I’m bisexual, not gay - Doyin Okupe's son declares

Two years after he first came out as gay, Bolu, the son of a former senior special assistant on public affairs to president Goodluck Jonathan, Doyin Okupe, has clarified his sexual orientation.

On Friday, Bolu, 29, declared that he is bisexual.

On 20 January 2021, he came out as a gay man through an Instagram post on his account and faced backlash from Nigerians.

Bisexuals form a portion of the LGBTQ community and are known to be sexually attracted to both males and females.

The younger Okupe also posted a clip of himself featuring a half-nude male and female accompanied by Domo Wilson’s ‘Bisexual Anthem’.

Part of the lyrics of the song quoted in the clip goes, “I like girls, Ike guys…no, I am not gay, and I am not straight.”

“I think I should come out of the closet…again,” he captioned.

Captioning an Instagram photo of himself standing between the half-nude couple, he said that bisexuality within the black and African communities should be more openly discussed and less stigmatised.

In December 2021, Bolu, who lives in Europe, pointed out that in black African communities, the topic of bisexuality, usually amongst men, is almost regarded as taboo, as is homosexuality.

“The issue that many bisexual men face is that both heterosexuals, as well as other Gay men, will be very quick to brand them as simply gay and in denial. Because many of the people on both sides ignorantly have believed once you are open or fluid enough to same-sex attraction and experiences, it makes you automatically gay/lesbian, which is not the case,” he wrote.

He further stated that it could sometimes be understandable, however not excusable, why many black and African bisexual men remain in the closet and hide under the straight umbrella to avoid both sides’ tedious and relentless judgements.

In 2021 when his son first came out, Mr Okupe, a former presidential aspirant, declared that Bolu was on a divine mission.

He said that Bolu was “on vacation in the LGBT community to be an instrument of God to them. By the grace of God, that is what will happen.”

The co-founder of Royal Cross Medical Centre explained that his family had always known about his son’s sexuality, and he believes that he got the influence after living abroad for a long time.

He said, “We have always known. We have always known that Bolu is like that, and Bolu is much more than that. It’s incredible what children are capable of doing. Unknown to me, although the other siblings were aware, Bolu had designed his life."

In an interview in the Punch in 2021, Bolu stated that he knew he was gay around 10.

He also revealed his plans to have children in the future.