Nigerian Lawmakers Pass Bill to Imprison Gays for 14 Years

Nigeria's House of Representatives has approved a bill passed by the country's Senate in November 2011 mandating a 14-year jail sentence for gays who marry or engage in relationships and 10 years for those who help them.

The AP reports:

Nigeria's House of Representatives passed the bill Thursday in a voice vote. The Senate previously passed the bill in November 2011. It was not immediately clear if there were differences between the House and Senate versions. If there are none, the bill goes immediately to President Goodluck Jonathan to potentially sign into law.

It also criminalizes registering gay clubs or organizations, as well as "public show of same-sex amorous relationships."

Amnesty condemned the bill in 2011 before the House passed it:

By broadly defining “same-sex marriage” as including all same-sex relationships, and targeting people who “witness”, “aid” or “abet” such relationships, the bill threatens the human rights of a large number of people...

...“Nigeria’s House of Representatives should show leadership and uphold the rights of all in Nigeria by rejecting this reprehensible bill,” said Erwin van der Borght, director of the Africa Programme.

“If passed, this measure would target people on the basis of their identity, not merely their behaviour, and put a wide range of people at risk of criminal sanctions for exercising basic rights and opposing discrimination based purely on a person’s actual or presumed sexual orientation or gender identity.”

It would place a wide range of people at risk of criminal sanctions, including human rights defenders and anyone else – including friends, families and colleagues – who stands up for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people in Nigeria.

Individuals could face imprisonment based on nothing more than their actual or assumed sexual orientation or gender identity, or stemming from allegations about their relationship status or consensual sexual conduct.

In December 2011, activists delivered more than 58,000 signatures to the Nigerian mission to the United Nations asking Nigeria's president to veto the bill.

Sir Richard Branson spoke out about it:

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.

The Prohibition of Same-Sex Marriage Bill passed through Nigeria’s Senate unopposed last week. It means gay couples entering into either marriage or cohabitation will be jailed for up to 14 years. Even people "witnessing" or "abetting" gay relationships could be punished under this sad, repressive and cruel law.

Like everyone else in society, gay people have an enormous amount to offer and Nigeria should embrace them not prosecute them.

All of us with influence in Nigeria must do what we can to stop this cruel law. I would urge educated Nigerians all over the world to do what they can to help fight this discrimination.

As Ban Looms, Gay Nigerians Enjoy A Night Out

Nigeria's House of Representatives is currently reviewing a Senate-approved law that would expand laws against homosexuality there to include not only a ban on same-sex marriage, but also one on any LGBT gathering, including night clubs. As the law is debated in corridors of power as well as on Nigeria's streets, BBC News traveled to an underground gay club in Lagos, Nigeria's capital, to get a sense of what it's like to be gay in the African country.

From that report:

"A friend invited me here a few months ago," one chatty spectator says excitedly. "I love this place because it makes me feel at home."

This gathering of members of the gay and lesbian community in Lagos is held regularly, albeit discreetly, but it could soon be illegal.

The vast majority of gay Nigerians may not be interested in this kind of event but they still have to hide their sexuality in this conservative society.
…
Despite the jovial atmosphere, there is heightened caution, and no-one is allowed to take any photos.

The thought of being identified as being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender in a country where the public still turns to mob justice haunts some here.

And that is a huge concern for Richard (not his real name): "If you don't become discreet and try to hide yourself, even the man on the street will want to also act on the bill because it has been passed."

"If you're walking on the street and he stones you, he knows the law would stand for him because the law is against you."

A number of foreign nations have condemned the potential Nigerian law, but proponents are using this international opposition to bolster their argument: homosexuality is a colonial creation being imported from abroad. Opponents, meanwhile, insist laws against sodomy and gay people are the real colonial remnants.

Nigeria Advances Bill That Would Criminalize Homosexual PDA, Same-Sex Marriage, Gay Organizations

Nigeria's house of Representatives advanced an anti-homosexuality bill that would criminalize public displays of affection between people of the same gender and ban same-sex marriage, The Nation reports:

"It is alien to our society and culture and it must not be imported," House majority leader Mulikat Adeola-Akande said during debate, referring to same-sex marriage. "Religion abhors it and our culture has no place for it," she added.

House minority leader Femi Gbajabiamila said the bill represents "convergence of both law and morality." He said that same-sex marriage "is both illegal and immoral."

Nigeria's senate in November 2011 approved the bill that would make same-sex marriages punishable by up to 14 years for the couple and 10 for anyone abetting such unions. It also set out a 10-year sentence for "any person who ... directly or indirectly makes public show of same-sex amorous relationships".

Gay organizations would also be banned, and AIDS relief organizations are concerned that they too might fall into that category. The bill passed a unanimous second reading in the House and will be considered next at an undetermined date for a clause-by-clause review.

Amid Protest, Gay Nigerian Man Deported from UK

Despite hundreds of emails and calls begging the British government to reverse its decision, gay Nigerian Olalekan M. Ayelokun, known as Ola, was deported from the UK on Wednesday despite dangers he may face upon his return, the SSO reports:

Ayelokun’s asylum application was rejected after a judge ruled that he did not believe he was gay.

Several friends and lovers of Ayelokun, including a member of the British civil service, had given extensive testimony supporting his assertion that he is an openly gay man. But, in the absence of specific guidelines on how to handle such claims, the judge had the discretion to reject that claim.
 
In Nigeria, the maximum sentence for homosexuality is 14 years in prison. “I feel terrible, traumatised. I am very afraid they are going to kill me in Nigeria,” Ayelokun said in a statement.

AllOut.org is now running another petition to tell the UK Home Secretary "to do what they've promised and lay out clear and fair guidelines on adjudicating asylum claims of lesbian, gay, bi and trans people in the UK."

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Ugandan Media Reports on Obama Shift on LGBT Rights as Nigeria Moves Forward with Anti-Gay Bill: VIDEO

In Uganda, where the so-called "kill the gays" bill was proposed in the last parliament but shelved (and may still come up again), media reported on Obama's memo today, interviewing the bill's author MP David Bahati.

Writes Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin:

The report itself is very calm and measured. But it does reflect prevailing opinion not only in Uganda but through much of Africa when the reporter asks at the end, “Will Uganda blink and bow to the pressure?” The image of bowing, as you can imagine given Africa’s history, has a very specific humiliative resonance that goes much deeper than much of the rest of the world.

Nigeria won't be bowing to the pressure.

Obama's memorandum to countries abroad has not concerned Nigeria, which moved forward with an anti-gay bill despite the cautionary directive from the U.S., AFP reports:

The bill was introduced into Nigeria's House of Representatives on Wednesday after the Senate last week approved the measure that would outlaw gay marriage and ban public displays of affection between homosexual couples. Gay organisations would also be made illegal, leading some to raise concerns over whether funding channeled through non-governmental organisations in Nigeria for AIDS treatment would be put in jeopardy.

A spokesman for the House of Representatives and a cabinet minister in Africa's most populous nation and largest oil producer were defiant in the face of Western criticism over the measure.

"We have a culture. We have religious beliefs and we have a tradition. We are black people. We are not white," said Zakari Mohammed, who is also a lawmaker. He said same-sex marriage "is alien to our culture and we can never give it a chance. So if (Western nations) will hold their aid to us, to hell with them."

Watch Uganda's report, AFTER THE JUMP...