ISHRAI SAYS (LESBIANS) BY CYNTHIA NWAONYIRI
Published 3rd Mar, 2022
Lesbians! Talk about your sexual health issues
Hello Gays, Lesbians, and NBs,
Welcome to today's "ISHRAI SAYS" episode. It was on a day like this that masculine-presenting (Masc presenting for future purses) A sat beside me at a viewing centre where we sat and endured Tunisia winning us, that in my sad mood, I took out my phone and mistakenly, I should say mistakenly because it was a mistake in all sincerity and in the eyes of my ancestors who barely know me. A in all their (they use that pronoun) beauty was very busy doing scratch and win promo down there with no worry in the world, or perhaps they only worried about the pleasure that came from the scratching. Our eyes jammed while I was viewing them, as my Naija people would say.
Long story short, A and I hung out later and they told them that they were really ashamed to talk about talking about their sexual issues. Who, for the love of rainbow will be shy to talk about their sexual health problems? Don't answer that yet, cos it's not just A. I know most of us, what am I even saying, majority of us are not out to even our best friends so when you go to the hospital and the nurse say you have an STI, you know the conclusion is always a "Ceshit" man must have pumped STI into this one, as much as some of you don't care, many lesbians are shy and do not know how to deal with judgmental looks.
How do I tell these nurses that it wasn't a straight man or any man at that, except you have a nurse friend who's working in a pharmacy close to you, you wouldn't care if she thinks it's a man. The notion of your friends or nurses or doctors thinking you had sex with a man to get a sexually transmitted disease is always a reason for lesbians to not talk about their sexual issues.
Well dear sister, bruhs, and dudes, ISHRAI SAYS you should talk about your sexual health issues regardless of the wrong notion. The bottom line is that you get the help you need right?. I remember a nurse carrying out a pregnancy test on me, meanwhile, I was dying of malaria, only for aunty nurse to say, "oh, I thought you were pregnant cos you never the". Who gets pregnant without knowing? The conclusion is that people choose to be ignorant.
Go to a doctor and boldly say with your shy voice if you have one, " Doctor I feel itchy down there, and yes I had sex, my partner is getting help and I need help". Abeg, who doesn't have sex, besides, you didn’t kill anyone, you simply did what normal people do. Have sex. We no longer live in that era where sex talk is whispered, remember that. If this doesn't give you the morale you need to get help, think about how destroyed your awesome sexual life would be destroyed in the future. I know some lesbians don't give two slices of bread about childbirth so let's not touch the infertility aspect. I also know this is mean but yes, your sexual life will be in grave jeopardy if you don't talk about the issues plaguing you so you can get the necessary help you need.
I know this was inspiring, of cos it is. Stay safe and stay connected to us as we bring you "Queering 101" NEXT WEEK. You're about to get busted!