2008 Woodie Awards
Nigeria considers anti-homosexual bill
Brice Tarleton
Issue date: 3/16/07 Section: World
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¬¬¬Homosexual sex between consenting adults in Nigeria is currently a crime punishable by 14 years in prison. Bayo Ojo, Nigeria's minister of justice, recently proposed a bill calling for five years of imprisonment for any act supporting homosexuality.
"Same-sex relationships are characterized by unhealthy behavior including instability, promiscuity, and risky sexual practices," said Friday Okonofua, Nigeria's special adviser to the president, to the Associated Press. "That means effort to reduce the consequences of same-sex marriage is an important public health initiative."
The bill, if passed into law, will outlaw membership in a gay group, attending a gay meeting or protest, donating money to a gay organization, expressing same-sex love in letters or e-mail, attending a same-sex marriage or blessing ceremony, or viewing homosexual acts in videos, photographs, Web sites, or books. Same-sex marriage licenses conferred in other countries will be invalidated, and any contact whatsoever between two or more gay people will become illegal.
According to the BBC, the National Muslim Center has decried homosexual relationships as "immoral, (running) contrary to our cultural and religious values." The Christian Association of Nigeria also calls for an accelerated passage of the bill into law, describing same-sex unions as "barbaric and shameful."
"Sociologists and historians in Nigeria have access to the same information that we do, which tells us that homosexuality has existed since the birth of time," said Kathy Tritschler, associate professor of sports studies and professor of "Human Sexuality," an interdisciplinary studies course. "It is a mystery why the ruling electoral body has reached a conclusion which says otherwise."
Over 100 petitions from human rights groups have been submitted to the committee conducting the public hearing, asking that the proposed bill be withdrawn. Four envoys from the United Nations have condemned the bill as a violation of international human rights law.
"Same-sex relationships are characterized by unhealthy behavior including instability, promiscuity, and risky sexual practices," said Friday Okonofua, Nigeria's special adviser to the president, to the Associated Press. "That means effort to reduce the consequences of same-sex marriage is an important public health initiative."
The bill, if passed into law, will outlaw membership in a gay group, attending a gay meeting or protest, donating money to a gay organization, expressing same-sex love in letters or e-mail, attending a same-sex marriage or blessing ceremony, or viewing homosexual acts in videos, photographs, Web sites, or books. Same-sex marriage licenses conferred in other countries will be invalidated, and any contact whatsoever between two or more gay people will become illegal.
According to the BBC, the National Muslim Center has decried homosexual relationships as "immoral, (running) contrary to our cultural and religious values." The Christian Association of Nigeria also calls for an accelerated passage of the bill into law, describing same-sex unions as "barbaric and shameful."
"Sociologists and historians in Nigeria have access to the same information that we do, which tells us that homosexuality has existed since the birth of time," said Kathy Tritschler, associate professor of sports studies and professor of "Human Sexuality," an interdisciplinary studies course. "It is a mystery why the ruling electoral body has reached a conclusion which says otherwise."
Over 100 petitions from human rights groups have been submitted to the committee conducting the public hearing, asking that the proposed bill be withdrawn. Four envoys from the United Nations have condemned the bill as a violation of international human rights law.
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