Nigeria's Anti-Gay Bill Causes Protests
From: afrol News (www.afrolnews.com)
March 1, 2007
Human rights and gay activists until now have kept a low profile regarding the attempt by Nigerian lawmakers to promote Africa's most draconic bill limiting the rights of sexual minorities. They did not want to give the promoters publicity. But now, as lawmakers are getting serious on the bill, a wave of protests is reaching Nigeria.
The controversial bill, entitled the "Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act", would imprison anyone who speaks out or forms a group supporting lesbian and gay people's rights, and would silence virtually any public discussion or visibility around lesbian and gay lives in Nigeria. In its last published version, the draconian bill would impose a five-year prison sentence on anyone who "goes through the ceremony of marriage with a person of the same sex." Anyone, including a priest or cleric, who "performs, witnesses, aids or abets the ceremony of same sex marriage," would face the same sentence. But the bill goes even beyond that to punish any positive representation of or advocacy for the rights of Nigeria's lesbians and gays. Anyone "involved in the registration of gay clubs, societies and organisations, sustenance, procession or meetings, publicity and public show of same sex amorous relationship directly or indirectly in public and in private," would be subject to the same sentence.
The legislation was first introduced in January 2006 by Nigeria's Minister of Justice, Bayo Ojo. But it has been lying dormant for months in the National Assembly as Nigerian politicians are gearing up for nationwide elections in April this year. Human rights and gay activists in Nigeria during last year kept a remarkable low profile on the bill, although knowing it could seriously change the climate in the country. Their strategy proved to be wise. Without loud protest action from the gay community, the bill would get little attention in global and national media, making politicians lose their interest as personal conflicts were bound to surface ahead of this year's elections.
In January this year, the silence was broken. The prominent British gay activist Peter Tatchell and his group OutRage! suddenly launched an international appeal to human rights groups worldwide "to take urgent action to press the Nigerian government to uphold international human rights law and to drop this draconian legislation."
The silence was broken. And the dead-believed bill suddenly resurfaced from Nigerian lawmakers' drawers. African gay rights groups were furious. "Stay out of African Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex (LGBTI) issues," several prominent activists wrote to Mr Tatchell. "You have proven that you have no respect for conveying the truth with regards to Africa or consulting African LGBTI leaders before carrying out campaigns that have severe consequences in our countries. You have betrayed our trust over and over again," the letter went on.
TO READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE, GO TO:
No comments:
Post a Comment