LGBT Humanists shocked at the prospect of Draconian anti-gay legislation in Nigeria
The UK LGBT Humanist charity the Pink Triangle Trust ( PTT ) is shocked at the news that Nigeria's parliament has approved the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Bill which could be signed by President Goodluck Jonathan very soon.
The Nigerian Senate has unanimously adopted the report of its conference committee on banning gay marriage. After two years, the Senate and the House of Representatives have reached an agreement about the wording of the legislation of the Bill. If it becomes law, any gay couple who gets married will be punished by up to 14 years prison and wedding guests will be jailed for 10 years. Anyone who provides services to a gay person will be imprisoned for up to five years. LGBT organizations will be banned, as well as any act of 'public showing of a same-sex relationship'.
Commenting on this horrific development the PTT's secretary, George Broadhead, said: "Gays and lesbians already face open discrimination and abuse in a country divided by Christians and Muslims who almost uniformly oppose homosexuality. In the areas in Nigeria's north where Islamic Sharia law has been enforced for about a decade, gays and lesbians can face death by stoning.
"It seems that there is a very real threat that this draconian bill will become law and, if it does, Nigeria will become one of the the most homophobic nations in Africa. Even in South Africa, the one African country where gays can marry, lesbians have been brutally attacked and murdered. If the bill is enacted, the situation for LGBT people in Nigeria will become completely untenable, setting a precedent that would threaten all Nigerians' rights to privacy, equality, free expression and free association.
"It is clear that the main impetus for such Draconian legislation has come from religious sources including the Anglican Church. By contrast, the Nigerian Humanist Movement which has had financial support from the PTT, has defended LGBT rights in the country and its former executive director, Leo Igwe, deserves much credit for courageously speaking up for these rights in the country's parliament."
Issued by:
The Pink Triangle Trust, Spring House, 34 Spring Lane, Kenilworth, Warwickshire CV8 2HB, United Kingdom
Tel. 44 ( 0 )1926 858450
www.thepinktriangletrust.com/
The Pink Triangle Trust is named after the pink triangle that gay men had to wear in the Nazi concentration camps. The registered charity was set up in 1992 to advance the education of the public and particularly of lesbians and gay men, in the principles and practice of Humanism and to advance the education of the public, and particularly of Humanists, about all aspects of homosexuality. It may also assist individuals to obtain remedies under the law where they have suffered unlawful discrimination on account of their homosexuality or their Humanism.
The PTT is: A member of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, a member of the Cutting Edge Consortium, a member of the Alliance for a Secular Europe, a sponsor of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans History Month, a sponsor of the Uganda Humanist Schools Trust ( UK ), a supporter of the Secular Europe Campaign, a supporter of the Nigerian Humanist Movement, supporter of Galop ( London's leading anti-LGBT hate crime charity ).