Nigeria's Senate passes Bill Banning Same s x Marriage (Anti-Gay Bill)

[Briggz5d]

Tough times await Homosexuals and Lesbians who plan to take their relationships to the "next Level" as Nigeria's Senate voted Tuesday to criminalise same s x marriage instituting prison terms of more than ten years to defaulters.
The bill has been approved by Nigeria's Senate and must now be approved by the House of Representative before it can be presented to the President, Jonathan Goodluck for signature.

The law would see gay couples who marry facing up to 14 years in jail while witnesses or people who help these couple marry could be served with a 10-year imprisonment sentence. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons already faced legal challenges in Nigeria as both male and female same-s x s  sual activity is illegal in some states.

Nigeria is split between a mainly Muslim North and a largely Christian South and same s x activity is punishable by death by stoning in the twelve states that have adopted Shari'a law.

Religion in Nigeria is very important and public opinion has shown strong anti-gay feeling. Even lawmakers have called for harsher penalties to be imposed on gay. "Such elements in society should be killed," Sen. Baba Dati said during the debate.

As expected, Media all over the world are talking about this (that's all they can do)
Anticipating the reaction from the international community, Senate President David Mark warned that Nigeria would not bow to international pressure on any legislation. "Anybody can write to us, but our values are our values," he said. "No country has a right to interfere in the way we make our laws."

Homosexuality in the African Continent
Homosexuality is illegal in 38 African countries and many have made same s x activity passible of jail sentence. In 2009, in Uganda legislators introduced a bill that divided homosexual behaviour into two categories: "aggravated homosexuality", in which an offender would receive the death penalty, or "the offense of homosexuality" in which an offender would receive life imprisonment. The bill provoked an international outcry and has since then not been passed.

In Cameroon last week, three men were served with a five-year jail sentence for engaging in gay s x. And in the same week Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe responded to UK Prime Minister David Cameron's call for more gay rights by warning "Do not get tempted into that (homosexuality). You are young people. If you go that direction, we will punish you severely."

What Africa and Nigeria In particular is saying to the rest of the world is: We will embrace and practice your positive values but we'll hang-on to our religious and Cultural Values Which You have LOST!

[Briggz5d]

Nigerians and the international community are airing their views as regards the recent Bill passed by the Nigerian Senate Banning Same-s x marriages. A seasoned writer and Nobel prize winner - Wole Shoyinka is one of those who is not afraid to speak up though the Bill may have no direct connection with him.

In his response to the Anti-Gay Bill, He urged the lawmakers to "Go back to school to fully understand the difference between private and public affairs."

Soyinka said, “The problem with legislators is that they fail to distinguish between personal bills and interventions in private lives. That is the problem. I see no reason why they should intervene in the private lives of adults. What people do in their bedrooms is no business of mine. It should not be the business of legislators."

“But at the same time, I think other countries who are pointing fingers should look inwards and see whether they also do not practise the same kind of discrimination. That is where I disagree, but I think it is important we learn to distinguish between what is a public affair and what is a private affair."

“The legislators need to go back to school to learn the difference before they waste their time with what people do in their private bedrooms.”