Gay rights in Nigeria

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Contents 1 Laws against gay sex 2 Protection based on sexual orientation 3 Recognition of same-sex couples 4 LGBT life in Nigeria 5 Footnotes

[edit] Laws against gay sex

Homosexuality is outlawed in the Nigerian penal code and in Muslim law. In the dozen northern states under Islamic Sharia law it is punishable by death by stoning^[1]. As of March 2006, press reports say that more than a dozen people have been sentenced to death by stoning since 2000, but the sentences had not been carried out^[1]. In the civil penal code, it can carry up to a 14-year prison sentence^[2].

[edit] Protection based on sexual orientation

There is no protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation.

[edit] Recognition of same-sex couples

The powerful Anglican Church has been pressuring the government to ban same-sex marriages^[1]. In February 2006, the government proposed a bill calling for five years imprisonment for anyone who undergoes, "performs, witnesses, aids, or abets" a same-sex marriage. It would also prohibit any display of a "same-sex amorous relationship" and adoption of children by gays or lesbians^[3]. The bill is expected to receive little or no opposition in Parliament. The same-sex marriage ban would make Nigeria the second country in Africa to criminalize such unions. In 2005, the Ugandan constitution was amended to ban same-sex marriage ^[1].

[edit] LGBT life in Nigeria

Public hostility to homosexual relations is widespread in Nigeria, a largely conservative country of more than 130 million people, split between a mainly Muslim north and a largely Christian south^[4].

A bill proposed by the government in February 2006 would call for five years imprisonment for involvement in public advocacy or associations supporting the rights of lesbian and gay people^[1].

In February 2006, the United States State Department condemned the proposal^[1]. In March 2006, 16 international human rights groups signed a letter condemning the bill, calling it a violation of the freedoms of expression, association and assembly guaranteed by international law as well as by the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and a barrier to the struggle against the spread of AIDS^[1]. Nigeria has the world's third-highest population of persons with AIDS: 3.6 million Nigerians are infected with HIV^[4].

[edit] Footnotes