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Rights Groups Worried About Anti-Same-Sex Marriage Bill In Nigeria

Nigeria is moving forward with a bill that will further ban same-sex marriage, and threaten free speech in that nation, and this has many rights groups afraid that this will do more damage to the LGBT community in that nation. The bill will, without directly banning LGBT groups, make them largely illegal.

Homosexuality is already illegal in Nigeria under laws dating back to British colonial rule, and is punishable by 14-years in prison. This bill will likely pass because it has the support of many high-ranking officials.

The bill is being pushed because it is likely to strengthen the approval of the current government. Most Nigerians strongly disapprove of homosexuality, and many see it as an import from outside their culture, and that it is at odds with their religious beliefs. People have been killed just on the rumors that someone is gay.

One newspaper editorial in This Day stated that “Homosexual and lesbian practices are considered offensive to public morality in Nigeria. The… bill is crucial to our national development because it seeks to protect the traditional family, which is the fundamental unit of society, especially in our country. It will be difficult to import practices and lifestyles which are alien to our country and the majority of our people.”

One of the biggest reasons why many rights groups, NGO’s and activists push for equality for sexual minorities is that it reduces the number of cases of HIV/AIDS. They are also pointing out that many groups will be caught up in this repression as well. Damian Ugwu, an LGBT rights activist, stated that “It’s going to give the Nigerian police, who are already known for abusing their power, a license to violate the rights of both gay and non-gay people. It’s going to create an avenue where young men and women, who often live together in big cities for financial reasons, will become targets for extortion,” Ugwu said.

Graeme Reid of Human Rights Watch stated that “This is an insidious bill that appears to be limited to same-gender marriage, but is actually an attack on basic rights. The definition of ‘same-gender marriage’ is so broad as to include anyone even suspected of being in a same-sex relationship. And it threatens human rights defenders by targeting people who support unpopular causes.”

IRIN News also reported that:

Nigerian gay author and campaigner Unoma Azuah told IRIN the government should be focusing on other priorities. “I think it’s a distraction from real issues at hand, and an absolute waste of time and resources… How does what two consenting adults do in the privacy of their spaces provide a solution to the crippling problems of unemployment in Nigeria? There are few major good roads; education is in shambles; there’s extremely poor electricity supply, food and oil have to be imported by the ton – and legislators are busy debating same sex marriage?”

The barriers to acceptance are hard to breach. “Gay people face discrimination from their families, from religious groups and from society,” Ugwu said. “So it’s quite understandable people aren’t speaking out [in support of them].”