Ghanaian musician and activist, Deborah Vanessa, commonly known as Sister Derby, attributes the hatred and misunderstanding directed towards LGBTQ+ individuals to religion.
Drawing parallels between religion and the Bible, she openly acknowledges that she is not a religious person, stating, “I’m not religious at all. I believe in a supernatural power.”
In a recent interview with YFM, Sister Derby asserted that religion has led many to relinquish their capacity for independent thought. She expressed, “To me, the root of all this confusion and hate, you know this kind of thing makes us hate each other, right? I feel like the root is religion.
“Religion is what everybody uses to decide what they are going to do. When I say religion, most often the Bible. Most of us unfortunately, are not used to thinking for ourselves. We follow what someone else has said, and the majority of people are also following what they’ve read in a book.”
She encourages people to educate themselves, not only through formal means but also by gaining awareness of the existence of those who are different from them.
Sister Derby emphasizes, “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 a big age, you really don’t know or can’t see that there are different types of humans in the world.”
Drawing parallels, Sister Derby likens the situation of LGBTQ+ individuals in Ghana to that of victims of domestic violence and those who live with albinism.
She notes, “People with albinism have been oppressed before. They are still killing them and cutting their limbs in parts of Africa. 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 but I was saying to my friend today that, not everybody can be revolutionary.”
Watch the interview below:
