• A while back, I wrote about the realities of the lesbian dating experience and realised I had to do one for people in gay relationships too. For this, I spoke to several people in the gay community, and here’s what they shared with me about the reality of gay relationships.

    You’ll enjoy each other’s shows 

    Expectations: You’ll love each other’s shows and  be willing to wait for the other person when new episodes come out.  

    Reality: One of you will spend the entire relationship begging the other to watch your shows. And one person will always be ahead of the other on the one you end up watching together. Life’s tough, but love is tougher.

    RELATED: 5 Bisexual Men Talk About Discovering Their Sexuality

    After the talking stage, a relationship is expected

    Expectation: After spending that much time talking and getting to know each other’s childhood fears, the logical thing is a relationship.

    Reality: Unfortunately, most times, all that happens is sex. Which, in all fairness, is not such a bad deal. But when you want more than sex, it’s hard not to keep getting disappointed by people with commitment issues. Hooking up is easy, but getting into a relationship is complicated. 

    Everyone you meet is new, so it’s a unique experience 

    Expectation: If you meet someone outside of your friends for the first time, and no one knows him, it’s refreshing, and you’ll end up in less messy situations. 

    Reality: The dating pool is too small for the people you meet not to be your ex’s ex. If you meet someone no one knows, you should be careful, so you don’t get a Kito experience you’ll regret. 

    RELATED: Sex Life: I Got Set Up By A Straight Man Pretending To Be Gay 

    Clubbing or attending parties will be much better with your partner 

    Expectation: Parties and clubs become 10x more fun when you go with your partner; what’s better than an experience you’ll share memories of instead of having to tell them about it? 

    Reality: That’s how they’ll find your replacement in your presence. Also, one person will have less fun because they’d be too busy trying to keep the other safe. 

    Sex will become slow-paced 

    Expectation: Sex is great and all, but after a while, it won’t happen as often, and you’ll find other things to do together.

    Reality: While this might seem like a threat, it actually never gets slow-paced. And if it does, y’all are about to break up. Why do you even want it to be slow-paced? Do you not like enjoyment?

    Noncommitment can be fixed by making the relationship open

    Expectation: If you guys are struggling to stay committed to one another because of years spent on the streets, opening the relationship will fix it.

    Reality: Except one or both of you are polyamorous, there’s no way opening a relationship can solve cheating or your partner’s inability to commit. Some situations are considered cheating in open relationships too. So it’s better to talk things out and make rules even. 

    After you get heartbroken, this will be you.

    They’d drop their standards for you

    Expectations: It doesn’t matter what they usually like in a relationship, they’d drop it all for you. If he’s a bottom who’s never dated a bottom, he’ll change his mind because he likes you. 

    Reality: He probably won’t. He’d drop those standards enough to have sex if he’s desperate, but not for a relationship. If, as a bottom, he thinks he can’t date a bottom, or as a masc guy, femme guys are too much for him, first, that’s a red flag, and you should run. Secondly, his opinion won’t miraculously change without you getting hate crimed first for a while. 

    READ ALSO: The Lesbian Dating Experience: Expectations vs. Reality


  • Sex Life is an anonymous Zikoko weekly series that explores the pleasures, frustrations and excitement of sex in the lives of Nigerians.


    The subject of today’s Sex Life is a 28-year-old gay man who recently discovered he is a side — a gay man who isn’t interested in penetrative sex. He talks about how this affects his sexual and romantic life and how he hopes to meet someone open-minded enough to know it’s not all about penetrative sex.

    What was your first sexual experience?

    It wasn’t consensual actually. We had a house help who would rub our genitals together and hump on me. I was nine and it went on for about two years before one of my aunties noticed that something wasn’t right. She immediately raised an alarm and the girl was sent packing. That was how I finally came to know peace.

    That’s fucked up. I’m so sorry. 

    It’s fine. My first proper consensual sexual experience was when I was fourteen. It was with a guy I liked in secondary school. He was a year above me. One time, I went over to his and we kissed. That was when I had my first proper kiss. He was my first boyfriend.

    Do you remember how it ended?

    He went on to uni, then my family relocated. It made me sad that we didn’t keep in touch but I’m over it now. This was around the time I discovered masturbation.

    Oh?

    I think I was a late bloomer regarding masturbation. I didn’t know of it or start doing it till my mid-teens. I think other kids discovered it earlier.

    Do you know why it took you longer?

    I’m a very ‘mental person’. I exist largely in my head so it’s harder for me to do or connect with physical things like most people.

    When you say you are a ‘mental person’ what does that exactly mean to you?

    My relationships with people are very mental. I don’t know how to physically be present and enjoy or even really feel things. I exist in my head. I grew up alone and the only other person who was around me and that I would have connected with was the house help and because of the abuse, I couldn’t connect with her and had to close myself off from her. Now I don’t know how to leave my head and be physically present. With things like masturbation and even sex, it’s like I can’t turn my brain off long enough to get into them or enjoy them. So when it happened with masturbation, I was ecstatic.

    Can you remember how it happened with masturbation?

    I came across the word ‘masturbation’ and I was curious about it. Then I discovered porn and it kind of clicked. When I finally allowed myself to come, I was like ‘wow’.

    Finally?

    When I started masturbating, I never let myself climax. I just played with my genitals then stopped. One day, I went all the way off and it was magic.

    LMAO. Fair enough. Do you remember any other memorable first time?

    The first time I tried penetrative sex. 

    Oh? When was this?

    When I was eighteen, I think. So I met this guy I had been texting on Facebook. The sex was not what I expected.

    How so?

    It was awkward. It didn’t help that the guy didn’t have a great technique and it was my first time. Before then, I had never had sex and all I knew about sex, especially sex between men, was from books, movies and porn. Let me tell you, it’s not at all the same.

    I kept waiting for the moment I would enjoy it to hit, it never did.

    Wow.

    Yeah. I told my friends and they told me it was probably because it was my first time. I thought the same too for a while.

    For a while?

    I tried having sex a few times after that, and it didn’t quite hit. It bothered me for a while because I would get attracted to a person, flirt, go on dates sometimes, make out and even fool around. And I’d enjoy all of it. However when it came to penetrative sex? It never hit.

    Did you have any partners around this time? How did they take it?

    I dated two people. The first didn’t know — it was a short relationship — and I just pretended to enjoy it. I told the second one but he didn’t quite understand and that eventually led to the end of the relationship.

    Damn, I’m so sorry.

    Yeah. I stopped dating for a while because it felt pointless. It was around this point that I realised I was a side.

    What’s a side?

    Essentially, a side is a queer man who is not interested in penetrative sex. 

    Has it been easier since you made this discovery? 

    Yes and no. It’s great knowing that I am ‘normal” and that there are other people like me. However, being a side affects your chances of dating, having a serious or even a non-serious relationship. Sex — penetrative sex — is a huge part of dating and when that’s not on the table, your dating pool becomes almost none existent.

    What’s your sex life like?

    I don’t know if I have one. I’m trying to figure it out myself, I don’t know anyone who’s like me so it’s me trying to find guys who are open-minded enough to want to date someone who isn’t into penetrative sex. 

    These days, I don’t bother committing. I mess around, make out and sometimes have oral sex then just stop before they ask for more. People probably think I’m a player but in reality, I just don’t want to have to deal with rejection.

    Have you wondered if this has anything to do with you always being in your head like you said?

    I think it’s all connected but at the end of the day, these are things that make me the person that I am. I can’t change these things any more than I can change my sexuality. I do think I’m too in my head to be present to enjoy penetrative sex like most people but I don’t know for sure, what I do know is that this is me, this is who I am.

    What do you think you need for your sex life to get to where you want it to?

    To meet more people, even just one guy sef, who is open-minded enough to realise that sex doesn’t begin and end with penetrative sex.

    On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your sex life?

    Definitely a 1. It’s so unfortunate and trash to be honest.