Artist warns Ghana’s anti-LGBTQ+ bill threatens all citizens
This week, we start in Ghana, where an artist warns that the proposed anti-LGBTQ+ rights bill could put even straight people behind bars. Next, we travel to Uganda, where a savings club is helping refugees with disabilities. Finally, we stop in Japan, where an anti-LGBTQ+ party is gaining support as the Supreme Court weighs in on same-sex marriage.
But first, Nigeria promises freedom of worship, but that promise falls short for followers of Esu and Ifa, deities at the core of Yoruba spirituality. In this story, we meet Adedoyin, an Orisha priestess who opens up about the discrimination she’s faced from family and romantic partners. Now, she’s using her platform to educate others and challenge the misconceptions surrounding her faith.
Read an excerpt here👇🏽:
They call her a witch. But this Nigerian Orisha priestess refuses to disappear
Cars, buses, and trucks jostle for space, horns blaring—a gridlock—a familiar scene on the ever-busy Ajah axis of Lagos. As the traffic worsens, hawkers weave through the chaos with their wares, while pedestrians dart across a flyover. Amid it all, a bus pulls over and Oreoluwa Adedoyin steps down, drawing stares from onlookers.
Adorned in a flowing white garment, with pristine beads of white and green swaying gently around her neck—a striking symbol of her devotion to Esu and Ifa, deities at the heart of Yoruba spirituality—she walks with quiet confidence. Conversations falter. Eyes widen. Hushed murmurs ripple through the crowd. Some step aside as if she carries an unseen force; others glare, their disapproval barely concealed. Everything about her presence challenges the norm.
Adedoyin is used to the scrutiny. Though she still feels the weight of judgment, she refuses to let it define her.
“I used to feel uncomfortable, sometimes taking less crowded routes just to avoid the attention,” she says. “But now, I’m used to it. I don’t let their stares define my mood. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.”
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A book cover featuring an illustration of an African woman in profile, leaves and flowers growing all around her and through her hair until high above her head.