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Nigeria: New Law Bans Gay Marriage
(May 31, 2013)Nigeria: New Law Bans Gay Marriage
Gay couples who display "public shows" of affection in Nigeria could be imprisoned for 10 years, under proposed new laws.
The measures, passed by Nigeria's House of Representatives, also outlaw any groups supporting gay rights and makes illegal gay marriage.
The bill must now be signed into law by President Goodluck Jonathan, however, it is unclear if he will do so.
The UK has threatened to stop aid to nations that discriminate against gay people, however, the money given to the west African country is minimal.
Under the proposed law, Nigeria would ban same-sex marriage and those who do marry could face up to 14 years in prison. Witnesses or anyone who helps homosexual couples marry could be sentenced to 10 years in jail.
A 10-year prison term would also be given to those showing affection in public and those advocating gay rights.
The bill has been condemned by campaigners who say that it will encourage other nations to follow suit and increase or introduce stringent jail terms for homosexuals.
The London-based gay rights charity, the Kaleidoscope Trust, has called on President Jonathan not to sign the proposed new laws into force.
The charity?s director of faith and social development, Reverend Ijeoma Ajibade, said: "This legislation denies LGBT Nigerians their fundamental rights. By claiming it is about outlawing same-sex marriage, the parliament is deliberately misleading people.
"Not a single group in my home country has asked for gay marriage. They ask only for the same rights to freedom from discrimination, personal liberty, human dignity and privacy that all Nigerians are entitled to under the constitution."
Bisi Alimi, a Nigerian gay rights activist and one of the founders of the Kaleidoscope Trust, told Sky News: "On behalf of Nigerian LGBT and our straight allies, families and friends, I strongly condemn this outrageous act from Nigerian lawmakers and demand that we challenge them against this blatant infringement of the fundamental human rights of already vulnerable and at risk group."
Hooman Nouruzi, a spokesman for the British High Commission in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, said diplomats were examining the measures but declined to comment immediately.
The bill was first passed by the Senate in November 2011 but disappeared for some time before coming up in the House of Representatives on Thursday.
Then the measures drew the fire of the businessman, Sir Richard Branson, who wrote in his blog: "Too sad to comprehend that Nigeria are passing a law in this day and age to put gay people in prison just for being gay."
Gay sex has been banned in Nigeria, a nation of more than 160 million people, since colonial rule by the British.
Across the African continent, many countries already have made homosexuality punishable by jail sentences.
Ugandan legislators introduced a bill that would impose the death penalty for some gays and lesbians, though it was amended in November to remove the threat of execution.
Even in South Africa, the one country where gays can marry, lesbians have been brutally attacked and murdered in so-called "corrective rapes."