Ghanaian Afropop musician Sister Derby has expressed her displeasure at the commentary used towards members of the LGBT community.

The ‘Uncle Obama’ hitmaker argued that being gay or queer is a natural occurrence and not solely about sex.

According to her, many people make the mistake of reducing homosexuality to merely an activity or a lifestyle.

“Even the language that we’ve been using is incorrect because it’s just not an activity; these are human beings who exist. But we always make the mistake of narrowing it down to sex. It’s not all about sex,” she fumed.

“We have the gay and queer people who haven’t engaged in any sexual activity before. So what about them too? We don’t have to pigeonhole or limit these people to sex, right? When we consider the world’s best and most talented fashion designers, a significant percentage, if not, the majority are queer,” she argued.

Sister Derby further added that due to the oppression faced by Africans, hatred towards LGBT members arises from a desire to do the same to others.

“In our parts of the world, there’s a lot of poverty. So, when we encounter queer people, their socioeconomic status is not what we often expect. Already, we are oppressed. We are in a struggling economy. We are suffering. So now, we also want to oppress someone whom people in power are labeling as inferior to us. You are being oppressed when you seek to oppress somebody.”
Sister Derby

“You can probably agree with me that if every queer person in Ghana were very wealthy, wealthier than even the level of Bobrisky, do you think they would be disrespected this way? You know, money is power,” she stressed.

The Afropop musician criticized anti-LGBT activists in the country, urging them to redirect their efforts toward addressing cases of pedophilia and child marriages instead of targeting LGBT individuals.

“Why do you want to impose that kind of oppression on someone else? If they haven’t harmed you, if they haven’t engaged with you as a minor, whether you are gay or straight, touching a minor is a crime. That is pedophilia. We do not tolerate it. But if people are making a big fuss out of this, why aren’t we channeling that energy into combating child marriage? That is pedophilia. That is rape. That is slavery. That is molestation. All rolled into one. Think about it.”
Sister Derby

Her statements come as Ghana’s parliament considers the ‘Promotion of Proper Human Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2022,’ also known as the anti-LGBT Bill. The bill aims to promote what is deemed as “natural” sexual behavior while criminalizing LGBTQ+ and related activities.

Collaboration On Medikal’s Song

Sister Derby shed light on her decision to collaborate with Ghanaian rapper Medikal on the songs “Trophies and Cold,” despite their past romantic history.

Following their breakup in 2018 and Medikal’s subsequent marriage to Fella Makafui, questions arose about their professional collaboration.

Sister Derby explained the sequence of events that led to their musical partnership.

According to Sister Derby, Medikal reached out to her regarding the songs, and after listening to them, she found herself drawn to the music.

“He called me regarding the song and after listening to it, I really liked it and I already started forming lyrics for it. I told him and he was even surprised I liked it that much. So I recorded my verse and a few months later, we met to shoot the video,” she said.

This collaboration sparked conversations among fans and the media, as it brought together two artists with a history of personal involvement in the public eye.

Nevertheless, both artists appear to have moved forward professionally, putting their past differences behind them to create music together.