Religion fuels the hate towards LGBT people -Sister Derby

Ghanaian musician and activist, Deborah Vanessa, also recognized as Sister Derby, attributes the hate and confusion aimed at LGBTQ individuals to religion.

 

In a recent interview on YFM, Sister Derby expressed her belief that religion has caused many people to lose their capacity for independent thinking.

She emphasized that religion is the underlying cause of the confusion and animosity, stating that it dictates people’s actions and decisions.

 

“To me, the root of all this confusion and hate-this kind of thing makes us hate each other-is religion. Religion is what everybody uses to decide what they are going to do.

 

“Most of us are not used to thinking for ourselves. We follow what someone else has said, and unfortunately, the majority of people are also following what they’ve read in a book,” she said.

 

She called for individuals to educate themselves, not just through formal methods but to sensitise themselves on the existence of humans who are different from them.

 

“All those things are problematic. At least you try to educate yourself. It’s not about going to school; it’s about meeting the people. Oral learning. Physical learning, experiencing, talking to them, and understanding where they are coming from.

“But you can’t tell me that at such an age, you don’t know or can’t see that there are different types of humans in the world,” she said.

 

Sister Derby drew parallels between the challenges faced by the LGBTQ community in Ghana and those encountered by individuals with albinism and victims of domestic violence.

She highlighted the ongoing oppression and violence against people with albinism, citing incidents where they are still being killed and mutilated in certain regions of Africa. This comparison underscores the severity of discrimination and violence experienced by marginalized groups in society.

“But we fought; people like us fought for people like them. And black women are still being oppressed. Black men are still being oppressed in the world. Palestinian people are still being oppressed in the world.

 

“So you are just adding gay people to that? It’s the same kind of oppression. That’s what I try to explain to people. It’s disappointing,” she said.