then remembered, our very own Idris Olanrewaju Okuneye aka ‘Bobrisky’.
When Bobrisky first materialised, he looked like an effeminate man, with his face caked up with make up - like ‘Garita’, as my friend would say, to emphasise a lady who wears too much make up (accentuating the word ‘garish’ in relation to excess make up). Now that Bobrisky seems to have worked on the structure of his face, bleached his skin and added breasts (I don’t know whether they are fake self-adhesive silicone breast forms, which can be purchased on Amazon for less than £30 (about N14,000), or he actually has surgical implants) - he looks more feminine, these days.
Transvestism Transvestism or Cross-dressing, which is what Bobrisky does, “is the practice of dressing or acting in a style or manner traditionally associated with the opposite sex”. Psychologists make a distinction, and refer to “wearing clothes of the opposite sex temporarily, but without a sexual motive or desire for gender reassignment surgery”, as ‘Dual-Role Transvestism’. ‘Gender Reassignment’ surgery, is the ‘Sex-Change’ operation, in which a person undergoes surgical procedures, to actually change from one sex to another. While the average person may see cross- dressing as a mental disorder, whether it has sexual connotations or not, Psychiatrists no longer categorise dual-role transvestism as a mental disorder, and identify more serious situations like when for instance, a man must adorn female apparel or underwear, in order to achieve sexual gratification, as what can be referred to as a mental disorder. Interestingly, a cross-dresser, may not necessarily be a homosexual, as people erroneously believe.
But, the question is, what is Bobrisky’s sex? Is he a man or a woman? I looked up Bobrisky on the internet, and saw that he s still a man. He has not yet had a sex change; but does he intend to have one? Certainly, the Criminal Code (CC) and Penal Code (PC) Acts, and Sharia Law, prohibit sodomy and homosexuality. Though our Police are not averse to arresting people for things that are not offences, like arresting men with dreadlocks which they consider to be feminine, on the suspicion of being homosexual, and will probably happily arrest a cross-dresser, the CC (which is applicable in Lagos) actually does not seem to cover a situation where, like Bobrisky, a man cross-dresses, or the transition period when he is changing his sex from male to female (or female to male). Sometime in 2008, in Bauchi which is a Sharia State, some men were allegedly arrested in a hotel, and charged with vagrancy and indecent behaviour, for dressing in female apparel. So, crossdressing in the Sharia States, may be an offence. But, Lagos where Bobrisky resides, is not a Sharia State.
Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act 2013
The Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act 2013 (SSMPA), which is our most recent law that has been enacted on same sex relationships, outlaws same sex marriage in Nigeria (Section 1(1)(a) of the SSMPA) and reiterates the fact that, in Nigeria, only a marriage between a man and a woman, can be contracted and recognised as valid (Section 3 of the SSMPA).
To be honest, while I don’t quite understand why anyone would want to have a sex change, except in the case of a hermaphrodite (that is, a person born with both male and female genitalia - a condition known as ‘true hermaphroditism’) who may identify more with one sex than the other, and may choose to keep the genitals of the sex he or she identifies with, and have the other removed - at the end of the day, it is a free world - each to his or her own. However, I am not aware of any law in Nigeria, that actually prohibits sex change.
What I find disturbing, is the extent to which people will go, to make easy money and gain cheap popularity and fame. I say this because, I saw on the internet that Bobrisky was warning men who have no money, but were professing love for him, to desist. That he was only interested, in the rich! So, for Bobrisky, is this show only about trying to look for a different, easier way to make money and become famous? A grand plan to advertise himself, rub people the wrong way in our fairly conservative society, and possibly eventually seek asylum in USA, using the excuse that he’s being persecuted and discriminated against in Nigeria? It certainly looks that way. Unfortunately, I am also guilty of giving Bobrisky more air time, by writing about him. But, sometimes, it’s best to clarify some of these issues, in an attempt to prevent what could result in extreme reactions from members of the public, or overzealous law enforcement agents.
Otunba Runsewe and Bobrisky I’m sorry to disappoint Otunba Segun Runsewe, the Director-General of the National Centre for Arts and Culture, who seems to have developed a great dislike for Bobrisky, to the extent that he was quoted as saying that, Bobrisky would be dealt with ruthlessly, if he is caught on the streets of Nigeria! What would Bobrisky’s offence be, in Lagos?
In the course of my research, I saw a photo of Bobrisky and a woman dressed in the same fabric, said to be his fiancée, which to all intents and purposes, means that he is in a heterosexual relationship, and not a same sex one, that is, he is not contravening the SSMPA or the CC. Nonetheless, we cannot say whether Bobrisky is “on the down low”, and his photograph with his so-called fiancée, is just a sham, cover and falsehood, to throw the authorities off his scent. Over to you for further investigation, the Nigeria Police, on whether Bobrisky may be more than just a cross-dresser, if you know what I mean!
I do agree with Otunba Runsewe though, that Bobrisky should not use the female public toilet. For now, he is still a man who is a cross-dresser, and not a female; and, if, as he claims, he is not a homosexual, then why should he have access to women who may not be fully clad, while answering the call of nature in restrooms? If using the wrong toilet is an offence, please arrest Bobrisky the next time he is sighted in a female restroom. I would certainly be upset, if I encountered Bobrisky, a man, in the Ladies restroom.
However, in the American case of John Doe v Regional School Unit 26, the court held that, a transgender girl had the right to use the ladies restroom. The reasoning in Doe’s case and that of Mathis v Fountain-Fort Carson School District 8, is that a transgender person, that is, one who identifies as the opposite sex, should be able to use conveniences that such a person identifies with. I disagree with this reasoning, because the fact that you identify as something, does not make you that thing. If I identify myself as a Caucasian, it certainly doesn’t automatically change my skin colour from black to white, and even if I’m able to bleach my skin colour to white, there will still be some distinguishing factors which a white person has, that I will never have.
Conclusion One of the first things we were taught in our Law Class, is that things that may be considered to be immoral, are not necessarily offences, for example, marrying mother and daughter may be considered to be an abomination and a religious taboo, but to the best of my knowledge, it is not an offence. For now, as unpalatable as it may be to some, cross-dressing is not an offence in Lagos. Secondly, our Nigerian laws as they stand (at least in Lagos, which is the relevant location for the purpose of this submission), would only be applicable to Bobrisky, if he was caught in the act of sodomy, or a homosexual act, or he made a public show of a same sex relationship, directly or indirectly, contrary to Section 4(2) of the SSMPA. A public display of a same sex relationship attracts a term of 10 years imprisonment (Section 5(2) of the SSMPA), while same sex marriage or same sex civil union, attracts a term of 14 years imprisonment (Section 5(1) of SSMPA).
My dear Colleagues, one thing I can say for certain is that, the world is changing. Should we forget our traditional values, discountenance some of them as outdated, like we are trying to do in the case of gender discrimination, and move with the times? Over 30 years ago, when I was in the University in the USA, homosexuality, cross-dressing and the like, were not so commonplace. Now, they are normal practices all over the world. In the next 30 years, with the ‘anything goes syndrome’, will Incest and Beastiality which are abominable acts and criminal offences in most jurisdictions today, maybe become acceptable practices? I’m just wondering. What do you think?